A framework for interpreting social media interactions in the public sector

Social media applications are extending the information and communication technology landscape in the public sector and are used to increase government transparency, participation and collaboration in the U.S. federal government. The success, impact and performance of these new forms of bi-directional and networked interactions can provide insights to understand compliance with the mandate of the Open Government Initiative. Many government agencies are experimenting with the use of social media, however very few actively measure the impact of their digital interactions. This article builds on insights from social media directors in the U.S. federal government highlighting their current lack of measurement practices for social media interactions. Based on their articulated needs for measurement, existing rules regulating the extent of measurement practices and technological features of the main social media platforms, a framework is presented that traces online interactions to mission support and the resulting social media tactics. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Collaborative accountability for sustainable public health: A Korean perspective on the effective use of ICT-based health risk communication

The sustainability of public health practices requires collaboration between the government and its citizens. On the government's side, social media can provide a conduit for communicating health risk information in an effective and timely fashion, while also engaging citizens in informed decision-making. On the citizen's side, information communication technology (ICT)-based practices cannot function unless citizens recognize and act on their responsibility to actively engage with government social media platforms. Despite an increasing interest in understanding the adoption of ICT practices and e-government services for health risk communication, there remains a crucial need for a comprehensive framework to explain which factors determine citizen use of digital government resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to increase government accountability for motivating citizens to engage in ICT-based health risk communication, thereby attaining sustainable public health practices through collaborative governance.By integrating trust and health risk information into the e-government adoption model (GAM), this research examines factors that influence citizens' likelihood of using government social media resources. Survey data from 700 Korean citizens were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that individuals with higher social media competency are more likely to (a) seek risk information through social media and (b) perceive the government's social media sites as easy to use. Consistent with the GAM, intentions to use the government's social media sites for information and interactions appear to increase as citizens perceive more value in using them regarding information quality, ease of use, functional benefit, and security. Furthermore, perceived trust in the government's social media resources appears to function as a mediator of this process. Initial trust in the government is an important determinant of perceptions of its digital resources. Citizens who trust the government tend to evaluate new initiatives positively and are more likely to accept and make use of them.The results of this study can inform policy design and implementation by elucidating the mechanisms that determine citizens' adoption and usage of digital government services. Theoretically, this work expands the GAM to include health risk communication and adds empirical evidence to the small yet growing body of knowledge of e-government initiatives. These findings also highlight the importance of public trust in the government, as this encourages citizens to seek health risk information and assistance from the government. Overall, the data and model generated in this investigation represent an important step toward the successful and sustainable modernization of public services.     

Connecting citizens and local governments? Social media and interactivity in major U.S. cities

Changing the relationship between citizens and government is often cited as a goal for digital government, and new tools such as social media have the potential to improve interactions with citizens through dialogue. Citizens are most likely to participate at the local level (Berry, Portney and Thomson, 1993; Oates, 1972; Oakerson, 1999), and the largest cities have traditionally been at the forefront in the adoption of e-government innovations (Moon, 2002; Ho, 2002). We examine the use of social networks and other interactive tools in the 75 largest U.S. cities between 2009 and 2011. During this period, the adoption of Facebook skyrocketed from just 13% of the cities in 2009 to nearly 87% in 2011; similarly, the use of Twitter increased from 25% to 87%. We further explore three case study cities through analysis of discussion on social networks, and interviews, and find that one-way “push” strategies (Mergel, 2013a) predominate, although there are some signs of greater openness toward dialogue with citizens.     

From e-government to we-government: Defining a typology for citizen coproduction in the age of social media

This paper examines the evolution of citizen coproduction in the age of social media, web 2.0 interactivity, and ubiquitous connectivity. The paper first discusses the re-emergence of citizen coproduction – whereby citizens perform the role of partner rather than customer in the delivery of public services – as a fashionable policy option in the face of persistent budget deficits and the advent of new channels for mass collaboration. Finding a plethora of competing labels, models, and concepts for coproduction in the age of social media, the paper proposes a unified typology to support systematic analysis based on the overarching categories of “Citizen Sourcing,” “Government as a Platform,” and “Do-It-Yourself Government.” To demonstrate its use, the typology is applied to leading U.S. government implementations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential implications for public administration, the remaining limitations and rising social concerns, and the possible emergence of a new social contract that empowers the public to play a far more active role in the functioning of their government.     

政务社交媒体中用户信息获取影响因素研究述评

[目的/意义] 政务社交媒体已成为各国电子政务的核心组成部分,为了更好地推广政务社交媒体的应用,需要了解影响用户使用的因素。[方法/过程] 梳理和总结当前国内外新媒体环境下电子政务用户接受/采纳模型的相关研究,从概念界定、基础理论及其应用、研究方法、影响因素等方面进行了述评。[结果/结论] 将政务社交媒体用户信息获取影响因素划分为5个层面,即技术层面、组织层面、环境层面、任务层面和个人层面,以期为相关的研究人员提供借鉴。     

企业移动电子税务采纳影响因素的实证研究

基于TAM(技术接受模型),引入TOE(技术-组织-环境模型)的要素,结合移动税务推广情况,构建企业移动税务采纳影响因素的理论模型,并以武汉、南京两地企业为对象展开问卷调查。实证检验表明,政府压力、感知易用性、市场竞争压力、人力资源投入、第三方推动、感知有用性、信息技术基础设施是影响企业采纳意向的重要因素。最后,根据研究结果得出提高企业移动税务采纳水平的建议。     

Challenges in the adoption of crisis crowdsourcing and social media in Canadian emergency management

When a disaster occurs, government agencies are responsible for managing the response and recovery efforts of the impacted communities and infrastructure. Crowdsourcing and social media are widely used in disaster response, yet their primary implementation and application are often via non-governmental agencies and private citizens. A review of the literature suggests that government emergency management agencies in Canada have made little documented progress in adopting crowdsourcing or social media for emergency management. Most of the literature around crowdsourcing and social media for emergency management focus on its use or role outside of Canada (e.g. the USA, Australia, etc.). In order for government agencies in Canada to progress, it is important to identify the Canada-specific barriers and constraints. This study offers a new perspective from Canadian government emergency management agencies to address this gap. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with 15 government officials from 14 agencies, this study identifies the primary challenges and constraints faced by Canadian agencies looking to adopt crisis crowdsourcing. Results indicate that organizational factors, policies, and federal legislation in Canada present barriers to crisis crowdsourcing (including crowdsourcing through social media) adoption within agencies at various levels of government. Based on these results, recommendations are made to support the adoption of crisis crowdsourcing amongst Canadian government agencies.     

北京市居民网络使用影响因素分析——基于分层线性模型的应用

使用2009年中国家庭动态跟踪调查的数据,利用分层线性模型分析社会人口因素和区域性因素对北京市居民网络使用因素的影响。研究发现,个人层面的年龄、性别、受教育程度、婚姻状态和家庭层面的家庭用电量、文化和教育支出、休闲娱乐支出、公交距离这些变量对个人网络使用有很大影响。此外,互联网使用对传统媒体中的电视、书刊的影响在统计上显著。     

Social media strategies: Understanding the differences between North American police departments

Within a short timeframe, social media have become to be widely used in government organizations. Social media gurus assume that the transformational capacities of social media result in similar communication strategies in different organizations. According to them, government is transforming into a user-generated state. This paper investigates this claim empirically by testing the claim of convergence in social media practices in three North-American police departments (Boston, Washington DC and Toronto). The research shows that the social media strategies are widely different: the Boston Police Department has developed a ‘push strategy’ while the Metropolitan Police Department in DC has developed a ‘push and pull strategy and the Toronto Police Service a ‘networking strategy’. The paper concludes that a combination of contextual and path-dependency factors accounts for differences in the emerging social media strategies of government organizations. Social media have a logic of their own but this logic only manifests itself if it lands on fertile soil in a government bureaucracy.     

Understanding risks,benefits, and strategic alternatives of social media applications in the public sector

Social media such as blogs, microblogs or electronic social networks can transform the ways in which we relate to other people and organizations. Government organizations are experimenting with social media to communicate with their constituents, and many analysts see in these media a powerful set of tools to reinvent government–citizen relationships. In this paper, we present the perceptions of risks, benefits and strategic guidelines about social media applications gathered from 250 public servants from Central Mexico, most of them working in information technology, as web masters or responding to Freedom of Information Act requests. The conclusions of the analysis are 1) that governments' participation in social media may result in improved communication and citizen participation, more transparency, and transfer of best practices among government agencies; 2) that a good implementation strategy is necessary to realize these benefits and to avoid risks; and 3) that the implementation of social media highlights the importance of updating laws and regulations, and of promoting changes in government culture and organizational practices.     

Awareness,Reporting, and Branding: Exploring Influences on Brazilian Journalists’ Social Media Use across Platforms

ABSTRACT

This study examines the individual and organizational level factors shaping Brazilian journalists’ use of social media. Results from a survey of 774 reporters show that individual factors influence awareness and reporting uses, while organizational factors are associated with branding. Results suggest no difference between groups of journalists, when it comes to incorporating social media for reporting; but online reporters engage in branding and use social media as an awareness system more than their counterparts. Findings also reveal that journalists have not fully embraced the participatory potential of social media, as only trust in information posted by other journalists relates to adoption.     

Social media use in local government: Linkage of technology,task, and organizational context

Social media technologies have begun to enter the governmental workplace as tools to accomplish improved public service and engagement. Widespread recognition of the potential of social media technology for achieving public outcomes does not match our understanding about how and why specific tools are being used for specific purposes. This paper makes use of newly collected national survey data from local government managers in five different agencies to address the questions: which social media tools are being used, for which tasks or purposes; and what organizational characteristics influence the coupling of task and technology. Findings reveal patterns of social media tool application for particular purposes, although organizations do not all use social media tools in the same way. Moreover, regression analysis shows that different organizational factors – work characteristics, innovativeness, technology and management capacity and stakeholder influence – predict each of the four technology–task couplings — social media for dissemination, social media for feedback on service quality, social media for participation, and social media for internal work collaboration. This study demonstrates that social media tools are not a monolithic group and calls for greater research attention to the complex interactions among social media technology, task and organizational context.     

THE 'OTHER' AS THE VULNERABLE VOTER: A STUDY OF THE THIRD-PERSON EFFECT IN THE 1988 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

The tendency for individuals to perceive a greater impact ofmedia messages on others than on the self, Davison (1983) argues,has led to a number of policy decisions in which éliteshave exercised control of mass media messages in order to ‘protect’vulnerable others. The third-person effect has been well-documentedin experimental research with little attention to its theoreticalunderpinnings, or its antecedents or consequences. This articleargues that the third-person effect can be understood throughattribution theory, especially through the concepts of self-servingbias and effectance motivation. Second, it demonstrates thatthe third-person effect is influenced by certain social structuralfactors, media use patterns, and perceived harm of content.Finally, while perceptions of harm are related to perceptionsof influence, influence does not play a role in predicting supportfor external control of media content, while perceived harmhas a significant impact.     

Government Digital Transformation: Understanding the Role of Government Social Media

Government social media has been integrated as part of the government administrative tools to improve public service and promote public goals. However, the current government information literature is limited to understanding government social media adoption and its purpose for political marketing. The present study seeks to understand the role of government social media in promoting government digital initiatives (i.e., government-backed digital currency). The study validated the inter-relationships between government social media effort, privacy concerns, trust in technology, reachability, and citizens' participation in government-initiated digital innovations. A total of 505 responses from Chinese citizens were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire survey, and the data was submitted to a two-stage Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling-Artificial Neural Network analysis. The analytic results revealed that privacy concerns, trust in technology, and reachability positively influence digital participation. In addition, the information quality and perception of trust in government social media have significant positive influences on government social media engagement. The study provides strategic practical suggestions to government agencies in effectively utilizing social media as a communication platform to foster citizens' participation in government's digital initiatives.     

Social media in Egyptian government websites: Presence,usage, and effectiveness

This paper examines the presence, usage, and effectiveness of Egyptian government social media websites. The adoption of social media technology provides an illustration of the application of New Public Service (NPS) theory to public administration. The first phase of this study examined the presence of social media applications on these government websites. The second phase analyzed the use of Facebook by governmental entities in Egypt. The use of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were the top social media applications in Egyptian government websites, which is consistent with other government surveys of social media found in developed countries. In terms of effectiveness of these social media websites, they were used mainly to post information, with very little two-way interaction between citizens and government. The analysis in this paper shows that social media in Egypt is not much in line with the NPS theory.     

Which candidates do the public discuss online in an election campaign?: The use of social media by 2012 presidential candidates and its impact on candidate salience

The effects of new communication technologies on election campaigns, and the effectiveness of media-centered campaign strategies more broadly, remain ongoing subjects for debate in political science. This study provides some of the first empirical evidence about the potential impact of social media on the 2012 U.S. presidential elections, by testing the association between “candidate salience” and the candidates' level of engagement in online social media sphere. We define “candidate salience” as the extent to which candidates are discussed online by the public in an election campaign, and have selected the number of mentions presidential candidates receive on the social media site, Twitter, as means of quantifying their salience. This strategy allows us to examine whether social media, which is widely recognized as disruptive in the broader economic and social domains, has the potential to change the traditional dynamics of U.S. election campaigns. We find that while social media does substantially expand the possible modes and methods of election campaigning, high levels of social media activity on the part of presidential candidates have, as of yet, resulted in minimal effects on the amount of public attention they receive online.     

Social media adoption by Audit Institutions. A comparative analysis of Europe and the United States

Several authors and international organizations have recommended that public sector Audit Institutions use social media (SM) to communicate with and engage stakeholders, but the adoption and use of these tools by Audit Institutions has remained unexplored. This paper analyzes the presence of Audit Institutions in Web 2.0 and SM tools, in the EU and US, at regional and central government level, in order to answer the following research questions: What is the level of adoption of Web 2.0 and SM tools among Audit Institutions? Can any patterns of adoption be identified? What factors are related to the adoption of Web 2.0 and SM tools? What is the main objective of the content published? What is the number of followers and the level of citizen awareness? Results show that the adoption of Web 2.0 and SM tools by Audit Institutions is at an initial stage. There are differences in adoption between Supreme and Regional Audit Institutions, among the different public administration styles, and depending on the population size and level of use of SM and previous levels of transparency at country level. This results in predictable patterns of adoption consistent with path dependencies derived from the institutional context and citizen demands. The number of followers and citizens' awareness is generally low and the contents published rarely aim at encouraging stakeholder participation. Based on these findings, theoretical and practical implications are highlighted.     

Do you Facebook? Usage and applications of Facebook page among academic libraries in Malaysia

This paper explores the use and application of Facebook among Malaysian academic libraries in order to provide academic libraries with ideas for best practices in using social networking sites to better profile themselves and communicate effectively with their users. The research questions guiding this study were: (a) What are the extent and nature of institutional Facebook use by Malaysian academic libraries? (b) What information do Malaysian academic libraries deliver through Facebook page? This study employs content analysis to examine current uses of the library Facebook page. A checkpoint was developed to analyze the libraries’ usage and application of Facebook page. A total of 14 academic libraries in Malaysia are using Facebook page as part of their services to users. However only three libraries are fully utilizing their Facebook page, and they have been identified as “Skaters” based on the 8-S Framework of Category Development for Facebook user. Most libraries are using their Facebook page for marketing and creating awareness of library services to their users.     

An empirical investigation of mobile government adoption in rural China: A case study in Zhejiang province

This study is among the first attempts to empirically investigate the adoption of mobile government by rural populations in developing economies. Based on 409 validated questionnaires collected from families living in rural China, the study examines the interdependences among rural inhabitants' demographic attributes, their access to and perceptions of mobile government, and quantifies how their intention to use mobile government is influenced by technology attributes, social factors and trust beliefs. The results indicate that young males, who live far from a village center or market, and have some knowledge of recent government policies, tend to have a more positive perception of mobile government, and therefore become potential adopters of the service. Perceived ease of use, near-term usefulness, long-term usefulness, integrity, benevolence, image and social influence have significant and positive influences on the intention to use mobile government. Specifically, perceived ease of use, long-term usefulness and social influence have a direct influence on intention to use, while perceived near-term usefulness, integrity, benevolence and image have an indirect influence.     

移动图书馆用户采纳行为的整合模型实证研究

基于传统信息系统采纳模型,结合心理学和行为科学相关理论,从一般技术因素、特定技术因素、用户心理因素和社会影响因素四个方面构建了一个整合的移动图书馆用户采纳行为的结构方程模型,并且采用SPSS 17．0和PLS结构方程软件对模型和假设进行检验。实证结果表明：感知易用性、感知移动性、用户创新性、感知信任和网络外部性是影响用户采纳移动图书馆的主要因素,而感知有用性、感知货币价值和社会规范对用户采纳移动图书馆的影响不显著。