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Social Media for Government Services: An Introduction

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Social Media for Government Services

Abstract

Government agencies and departments all over the world have started using various forms of social media for different purposes. Though the use of social media in public sectors is increasing, the adoption path is not easy and straightforward. Furthermore, in many situations, the use is still in an infancy stage when it is measured against pre-set objectives. The aim of this chapter is multiple folds. The chapter first provides a brief introduction of social media and types of social media. It then describes the adoption process in government. This is followed by some example applications where social media has been successfully used. A few key challenges that are proven to be difficult in adopting social media are given. Finally, the chapter provides a framework to define guidelines and policies to overcome these challenges.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Social-Media-Big-Lessons-from-the-Boston-Marathon-Bombing.html.

  2. 2.

    http://pttemergency.pixnet.net/blog.

  3. 3.

    See, for example: http://social-media-for-development.org/nepal-earthquake-how-social-media-has-been-used-in-the-aftermath/.

  4. 4.

    http://cpd.org.au/2009/09/case-study-public-sphere-as-a-gov-2-0-example-of-open-government/—accessed September 29th, 2015.

  5. 5.

    http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au/wiki/view/FMPlan.

  6. 6.

    http://www.ning.com/.

  7. 7.

    See, for example, “lessons learnt” from the FutureMelbourne experiment: http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au/wiki/pub/FMPlan/WebHome/Future_Melbourne_Wiki_Post_Implementation_.pdf— accessed September 29th, 2015, or the experience of the Australian Department for Human Services in Chap. 2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Data61, Sydney, Australia

    Surya Nepal & Cecile Paris

  2. RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Dimitrios Georgeakopoulos

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  1. Surya Nepal
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  2. Cecile Paris
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  3. Dimitrios Georgeakopoulos
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Correspondence to Surya Nepal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Data61, Marsfield, New South Wales, Australia

    Surya Nepal

  2. Services Flagship, CSIRO Data61, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Cécile Paris

  3. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Dimitrios Georgakopoulos

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Nepal, S., Paris, C., Georgeakopoulos, D. (2015). Social Media for Government Services: An Introduction. In: Nepal, S., Paris, C., Georgakopoulos, D. (eds) Social Media for Government Services. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27237-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27237-5_1

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