The social media innovation challenge in the public sector

Issue title: ICT, public administration and democracy in the coming decade

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mergel, Ines^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 215 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY, USA. Tel.: +1 315 443 1462; Fax: +1 315 443 9721; E-mail: iamergel@maxwell.syr.edu | School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands | Department of Statistics, Trinity College, Ireland | Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract: The use of social media applications has been widely accepted in the U.S. government. Many of the social media strategies and day-to-day tactics have also been adopted around the world as part of local Open Government Initiatives and the worldwide Open Government Partnership. Nevertheless, the acceptance and broader adoption of sophisticated tactics that go beyond information and education paradigm such as true engagement or networking strategies are still in its infancy. Rapid diffusion is challenged by informal bottom-up experimentation that meets institutional and organizational challenges hindering innovative tactics. Going forward governments and bureaucratic organizations are also facing the challenge to show the impact of their social media interactions. Each of these challenges is discussed in this article and extraordinary examples, that are not widely adopted yet, are provided to show how government organizations can potentially overcome these challenges.

Keywords: Social networking, social media, ICT adoption

DOI: 10.3233/IP-2012-000281

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 17, no. 3-4, pp. 281-292, 2012