Seaports, Social Media, and Artificial Intelligence

By Nick Fortuna

Port authorities should maintain a strong presence on social media to engage with the public and tout the everyday impact ports have on their local communities. And with software tools powered by artificial intelligence, ports are now better positioned to gauge public sentiment and adjust their outreach strategy accordingly.

But a successful social-media strategy goes far beyond tracking each post’s likes. On Sept. 30 at the AAPA’s annual convention in New Orleans, a panel discussion will cover why every port needs a social-media policy that aligns with its goals, protocol, industry standards, and legal requirements, according to Nimrod Simeon, manager for government affairs and international relations at PortMiami.

In 2023, Simeon earned the Professional Port Management program designation through the AAPA. His research project, “Seaports and Social Media,” analyzed ports’ social-media policies and the emergence of AI tools.

Port authorities should work with their legal and administrative teams to develop a robust policy that includes the uses for, and potential risks from, AI, which is already woven into social-media platforms, Simeon said.

“It’s imperative that a seaport’s social-media policy covers all legal aspects to protect the seaport, avoid lawsuits, and facilitate a more effective engagement with the virtual port community,” he said. “I’m focused on AI because it’s not something that’s coming; It’s something that’s here, but we still have an opportunity to be proactive instead of being reactive.”

Trust and Visibility

PortMiami publishes one to three posts per day on its Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn pages, part of a broad strategy to build “trust and visibility” for the port across the area’s diverse communities, Simeon said. Individual posts may be geared toward specific segments of the port community or the region, including cruise partners, ocean carriers, employees, jobseekers, stakeholders, and local leaders.

Adriana Pastor, social media manager for PortMiami, said the port tracks user engagement with its posts to determine which demographic segments it’s reaching on which platform and what those users respond to. The port seeks out creative ways to illustrate its annual $61.4 billion economic impact on the region, including colorful posts showcasing imported produce, which supplies rich flavors to Miami’s restaurant scene.

“It’s really about understanding your audience and seeing how much engagement actually comes from your activity,” Pastor said. “Using our metrics, we create a strategy for each platform that includes posts about key milestones, things that are happening at the port that day, job openings, and more. You need to have a strong presence on social media. You don’t want to post content just once a week.”

Engagement comes from different sources on each platform, with cargo partners primarily using LinkedIn, for example, and cruise passengers preferring Facebook, Pastor said. By posting relevant information to multiple platforms consistently, ports can reach a broad cross-section of the public.

“We post every day to keep that engagement and that momentum going,” Pastor said. “Sometimes it can be like a math equation in terms of understanding who your audience is on each platform and what works for them to increase both engagement and follower growth.”

Building an Audience

Jayson Hron, director of communication and marketing for Duluth Seaway Port Authority in Minnesota, said ports should aim to be “relevant, interesting, and consistent” on social media. If a port’s social-media pages deliver on those three levels, there’s a much greater likelihood that the port will establish and grow its audience, he said.

But for ports to make social media a powerful strategic communication tool, they need to prioritize quality content creation and consistent posting, Hron said.

“It takes time and talent to do it well —to be strategic, to be engaging — and it takes someone who understands the maritime-ports ecosystem and the organization’s unique goals, in addition to having technical social-media acumen,” he said. “Social media can be an excellent tool for port authorities, a way to communicate strategically with a wide variety of audiences, ranging from crucial stakeholders to people who know nothing about ports in their region but could become advocates.”

While ports can tell their story through social media, it’s also important to keep the focus on serving the public by providing useful, timely information. Simeon points to the communications strategy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which uses social media to publish updates during incidents that affect commuters, transportation services, or facilities.

“It is important that the followers/users understand the purpose of the social-media platform for a seaport is highly focused on sharing useful information,” Simeon said. “The goal is not to entertain.”

Port authorities should be aware that posting to social media could trigger recordkeeping requirements, which should be addressed in their social-media policy. Similarly, a strong policy should address password management and who is authorized to post. Hackers, fired employees, or other bad actors could post misinformation or embarrassing material to a port’s social-media accounts by gaining access fraudulently, creating major repercussions.

Incorporating AI Tools

New AI-powered software is helping ports to manage their brands, monitor public sentiment and react as soon as issues or opportunities arise, Simeon said.

At PortMiami, the software Meltwater is helping the port to track its mentions on social media and news sites in real time and generate an easily digestible view of what’s happening online.

In a simple example, the software may detect that cruise passengers are complaining about traffic congestion near the port. The port can then post to social media to advise travelers of the delays and seek to minimize their inconvenience.

AI-powered reputation-management software can alert ports to negative comments that should be addressed, either publicly or via private message. The software can help to ensure that erroneous or damaging claims don’t go unacknowledged, which can lend them undue credibility among the public.

“We can’t control what people say about us on social media, but we can be sure that we’re engaging with the public, answering their questions, responding to issues, and having private conversations when necessary,” Pastor said.

Ready access to large-language models and other AI tools raises concerns that should addressed in a port’s social-media policy. At Duluth, the port authority prohibits employees from including trade secrets, intellectual property, or other confidential information in their conversations with generative AI tools.

All AI-generated content must be reviewed for accuracy before it’s posted or used for any purpose, and if a reliable source cannot be found to verify information generated by AI, that information can’t be used for work purposes.

“High-end AI tools can be helpful in a variety of ways, but users need to be extremely vigilant about their own data security and also fact-checking, proofing, and verifying the AI outputs,” said Hron, communications director at Duluth. “Even the best AI is still prone to errors, faulty assumptions, and hallucinations. The outputs can be very convincing but completely erroneous.

“It’s like a nail gun: It can help you build a house much faster than a hammer, but it can also do massive, irreversible damage at an accelerated pace. That doesn’t mean you don’t use the nail gun, but you use it with caution.”

SEPTEMBER 28-30, 2026

Learn more about this topic at the AAPA Annual Convention!

Panel Discussion — Seaports, Social Media, & AI: Balancing Innovation, Visibility, and Compliance

Wednesday, Sept. 30
1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m.

See the Convention feature on pages 24-29 for more information.