Brewer explains government use of influencers and inconsistency in disclosures

Government use of influencers has become the norm, and that's a good thing.

Influencers are a good thing.

But governments use influencers to increase awareness on public health issues, a good thing.

Boost election participation, that's needed.

Attract tourists, among other things.

There's nothing wrong with using influences, and they can actually help government officials reach populations that are difficult to reach through traditional media.

Not everybody can watch New York One like me.

I understand that.

Government agencies in New York City primarily use social media influencer in two different ways.

First,

Agencies work with influencers to create targeted campaigns.

And one of the first examples of a success.

use of social media, influences in a public awareness campaign, health and hospitals, use them to encourage New Yorkers to get tested and then to get vaccinated against COVID.

Recently, the Campaign Finance Board, through its NYC Votes initiative,

partnered with influencers to increase voter turnout and civic engagement.

Health and hospitals and the campaign finance board generally include, those campaigns include some type of disclosure that they are paid for by the city.

This is not, however, the case with all city agencies, and that's the issue.

There is no consistency among agencies on the wording of the disclosures, what kind of hashtags, etc.