Using Social Media for Participatory City Branding: the Case of and @cityofizmir, an Instagram Project

Abstract

With the rapid explosion of Internet, social media has emerged as a new communication venue for citybranding initiative. The aim of this chapter is to provide a deeper understanding of today's communicationenvironment, and in particular, to focus the greater interactivity, engagement and responsivenessof resources in relation to city branding. Thus, this chapter firstly outlines the participatory city branding, which can be considered as an appropriate approach for involving wide range of stakeholders inpromoting cities as brands. Secondly, the role of social media and its influential users are scrutinizedto better present their importance for city branding. Following this, the examined Instagram campaignto promote the city of Izmir intends to allow greater insight into how to utilize online platforms in orderto communicate a city both to its citizens and to global arena. And finally, the chapter leads to practicalimplications regarding how to benefit from social media for effective participatory city branding. © 2017, IGI Global. All rights reserved.