Social Media Use in the Public Sector (original) (raw)
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Citizen 2.0: Public and Governmental Interaction through Web 2.0 Technologies
Social media is promising new opportunities across a broad spectrum of public services. As the Internet and its ubiquitous applications extend globally, an increasing number of governments and their public service agencies are embracing social media as one of the major mechanisms to interact with the public. Social media provides a new wave of Web-based applications and channels for citizens to share constructive ideas and opinions and play active roles in various areas in the public sector. At the same time, social media helps government organizations and elected officials of different government levels to actively listen to citizens and constantly monitor their existing services as well as develop new initiatives. Effective integration of Web 2.0 technologies and applications into existing Internet infrastructure adds visibility and accountability in the public sector and enhances services to citizens.
The Impact of Social Media in the Public Sector
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015
In recent years the flood of new technologies and the expanded use of social media have already changed the way people communicate with each other. New technologies and social media, however, can change the communication between Government and the citizens as they contribute decisively to the transformation of public administration towards a new and open format that will be characterized by: a) active participation of citizens in public affairs, b) close collaboration between public services and between government and citizens, and c) transparency of the State activities. The transition to an open governance is a process with many stages. This paper presents different models of e-government and open government referred to in the literature, and proposes a new model of open government. Furthermore, in this paper we will try to answer questions such as: What are the guidelines and commitments to Greece, Europe and the world? What is the level of penetration of new technologies in public administration in different countries and which ones are actively moving towards a model of open government? We will also present representative efforts developed in Greece and abroad that attempt to serve the principles of transparency, active participation, innovation and collaboration in the public sector. Finally suggestions and recommendations are made for further study and research.
Adoption of Social Media as Communication Channels in Government Agencies
Cloud Computing Technologies for Connected Government, 2016
Social media has become an integral part of many people's lives around the world. The main use of this communication channel is to connect with social circles. It is also widely used for commercial and business purposes. Governments are also keen to use social media as an alternative to the traditional communication channels. Nonetheless, when the level of use of social media in the government is compared to other fields, a clear gap becomes apparent. This chapter investigates the adoption of social media as a communication channel between citizens, public agencies and government departments; and considers a wide range of factors that affect the issue from the perspective of public agencies. This chapter presents an extensive literature review and proposes a framework that organises the critical factors that affect public agencies' efforts while implementing social media. We also provide a list of hypotheses to validate and evaluate the significance of these factors.
Introduction to the special issue on social media and government
First Monday, 2018
The use of social media by public administration has been growing steadily, and fostering important transformations in organization, costs, citizen interaction and efficiency. Citizens are increasingly more informed about government activities, performance, and claims solutions. Citiizens and non-profit organizations are in greater communication with each other about government planning and response to complex and collective problems. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and WhatsApp, as well as related tools, such as commenting, liking, tagging and rating, change the distribution of information, power and resources. The growing maturity of public officials in the use of these tools not only creates new opportunities, but also engenders problems. Many politicians, public officials and public servants are seeking ways to adapt their daily operations and practices to make effective use of social media for interaction with non-governmental organizations and with citizens a...
Using survey data collected from 463 local government officials from municipalities across the United States, this study examines the use of social media tools by local governments and their perceptions of social media use by their citizenry. It specifically addresses how social media are used as public relations functions to serve democratic, participatory, and transparency models across a range of government contexts. Results indicate that social media are somewhat underutilized by local governments, with about a 70% overall use rate. Perceived importance of social media predicted actual use; however, it was disappointing to find that these officials' perceptions of whether or not their citizens expected them to use social media did not predict use. Facebook and Twitter were the most commonly used tools; the vast majority of posts and tweets they write are about special events. Well over one-third used at least one research or conferencing social meia tool. Implications and im...
Social Media Applications Promote Constituent Involvement in Government Management
IGI Global eBooks, 2020
This chapter explores the use of social media applications by local governments to communicate with constituents and promote involvement in policy and project management activities. Although public and private sector organizations make different uses of social media (Halverson, Hauknes, Miles, & Røste, 2005), there are many ways for government and nonprofit entities to make use of Web 2.0 applications. The focus in this chapter is on local government and a variety of examples will be provided. Some local government agencies primarily provide information to constituents through the social media apps, while others solicit the input from citizens to expand involvement. Finally, suggestions for future research and uses will be discussed.
Government innovation through social media
Social media in government is becoming one of the major trends in Electronic Government (e-government) research and practice worldwide. During the last few years, several authors have addressed the potential of social media for the innovation of public sector organizations. Most of these contributions have focused on the technical dimensions of social media, while other aspects have not attracted equal attention. In contrast, this introductory article interrogates the role of social media in the basic areas of e-government: government information flows and the availability of government information; the use of information technology to create and provide innovative government services; the impact of information technology on the relationships between the governed and those governing; and the increasing importance of information policies and information technologies for democratic practices. Accordingly, the next few pages propose and develop three dimensions of social media in government: tools, goals, and topics. We think that these dimensions could help to better understand the use of social media in government settings. Then, after a brief review of current trends in social media and government research, we present the articles included in this special issue. Finally, we present some practical lessons and suggest ideas for future research. This special issue could be seen as a starting point for the development of innovation through social media in public administrations around the world.
Social media in government offices: usage and strategies
Aslib Journal of Information Management, 2020
PurposeThe current study seeks to present and examine the strategies, management and dissemination of information on social media platforms by Israeli government organizations and agencies.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses the “Case Study” approach, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with directors in charge of the use of social media in government departments.FindingsThe findings indicate that government agencies tend to favor Facebook over other social network platforms, in order to reach the widest possible audience. They do this by adhering to the platform's limitations, such as regularly using sponsored advertising to increase reach and visibility, and also by publishing visual content, such as videos and images, at the expense of text. In addition, the impact of respondents to adopt social media outweighs the use and importance awarded to traditional government websites. A clear preference is evident toward cultivating and strengthening existi...