Transcript Public Administrations and use of the social media: an

Public Administrations and Social
Media: practices and trends in the
global scenario
LAURA MASSOLI
HEAD OF UNIT
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT
[email protected]
Outline
-DEFINITIONS
-DATA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
-USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATIONS: PRACTICES,
IMPACTS AND RISKS
-THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SERVANTS
Social Media: Definitions

Social media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn
communication into interactive dialogue and they can take many different forms,
including internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures,
video, rating and social bookmarking. The most commonly used social media include:
Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, and YouTube (European Commission, 2012)

Social media is a set of technologies and channels targeted at forming and enabling a
potentially massive community of participants to productively collaborate.
Social media has the six core characteristics of participative, collective,
transparent, independent, persistent, and emergent that deliver the unique
value of social-media and, in combination, set social media apart from other forms of
communication and collaboration (Bradley, 2010)

Social Media reflects the rapid emergence of the “participative web” with its
exponential proliferation of wikis, blogs and social bookmarking. The tools and practices
of the participative web can help to improve policy making and service delivery
by enriching government interactions with external stakeholders and
enhancing internal knowledge management (OECD, 2008)
Social Media: some data

More than 476 millions of Internet users in Europe (58,3% of the whole european
population)*

More than 223 millions of Facebook users in Europe*

In Italy: 27 millions strongly on Internet and 21 millions of Facebook users (Vincos, 2011)

Twitter users are around 200 millions although “only 21 millions” are considered “active
users” (more than 30 feeds being followed)

Among the most popular twitter users globally we register at the 8° position Barack
Obama with 12 millions of followers (Twitter stats, Feb 2012)
* http://www.internetworldstats.com - December 2011
Social Media and online services
•Paradox between the slow
take-up of large-scale online
public services and the
rapid take-up of low-budget
user-driven applications
such us social media
•These applications are not
limited to the private
sphere, to personal
relations and
entertainment but seem to
have a strong impact on
the government context
In US, Nearly one-third of
online adults use digital
tools other than websites
to get information from
government agencies or
officials (Pew, 2011)
Source: EC, 2010
What about PAs? – From ICT to social media
Although informing citizens
is still more important than
participating (involving
citizens)……..
…..administrations are
beginning to explore some
of the new participative web‘
options available
Source: OECD, 2009
Why are PAs using Social media?
 Better and stronger interactions with citizens
Why are PAs using Social media?
 Crisis and emergency management
During the 2009 flu season, H1N1 YouTube videos were viewed
2.6 million times, podcasts were downloaded 1.5 million times
and the CDC Facebook page had over 50,000
Why are PAs using Social media?
 Reaching specific targets
Why are PAs using Social media?
 Improvement of the institutional image and branding
Why are PAs using Social media?
 Better services delivery with citizens contributions
The big pictureSocial media impact on users-PAs relationship
We People
Participation
Diamoci
un taglio
IrisVenice
Arizonapolice
Communication
Talk
green
Reggio
Emilia
Turkyafe
CDC
Information
Youth on
the move
Goal
Arising public
awareness
Receiving
ratings
Obtaining
content
Social media and related risks

Low participation: It might seem obvious, but the usage of FB, blogs and wikis does not lead
automatically to greater user involvement

Participation restricted to an elite: similarly to any internet service, most social media
applications are used by the cultural and economic elite (“willing and able”, OECD, 2011)

Low quality of contributions and additional "noise": most user-generated content is
considered of low quality and can hinder the finding of good quality content and the delivery of goodquality service

Loss of control due to excessive transparency: There have been cases where opening-up the
conversation has led to loss of control and loss of credibility

Destructive behavior by users: Conversations can take a negative turn and have a negative impact
on trust and collaboration. Moreover, if government is not able and prompt in providing users/citizens
with feedback this could have a negative impact on accountability

Privacy issues: social media applications in the government context could become a further source
of sensitive information being published
The role of civil servants
 Public sector needs organizational change, developing a culture of trust and
openness that will allow public servants to take advantage of the benefits that
social media offer
 Public sector employees fall into three camps on the social media issue and
represent all age groups (Fyfe and Crockall, 2010):
-zealots, who love social media for the experience and opportunity they offer
-collaborators, who see the tools as helping them do their job better
-resisters who include those concerned with risks of policy violations and,
more compellingly, with having to face an uncertain and changing
organizational culture. Sometimes they also use privacy concerns as a screen to
block access to information that would suggest they could be doing a better job