Public Administration and Information Technology Volume 15 Series Editor Christopher G. Reddick, San Antonio, TX, USA More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10796
Mehmet Zahid Sobaci Editor Social Media and Local Governments Theory and Practice
Editor Mehmet Zahid Sobaci Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Department of Public Administration Uludağ University Nilufer, Turkey Public Administration and Information Technology ISBN 978-3-319-17721-2 ISBN 978-3-319-17722-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-17722-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015939177 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface Today, social media provide public institutions with new channels for rapidly spreading information, boosting transparency and accountability, self-promotion to improve their image in the public eye, methods for designing and delivering public services with citizens, improving policy making, and encouraging the cross-agency cooperation. In this context, social media can contribute to the emergence of citizenoriented, open, and participatory public administration. Taking the advantage of the opportunities offered by social media tools is not limited to central government. These tools can be platforms to exchange views, share information, deliver public service, engage the citizens, and trigger the debate regarding social and political problems at the local level. Thus, these platforms may bring about the adaptation of a new conception of local services and the roles of local politicians and their relationship with the citizens. In this context, this book focuses on the relationship between the local governments and social media. This edited book deals with the change that social media have caused in the organization, understanding of public service provision, and performance of local governments. In this book, the effect of social media on the relations between local governments and their partners is analyzed. Moreover, this study focuses on the impact of social media on local politics. In other words, this book tries to explicate the role that the social media tools play in local governments as the new forms of internet-based communication. This edited book supposes that the social media tools have an impact on the conception of local service provision and local politics. However, it has to be examined and analyzed whether the social media tools actually do realize their potential in local governments. Thus, this study provides evaluations of basic issues, questions, and problems related to the use of social media tools by local governments and includes case studies. This edited book raises the following questions and issues: (1) How does the use of social media affect the organization, functions, performance, and relationships with partners of local government? (2) How are the social media adopted by local governments and local politicians? What are the factors that affect the adoption of social media tools by the local governments and the elected? (3) What are the benefits and risks of using and adoption of social media by the local governments and v
vi Preface local politicians? (4) Does the use of social media contribute to the improvement of public services, citizen participation, and the strengthening of local democracy? (5) Can the efficiency of the use of social media tools in local governments be measured? (6) Do the social media transform the local politics and local leadership? (7) How are the social media tools used in local elections? There are 17 chapters which are divided into six parts in this book. Each of the parts deals with an important dimension of social media in local government. Part I, Concept, Policy and Perception, provides an evaluation of the relationship between local governments and social media, presents social media policy for local government, and captures the perception of policymakers in local government regarding social media. Part II, Presence and Use, through case studies, focuses on how and to what extent local governments use social media. Part III, Adoption and Diffusion, analyzes factors that affect the adoption of social media tools by local governments and local politicians through case studies. Part IV, Communication and Citizen Engagement, investigates how social media tools are used by local governments as a communication and citizen engagement channels. Part V of the book, Local Elections and Campaigns includes chapters focusing on the effect of social media on local politics and election campaigns. Part VI, Emerging Issues, focuses on the emerging issues such as the role of the social media in city branding and in crisis communication management. This edited book deals with social media in local government from theoretical and practical perspectives. Despite the expansion of literature on social media, there is hardly any book focusing on the relationship between the social media and local governments. In addition to theoretical discussions, this study presents cases from some countries with different political regimes, administrative structures, political and administrative culture, and socio-economical levels. Thus, I believe that this book fills in a vital gap in the relevant literature. The book provides a good source of reference for graduate students, academicians, and researchers, in several disciplines and fields, such as information and communication technology, public administration, political science, communication studies, and public policy. Moreover, local politicians and administrators will find the book very useful. Politicians, public officials, and research centers on social media and local government around the world can use the insights from the book to guide their decisions. This book is a product of a very intensive effort of many people. I would like to record my gratitude to them. Firstly, I would like to thank the authors of this book. They made tireless efforts to revise their chapters. This book would not be possible without the tireless work of the contributors. I am indebted to reviewers whose critical and constructive reports have contributed to the quality of the chapters. In particular, I appreciate immensely the time and effort taken by my colleague İbrahim Hatipoğlu. I express my appreciation for the proficient work done by the staff of Springer. My editorial work would not be possible without the support of them. Finally, I want to express my particular thanks to my family especially my brothers Cihat and Faik Selim for their patience, tolerance, and moral support. Nilufer, Turkey Mehmet Zahid Sobaci
Contents Part I Concept, Policy and Perception 1 Social Media and Local Governments: An Overview... 3 Mehmet Zahid Sobaci 2 Designing Social Media Policy for Local Governments: Opportunities and Challenges... 23 Özer Köseoğlu and Aziz Tuncer 3 Policymakers Perceptions on the Citizen Participation and Knowledge Sharing in Public Sector Delivery... 37 Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar Part II Presence and Use 4 Facebook Use in Western European Local Governments: An Overall View... 59 Enrique Bonsón, Melinda Ratkai, and Sonia Royo 5 Social Media and Local Government in Canada: An Examination of Presence and Purpose... 79 Anatoliy Gruzd and Jeffrey Roy 6 Social Media in Local Governments in Mexico: A Diffusion Innovation Trend and Lessons... 95 Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazán and David Valle-Cruz 7 Social Media Adoption and Use by Australian Capital City Local Governments... 113 Wayne Williamson and Kristian Ruming vii
viii Contents Part III Adoption and Diffusion 8 Adopting Social Media in the Local Level of Government: Towards a Public Administration 2.0?... 135 J. Ignacio Criado and Francisco Rojas-Martín 9 Greek Local E-Government 2.0: Drivers and Outcomes of Social Media Adoption... 153 Amalia Triantafillidou, Georgios Lappas, Prodromos Yannas, and Alexandros Kleftodimos 10 The Diffusion of Microblogging in the Public Sector: Evidence from Chinese Provinces... 171 Liang Ma Part IV Communication and Citizen Engagement 11 Digital Civic Participation in Australian Local Governments: Everyday Practices and Opportunities for Engagement... 195 Julie Freeman 12 The Use of Facebook to Promote Engagement with Local Governments in Spain... 219 Arturo Haro De Rosario, Alejandro Sáez Martín, and María Del Carmen Caba Pérez 13 Social Media and the City: Analyzing Conversations in Municipal Facebook Pages... 243 Azi Lev-On and Nili Steinfeld Part V Local Campaigns and Elections 14 The Net Effect of Social Media on Election Results: The Case of Twitter in 2014 Turkish Local Elections... 265 Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, Kadir Yasin Eryiğit, and İbrahim Hatipoğlu 15 Social Media Indicator and Local Elections in the Netherlands: Towards a Framework for Evaluating the Influence of Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook... 281 Robin Effing, Jos van Hillegersberg, and Theo Huibers Part VI Emerging Issues 16 Branding Cities in the Age of Social Media: A Comparative Assessment of Local Government Performance... 301 Efe Sevin 17 Social Media Use in Crisis Communication Management: An Opportunity for Local Communities?... 321 Rocio Zamora Medina and Jose Carlos Losada Diaz