New Media & Society · 2016 · 361 citations · 49 references
Social Medium MonitoringOnline CommunicationPublic EngagementE-participationSocial TechnologiesEducationPublic OpinionPublic ParticipationCommunicationCitizen ParticipationSocial MediaOnline CommunitySocial Medium NewsPolitical CommunicationCivic EngagementPublic PolicySocial NetworksMedia MarketingCommunity EngagementLocal GovernmentDigital MediaSpanish Local GovernmentPopular CommunicationSocial Media PlatformsGovernment CommunicationSocial WebCommunity ParticipationMedia PoliciesSocial ComputingCitizen EngagementPolitical CampaignsMass CommunicationArtsPolitical Science
Social media are emerging as a primary channel for online interactive participation, and local governments are leveraging this trend to boost citizen engagement. The article examines how citizens use Twitter versus Facebook to interact with Spanish local governments, aiming to identify which platform elicits stronger commitment. The authors assess how various factors—such as online transparency, mood, social media activity, and website interactivity—affect the level of citizen commitment. The results show that Facebook is preferred over Twitter for local government engagement, and that higher transparency, positive mood, greater activity, and better website interactivity further enhance commitment, highlighting the role of platform choice and contextual factors.
The social media are becoming a major channel of online interactive participation, and local governments are seizing this opportunity to enhance citizen engagement in political and social affairs. This article analyses the various forms of social media used – that is, Twitter or Facebook – by citizens in their relations with Spanish local government, to determine which of these achieves the strongest degree of commitment. We also analyse the influence of various factors on this level of commitment. The results obtained show that Facebook is preferred to Twitter as a means of participating in local government issues. Other factors that are relevant to citizen engagement are the level of online transparency, mood, the level of activity in social media and the interactivity offered by the local government website. The findings of this study contribute significantly to understanding how citizen engagement is influenced by the type of social media adopted.
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