An exclusive survey by FGV Comunicação, carried out at the request of g1, analyzed 655 local, regional and community Instagram pages and monitored the interactions generated by 9 themes in 75 municipalities in the North of Fluminense, the Serrana Region, the Lagos Region and the South and Costa Verde between May 1st and August 31st, 2026.
The survey points to a pattern in the 4 regions: health is among the issues that most mobilize the public and leads interactions in 3 of them. In the North of Fluminense, in the Mountain Region and in the South and Costa Verde, the topic occupies 1st position. In the Lagos Region, it is in 2nd, practically safely tied.
Education appears at an intermediate level in the ranking, but gains relevance in different territories. In the Lagos Region, for example, it is the 3rd topic that generates the most interactions, with 6.4%. In the South and Costa Verde, it also occupies third position, with 6.2%. In North Fluminense, the subject represents 5.8% of publications, although it generates 2.8% of interactions.
The FGV survey, carried out at the request of g1, analyzed publications between May 1st and August 31st, 2026 and drew a map of the digital public debate in five regions of Rio de Janeiro. — Photo: Reproduction
The research considers engagement as the main indicator of an issue's ability to mobilize public attention and participation. The volume of publications is used in a complementary way, to show the frequency with which each topic appears on the pages' agenda.
The difference between the two indicators reveals situations in which a topic is widely published, but provokes relatively little reaction — and others in which a topic appears less, but manages to mobilize the public more.
"When we analyze the number of posts, we are somehow analyzing what the page administrators prioritize in the communication strategy of each one of them. When we analyze the volume of interactions, then we have another category. Because we are observing what caught the attention of the population, what interacted with and what generated more engagement on the part of users", explained the professor at FGV's School of Communication, Victor Piaia, responsible for the research.
Health leads engagement in the Mountain Region
Health leads engagement in the Mountain Region — Photo: FGV Comunicação
In the Mountain Region, health accounted for 21.4% of interactions, the highest percentage among the four territories analyzed. Security came second, with 15.4%.
When the criterion is the number of publications, however, the order is reversed. Security corresponded to 25.2% of posts, against 20.7% for health.
In total, the region recorded more than 9.8 million interactions related to the nine themes analyzed.
The themes also mix. Some of the health content that had the most impact is related to situations of violence and accidents. Local profiles provide information, for example, on the health status of people involved in robberies, robberies and accidents on roads and streets.
Publications also appear on medications used to treat obesity, vaccinations, collective efforts, strikes by health professionals, climate change and its effects on the population and technological advances in the health sector.
Security, in turn, has a strong presence on the region's pages through videos and records of violent situations. Among the contents are attempted robberies, armed robberies, arrests of suspects and episodes related to organized crime.
FGV also identified a concentration of publications in Petrópolis, Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo. But engagement does not necessarily follow the size of the municipalities.
Bom Jardim, for example, concentrated 36.9% of health-related interactions in the region. In terms of security, Cachoeiras de Macacu accounted for 43.9% of interactions, although it produced only 8.1% of posts on the topic.
Petrópolis Hospital will reopen maternity ward — Photo: Disclosure
Education appears as an intermediate theme in the region. 65.8% of publications on education refer directly to municipalities and localities in the Mountain Region itself, while 34.2% deal with state or national issues. Petrópolis is mentioned in half of the posts in the category.
Norte Fluminense: health and safety are almost tied
Norte Fluminense — Photo: FGV Comunicação
In North Fluminense, health also occupies the first position, with 16.4% of interactions, followed by security, with 15.9% — a difference of just 0.5 percentage points.
The region recorded more than 5.5 million interactions related to the nine themes analyzed. Urban infrastructure comes in third, with 3.7%.
The result draws attention because infrastructure has a greater mobilization capacity than its volume of publications would suggest. The theme brings together problems such as water supply, sanitation, energy, urban cleaning, lighting, road conservation and maintenance of public equipment.
Content also appears about flooding, floods, storm surges, sea advances, strong winds, falling trees and interruptions in the power supply.
"In relation to North Fluminense, we observe that the issue of urban infrastructure has a relevant projection. In fact, this topic is not one of the topics that has the highest number of posts, but it ends up having a greater volume of interactions than others", analyzed Victor Piaia.
In education, the difference between frequency and repercussion is inverse. The topic corresponds to 5.8% of publications, but generates 2.8% of interactions. In culture and leisure, there are 4.3% of posts and 2.3% of interactions.
Among the educational content that circulated most are reports of daily life in schools, achievements of students and institutions, and episodes of violence. One of the most popular posts dealt with the suspension of classes caused by climate events.
The municipal map also reveals differences. Macaé stands out in health and leads the environment, culture and leisure, mobility and transport and housing. Campos dos Goytacazes concentrates the greatest mobilization in security, education and economy. Itaocara leads in urban infrastructure and also appears among the municipalities with the greatest engagement in health and safety.
Safety and health are practically tied in the Lagos Region
Lagos Region — Photo: FGV Comunicação
In the Lagos Region, security leads interactions, with 19.9%, followed very closely by health, with 19.7%. Together, the two themes represent 39.6% of the mobilization recorded in the nine subjects analyzed.
The region recorded around 14.6 million interactions between May and August.
Education appears in third place, with 6.4% of interactions, followed by urban infrastructure, with 6.2%, and culture and leisure, with 5.5%.
One of the aspects that differentiate Lagos is that the impact on security is not restricted to local events. FGV identified significant interactions in publications about episodes that occurred in other cities and states, in addition to cases registered in the region itself.
Content about criminal factions and drug trafficking represents less than 10% of the debate on security on the pages analyzed, according to the survey. Militias appear in less than 1% of posts in the category. Robbery and theft correspond to 4.5% of publications about security, while homicides represent 12% of mentions.
In health, content mainly appears about medical procedures, hospitalizations, surgeries, patient transfers and public policies. Posts about health centers, UPAs and UBSs represent around 10% of the discussion on the topic.
Tamoios UPA, in Cabo Frio — Photo: Reproduction
One of the contents with the greatest impact was a post about a suspected case of Mpox in a municipal school in Jaconé, which ranked fourth among the publications with the most interactions in the region.
In education, 73.5% of the content makes direct reference to municipalities and localities in the Lagos Region, while 26.5% deals with events or themes from other states and regions.
Maricá concentrates almost a third of the education posts. More than 80% of them mention infrastructure issues or renovations, while academic competitions are mentioned in 40%.
Cabo Frio leads the mobilization in security and also appears among the municipalities with the greatest engagement in health and urban infrastructure. Silva Jardim occupies the first position in health and education and also stands out in security.
Culture and leisure gain strength in the South and Costa Verde
Culture and leisure gain strength in the South and Costa Verde — Photo: FGV Comunicação
In the South and Costa Verde, health returns to first place, with 19% of interactions. Security comes in second, with 16.7%.
The region's main difference is in third place: culture and leisure accounted for 7.1% of interactions, a higher percentage than that observed in other sections of the research.
The theme includes shows, municipal festivals, festivals, rodeos, agricultural exhibitions, religious celebrations and events linked to tourism and entertainment.
FGV also identified publications related to local identity and traditions, such as Afro-Brazilian culture, capoeira, June festivals, music, gastronomy, religious manifestations and urban memory. Sports, street races, motorcyclist meetings and activities in public spaces also appear in the category.
Professor Victor Piaia highlights that the presence of this content helps to show that the debate on local pages is not just made up of problems and negative situations.
“Evidently this is related to the cultural life, the tourist life that surrounds these regions and that in some way is part of the content that circulates on these pages.”
“It is important to see that these pages also share cultural life, they also share events in the city and that these events are shared by people and people interact with them, they value this”, added the expert.
Health appears on the pages with reports of emergency situations, first aid, hospitalizations, treatments, surgical procedures, patient recovery and support campaigns.
Security comes in second place and brings together records of crimes, violence, police operations, arrests and seizures, as well as prevention and protection content.
Volta Redonda concentrates the greatest engagement in all nine themes monitored by FGV. Barra Mansa stands out in health and education; Barra do Piraí, in culture and leisure and mobility; Paty do Alferes is among the municipalities with the greatest engagement in health, safety, environment, economy and infrastructure.
On Costa Verde, Angra dos Reis stands out in education, environment, urban infrastructure and mobility.
Ilha Grande, in Angra dos Reis — Photo: Disclosure/
How the survey was carried out
FGV Comunicação identified 655 Instagram profiles with regional, local or community activity. The selection was made from a sweep of the state's municipalities and prioritized pages dedicated to news, events, records, complaints, demands and public information.
The publications were classified into nine axes: security, education, environment, health, mobility and transport, culture and leisure, housing, urban infrastructure and economy. The classification rules considered terms and contexts present in the posts.
The study used two dimensions to analyze the relevance of the topics: engagement, considered the main indicator of mobilization capacity, and volume of publications, used to measure the recurrence of each topic.
In this report, the results from four of the five territorial areas of the research were gathered: North Fluminense, Mountain Region, Lagos and South Region and Costa Verde. The fifth section, Rio de Janeiro and Metropolitan Region, was detailed in a specific report by g1.
"This is a relevant point because it shows that people are not simply guided by these pages, but they react. We can discern between what content spreads and what actually resonates", commented Victor.
