Turf Protection or Policy Expansion? How European Agencies Shape Their Reputation Through Social Media Communication

Shyrokykh K, Eckert S, Olofsson K (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Abstract

We approach public communication of bureaucratic organizations as a means of reputation management and argue that social media communication that abstains from making reference to other agencies is in line with a turf-protective strategy, whereas communication that seeks to establish a link to other agencies is in line with a strategy to embrace new issues and expand policy competencies. Using climate policy communication by EU agencies on the social media platform Twitter (currently X), we show that agencies operating in policy fields traditionally linked to climate policy and holding a policy mandate refer less to their counterparts in their social media communication than agencies without such a climate mandate and operating in policy fields more recently linked to the issue. We find that agencies opt for either turf protective and risk-averse or expansive and reputation-building strategies, depending on what fits their interest best.

Authors with CRIS profile

Sandra Eckert Chair of Comparative Politics and European Governance

Involved external institutions

Oklahoma State University

United States (USA) (US) Stockholm University / Stockholms universitet

Sweden (SE)

How to cite

APA:

Shyrokykh, K., Eckert, S., & Olofsson, K. (2026). Turf Protection or Policy Expansion? How European Agencies Shape Their Reputation Through Social Media Communication. Regulation & Governance. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70117

MLA:

Shyrokykh, Karina, Sandra Eckert, and Kristin Olofsson. "Turf Protection or Policy Expansion? How European Agencies Shape Their Reputation Through Social Media Communication." Regulation & Governance (2026).

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