Government Websites, Social Engagement See Dramatic Uptick

BY BEN MILLER / APRIL 10, 2020

New data from technology companies Cloudflare and ZenCity help to illustrate when, how and to what extent interaction with government online has changed since COVID-19 led to widescale shutdowns across American society.

As Americans have shifted to sheltering in place en masse, their eyes have turned toward government.

New data from technology companies shows that traffic to government websites, as well as interactions with government social media accounts, has increased dramatically as the COVID-19 pandemic has stifled normal life. And that makes sense, since governments are experiencing an influx of unemployment insurance claims, and they are also providing regular updates on the number of cases in their jurisdictions as well as tips for staying safe and estimates of how long it might be before people can stop sheltering.

Numbers provided to Government Technology by John Graham-Cumming, chief technology officer of Cloudflare — which provides content delivery network services that give it a broad insight into Web traffic across the world — show that visits to federal, state and local government websites nearly doubled from Jan. 12 to April 3:

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