COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS OF SURABAYA CITY GOVERNMENT THROUGH TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

Advances in information and communication technology encourage the government as a stakeholder to have social media accounts. Likewise, the community is also required to have social media as a means of communication. The importance of social media has a very significant impact, especially in the field of government, for example as a medium in conveying suggestions and complaints from the public to the government or vice versa. Twitter and Facebook are some of the social media that are very popular with Indonesians. Including the Surabaya City Government, to support and develop policy programs made, they use this social media tool as an effective medium of communication. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of effectiveness of Surabaya city government communication via Twitter and Facebook. The research method used is descriptive qualitative by utilizing the Nvivo application to process the data. In this study, there are several assessment indicators used as benchmarks, namely (1) Accuracy, (2) Creativity, (3) Activeness, (4) Interaction, (5) Transparency. From the research results, it is known that the effectiveness of communication via Twitter is better than Facebook in terms of accurate information, creativity, activeness, and transparency. Meanwhile, in terms of interaction, Facebook is higher. Therefore, the Government is required to be even more innovative in conveying information to the public, so that people have an interest in knowing information about government and policies that have been announced

Digital transparency and political communication

The academic debate on transparency has experienced a boom in recent decades. A review of the scientific literature allows us to identify two key moments in the discussion on digital transparency: the declaration of Barack Obama’s Memorandum on transparency and open government in 2009 and the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The first was linked to a groundswell of enthusiasm for the concept of government transparency, with the promise that it would boost accountability, eliminate corruption, and promote political efficiency in a crisis of institutional legitimacy. The second altered the digital transparency agenda and catalysed a discussion about the need for technology and social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, or Google) to make transparency commitments because of their role in generating a public conversation and the democratic implications. This paper reviews the idea of digital transparency in the scientific literature framed in the field of political communication and tries to reflect the need for more research on its political, social, and cultural implications

Using Digital and Social Media to Monitor and Reduce Violence in Kenya’s Elections

Social media and digital technology offer immense potential for citizens, policymakers and practitioners to raise awareness of, monitor, and respond to violence. With Kenya’s elections approaching, technology can help to raise awareness of insecurity, support early warning, combat incitement of violence and promote accountability. However, digital technology also carries a number of risks. To maximise effectiveness and inclusivity, 1) greater support must be given to locally legitimate peace messaging and counter-speech; 2) government, media and civil society should collaborate to improve transparency and accountability in the regulation of online activity; and 3) social media monitoring of violence should be undertaken in conjunction with other reporting systems that seek to overcome inequalities in digital access and use

Social media and public value

Thesis (M.M. (Public & Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Governance, 2015.In South Africa, there are a number of government institutions that have established social media presence. However social media technology is a relatively new phenomenon and not much is known about what citizens perceive to be valuable during social media interactions with government. This has resulted in government being unable to meet social media demands from citizens. This research is aimed at exploring citizens’ perceptions of how Facebook can effectively be used by government, and to what extent social media can create public value. A public sector organization was used as a case study for this research and online semi structured interviews were conducted on Facebook with citizens who have visited the organisation and are social media users. Face to face interviews were also conducted with citizens who are not social media users to understand the reasons for non-use. The literature review revealed the benefits of social media use in various functions of government globally. Facebook is the preferred social media platform for all forms of communication for participating citizens and is mainly accessed through mobile technology. This is line with literature confirming Facebook as the leading social media platform globally and in South Africa. The findings of the study revealed that effective social media implementation in government can support key four dimensions of public value – efficiency, transparency, accountability, citizen engagement. In terms of trust, social media can facilitate trust, however the entrenchment of trust is dependent upon government achieving public outcomes that improves the lives of people and not necessarily social media use alone. The findings further showed that an enabling environment should be created for successful social media implementation - comprising of a social media strategy, a capacitated operational environment with skills and expertise on social media and ongoing support from the highest structures in government. The key barriers to social media use were identified as English illiteracy, costs related to Internet connectivity, which marginalized some communities resulting in social exclusion. Recommendations were provided in terms of using this study as a model for social media implementation across all three spheres of government

Social Media Usage by Municipal Elected Officials for Open Government Community Engagement

As public administration has evolved with the technological advances in today\u27s society, it can be challenging to ensure the demands of the public are being met in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and engagement. Nonetheless, a focus on community remains at the forefront of public administration. When looking at technology and the community, the tool known as social media emerges. Social media has allowed people to interact in new ways and therefore, has allowed the government to interact with citizens in ways they have not been able to in the past. In addition to attempting to modernize public administration, there has been an increased focus on building citizen trust through providing a more open government structure. The Open Government Directive issued by President Barack Obama focused on three tenets, which included transparency, participation, and collaboration. One of the ways government entities within the United States are strengthening these areas is through the implementation of various social media sites as a means to stay connected with citizens. With an increase of users utilizing social media tools for both information and connection, many government departments and agencies have incorporated social media use into their workplace as a function for their department. However, it is elected officials that are the ones who represent the citizens from their governmental role and thus, can aid in bridging the gap between citizens and government. Yet, there is little research on how elected officials, specifically in municipalities, are utilizing social media to connect with their constituents. This study discusses social media use by municipal elected officials and how it relates to open government community engagement. Open government community engagement is defined in terms of the three tenets of the Open Government Directive: transparency, participation, and collaboration encompassing the rungs of Arnstein\u27s ladder of citizen participation. For this qualitative study, fifty-seven Florida municipal elected officials were interviewed regarding their social media use or lack thereof in terms of engagement with citizens. The interviews are followed-up with content analysis of social media sites. An ethnographic approach is utilized to uncover and develop common themes related to open government community engagement. The findings suggest while some municipal elected officials are utilizing social media well in terms of open government community engagement, there is a lack of clear understanding of social media use within the context of the Sunshine Law, as well as other barriers prohibiting utilizing social media for more of the participation and collaboration components. There are several reasons municipal elected officials opt to avoid social media altogether, while additional concepts related to open government limited engagement and closed government community engagement are explored. The concept of avoidance was addressed, especially as it pertained to the practical implications for both city administrators and elected officials

E‐transparency and government budgetary corruption: A social marketing and transformation case from Nigeria

This article shows how Information and Communication Technology (ICT), incorporating social media, can lead to accountability and transparency in a government's budget. Specifically, it examined how a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) used ICT to foster citizenship engagement in the Nigerian government budgetary process. The article, using abductive reasoning, presents four citizen empowerment stages and four social marketing transition stages through which government budget transparency can be improved and corruption reduced. A model was also inferred that can help lessen the exclusivity around the government budget to encourage dialog and openness around the government budget in similar contexts. Furthermore, this article shows that the social transformative role for NGOs using ICT to increase government budget transparency and reduce corruption is a process that happens over time

Government 2.5: The Impact of Social Media on Public Sector Accessibility

Innovative approaches to communicating with the masses continue to evolve in the private sector, while accessibility of goods, services, and public information within federal, state, and local government organizations has been declining for decades. This situation has resulted in a lack of trust and sense of isolation from communities. At the same time, the implementation and use of social media have increased exponentially. Despite the simultaneous occurrence of these events, limited research has explored the connection between them. Specifically, the purpose of this case study was to address the central research question of whether the adoption of social media platforms results in increased accessibility of goods and services within the public sector. Rogers\u27s diffusion of innovations theory founded the framework for this study. Data were collected within a local government organization through semistructured interviews with 15 employees and 15 clients, observations of daily operations, and analyses of postings made on selected social media platforms. Inductive coding and a comparative method of analysis generated emerging themes and patterns. Key findings of this study indicated significant increases in public accessibility of goods and services as the result of the implementation and use of social media. Relative to diffusion of innovations theory, findings illustrated the spread of new technology through certain channels among employees and clients. Recommendations focus on establishing strategies to ensure widespread diffusion of social media and to address socioeconomic disparities. Government agencies can use this research as a means to advance social change through open communication, an engaged workforce, and increased transparency

‘Trendy’ cities: exploring the adoption of different types of social media by Portuguese municipalities

What are the determinants of social media adoption by local government? This ongoing research provides a tentative answer to this question by analysing the 308 municipalities in Portugal. Extending previous analyses of Facebook and/or Twitter usage levels, we examine why local governments adopt a particular social media platform. More concretely, we explore, with statistical analyses, the determinants of the adoption of different types of social media. We investigate the adoption of three extremely popular social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) as well as possible alternatives to those, more popular, applications. Since these platforms have distinct natures and can serve diverse purposes, we examine to what extent aspects such as local government’s commitment to transparency and participation, administrative capacity, media landscape, and socio-demographic and economic factors can explain the adoption of certain social media platforms. The results show that, indeed, demographic characteristics and administrative capacity are important factors for the adoption of less popular social media. Surprisingly, we also observe a geographical difference in municipalities’ social media adoption, with the south, in this regard, being ‘trendier’, or more innovative, than the north.This paper is a result of the project “SmartEGOV: Harnessing EGOV for Smart Governance (Foundations, methods, Tools)/NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000037”, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (EFDR). António Tavares acknowledges the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds [Grant No. UID/CPO/0758/2019]