Evaluation Of e-Government Services From The Citizen Perspective

The inversion of reduction of confidence in combination with the need to face lack of resources for public administration has led governments and various governmental institutions to develop and propagate the services of electronic government. Investing millions in these services governments seek for measures and models that will quantify and highlight the profits that come up from these investments. Initially we present a short literature review of the existing indicators applied by the European Union and institutions that measure citizens’ satisfaction from the use of electronic government services , as well as the relevant research evaluation models. Afterwards, focusing on the scientific gaps that exist, a conceptual model of citizen acceptance satisfaction with E-government services is proposed and developed. Implications for further research and possible modification to the model are also proposed

Blogs, wikis and creative innovation

blogs, internet, innovation

The use of blogs as social media tools of political communication : citizen journalism and public opinion 2.0

In recent years, the political arena has been transformed into a space of public debate, a phenomenon which is both evident, yet hitherto unparalleled. A new range of digital social communication tools framed within the Web 2.0 era, with the blog often proving the tool of choice, has displaced the traditional pre-eminence of the communication scenario, as previously used by the mass media, thanks to a series of more interactive, diverse and credible dynamics which place the user at the very heart of the political discussion process and facilitates processes of social mobilization and collective civic action. This study takes the above situation as its point of departure and guiding principle to propose and define political blogs as a new means of creating information and opinion, and communicating and occasioning effective influence in public agenda-setting. This theoretical work undertakes a detailed critical analysis of the potential of these tools and explains the extent to which they should be considered appropriate platforms for the communication and discussion of public issues. Moreover, it will also consider their engagement in a new, more open form of citizen journalism, free of the bias and pressures exerted by large media corporations, thus creating a digital public sphere with far greater capacity and agency for change

Blogging the hyperlocal : the disruption and renegotiation of hegemony in Malta

This thesis examines how blogging is being deployed to disrupt institutional hegemony in Malta. The island state is an example of a hyperlocal context that includes strong political, ecclesiastical and media institutions, advanced take-up of social technologies and a popular culture adjusting to the promise of modernity represented by EU membership. Popular discourse is dominated by political partisanship and advocacy journalism, with Malta being the only European country that permits political parties to directly own broadcasting stations.The primary evidence in this study is derived from an analysis of online texts during an organic crisis that eventually led to a national referendum to consider the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta. Using netnography supplemented by critical discourse analysis, the research identifies a set of strategies bloggers used to resist, challenge and disrupt the discourse of a hegemonic alliance that included the ruling political party, the Roman Catholic Church and their media. The empirical results indicate that blogging in Malta is contributing to the erosion of the Church’s hegemony. Subjects that were previously marginalised as alternative are increasingly finding an online outlet in blog posts, social media networks and commentary on newspaper portals.Nevertheless, a culture of social surveillance together with the natural barriers of size and the permeability of the social web facilitates the appropriation of blogging by political blocs, who remain vigilant to the opportunity of extending their influence in new media to disrupt horizontal networks of information exchange. Blogging is increasingly operating as a component of a hybrid media ecosystem that thrives on reflexive cycles of entertainment: the independent newspaper media, for long an active partner in the hegemonic set up in Malta, are being transformed and rendered more permeable at the same time as their power and influence are being eroded. The study concludes that a new episteme is more likely to emerge through the symbiosis of hybrid media and reflexive waves of networked individualism than systemic, organised attempts at online political disruption

From the polis to Facebook : social media and the development of a new Greek public sphere

The objective of this research project is to critically examine how social and new media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and online radio have influenced the potential development or rejuvenation of public sphere, civil society, and public discourse in Greece during the years of the country’s economic, political, and social crisis. The project attempts to answer how social and new media have impacted the public sphere and civil society, how social and new media have contributed to the formation of new political and social movements, how social and new media have contributed to the formation of alternative online news sources, and whether social and new media are considered to be more credible sources of news and information compared to mainstream media institutions. Greece was selected as the site for this research project in response to the prevailing view found in the body of academic literature that Greece’s public sphere and civil society have historically been underdeveloped when compared to the countries of Western Europe and the United States. In addition, the political and economic upheaval which accompanied the Greek economic crisis and the country’s location at the intersection of Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, presented intriguing possibilities for research and for examining the role that new technologies can play in the redevelopment of the public sphere and civil society during a time of crisis. Interviews were conducted with over 120 individuals, including elected officials and political personnel, journalists, media professionals, bloggers, academics, opinion leaders, activists, and representatives of organizations active within civil society. Five illustrative examples of organizations with a prominent social media presence, including a non-governmental organization, a political party, a mainstream media corporation, an online news portal, and an alternative online radio station were examined. Electronic survey research was also performed across three sample populations, including Greece’s representatives in the European Parliament, editors of major Greek newspapers, and representatives from organizations operating in the civil society sector. This dissertation is based on longitudinal, multi-year research performed in Greece between September 2012 and August 2017.Radio-Television-Fil

Blogs: On the Cutting Edge of the Next-generation Web

This article analyses a number of social and cultural aspects of the blog phenomenon with the methodological aid of a complexity model, the New Techno-social Environment (hereinafter also referred to by its Spanish acronym, NET, or Nuevo Entorno Tecnosocial) together with the socio-technical approach of the two blogologist authors. Both authors are researchers interested in the new reality of the Digital Universal Network (DUN). After a review of some basic definitions, the article moves on to highlight some key characteristics of an emerging blog culture and relates them to the properties of the NET. Then, after a brief practical parenthesis for people entering the blogosphere for the first time, we present some reflections on blogs as an evolution of virtual communities and on the changes experienced by the inhabitants of the infocity emerging from within the NET. The article concludes with a somewhat disturbing question; whether among these changes there might not be a gradual transformation of the structure and form of human intelligence

Media and Communication in Europe

This timely book explores how the media shape the Europeanization of the public sphere within the European Union (EU). Bringing together a range of international scholars in media studies and journalism and covering both traditional and online media, it argues that Europeanization is not just an idea - it is a real, ongoing process that we are experiencing every day. Assessing a wide range of actors and processes and acknowledging the diverse relationships between media and politics, the chapters edited by Agnieszka Stepinska reflect contemporary conceptualizations of Europeanization and unravel the complex mediatization of European politics. It covers topics as diverse as children's socialization within the European Union via kid's TV programmes; the impact of the 'Euroblogosphere' on policy decisions; and international broadcasting as one of the key elements to understanding new public diplomacy in Europe. Using the Polish EU presidency of 2011 as an extensive case study, the book's latter part shows what impact Poland's presidency had on its representation, both domestically and abroad, and questions the Presidency's actual power of attracting media attention. 'Media and Communication in Europe' is a valuable resource for any student and researcher interested in the complex relationship between the media and the EU

Give Me That Online Religion: Religious Authority and Resistance Through Blogging

This study of forty-nine Christian blogs explores how groups of bloggers in two case studies resist and/or perpetuate hegemonic gender ideologies online and where these bloggers draw authority from for these views. The findings reveal that bloggers are most likely to cite texts as sources of authority and are more likely to affirm authority (78.1%) than to challenge it (25.7%). The bloggers in my sample, who were majority male, use an array of strategies in their efforts to resist hegemonic gender norms. These included, but are not limited to, debating God’s gender, emphasizing women’s roles in the Bible, privileging equality in theological interpretations, redefining masculinity and employing satire and images to delegitimize hegemonic power

Comments, What For? User Participation and Quality of the Debate in Four European Newspapers Political J-blogs

In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in the spaces for content written by audiences in the news media and the growing integration of such material in areas that had been reserved for news professionals until now. And, without a doubt, political issues have been one of the ones that have generated the most debate on the networks. And, without a doubt, political issues have been one of the issues that have created the most citizen participation. To contribute to this debate, the article summarizes findings of a broader project on the activity of audiences employing qualitative research of the users’ comments collected from the political blogs of Elpais.com, Guardian.co.uk, Lemonde.fr, and Repubblica.it. As results indicate, the patterns of the audience’s participation varied across countries. Still, it coincides in that there are lower levels of dialogue between participants as well as of involvement of the authors-bloggers than expected

Toward a Grammar of the Blogosphere: Rhetoric and Attention in the Networked Imaginary

This dissertation explores the rhetorical imaginary of internetworked societies by examining three cases where actors in the blogosphere shaped public deliberation. In each case, I analyze a trope that emerged organically as bloggers theorized their own rhetorical interventions, and argue that these tropes signal shifts in how citizens of networked societies imagine their relations. The first case study, on the blogosphere's reaction to Trent Lott's 2002 toast to Strom Thurmond, examines how bloggers "flooded the zone" by relentlessly interpreting the event and finding evidence that eventually turned the tide of public opinion against Lott. Flooding the zone signifies the inventional possibilities of blogging through the production of copious public argument. The second case study, focusing on the 2003 blogging of the Salam Pax, an English-speaking Iraqi living in Iraq on the precipice of war, develops the idea of "ambient intimacy" which is produced through the affective economy of blogging. The ambient intimacy produced through blogging illustrates the blurring of traditional public/private distinctions in contemporary public culture. The third case study, on the group science blog RealClimate, identifies how blogs have become sites for translating scientific controversies into ordinary language through a process of "shallow quotation." The diffusion of expertise enabled by the interactive format of blogging provides new avenues to close the gap between public and technical reasoning. The dissertation concludes by examining the advent and implications of "hyperpublicity" produced by ubiquitous recording devices and digital modes of circulation