The basic term of the media refers to any communication channel that is a mediator of some meaning. Under the concept of mass media are conceived all media that are conceived to be consumed by the "wider" public. According to its categorization, the Internet, and thus the social media, are among the new media that are characterized by interactivity, digitization and multimedia. Thanks to the technological advancements, social media came into all spheres of society, and so in politics. Their significance is especially important at the level of local government as it manages the overall financial and non-financial potentials of the local community at their level, hence the local level is the one in which citizens feel greater possibility of direct access and the potential importance of governance. Social media open a two-way communication channel. Qualitative and quantitative research in the area of Zadar County was carried out for the purpose of exploring the possibilities in using social media as PR tools for local governments. Qualitative research included two cities (Benkovac and Biograd na Moru) and eight municipalities (Pašman, Polaĉa, Preko, Sukošan, Sv. Filip i Jakov, Tkon, Vir and Zemunik Donji) using a method of a deep interviews with representatives of local authorities and creators of contents on social networks. The research has shown that the official Facebook sites of local governments were primarily initiated for the purpose of providing general public with more information, hence the main advantages of official social sites reported were an easier and faster way of informing the public and an easier and faster way of getting an insight into public opinion. Quantitative research was conducted through a social network survey questionnaire involving 92 respondents who answered a number of questions to determine how much the opinions of local officials who run official Facebook sites deviate from the impressions of citizens. Based on the conducted investigations, the advantages and risks of using social media at local governments were determined. The advantages would be quick and easy citizen information, a free tool for efficiency gains, more frequent public relations and insight into public opinion, increased transparency of the data, and citizen involvement in decisionmaking. On the other hand, risks would be negative comments, possible legal problems and lack of resources (especially in terms of time and staff).