Over time, the world has become increasingly digitized, and various forms of social media

have become part of many people’s everyday lives. In connection with this society is

actively undergoing a change where these digital platforms become significantly more

important for communication between authorities and citizens. In connection to this,

issues regarding trust and honesty are raised, and this study focuses on how the local

police force in Malmö incorporates trust in their social media presence. The aim of the

study is to investigate how trust is reflected in the organization’s strategies, processes and

structures.

The study is based on a critical discourse analysis (CDA) on Malmö police’s posts on

Instagram in 2024, as well as an interview with an informant from the organization. The

discourse analysis consisted of 137 posts, where the comments are also included in the

analysis. The theories used are Weber’s legitimacy theory and neo-institutionalism, where

these provide an insight into the processes behind publication and how, through these, the

organization furthers their legitimacy. With the help of this, it was discovered that the

police in Malmö do not work with the concept of trust explicitly, but there are many traces

of it - both in publicized content and the routines behind them. This was especially evident

through language that signals safety, security and collaboration, but also in the

guidelines and structures that shape the content.