Beyond Information-Sharing. A Typology Of Government Challenges And Requirements For Two-Way Social Media Communication With Citizens

Abstract

Despite great advances in ICT, social media, participatory platforms and mobile apps, we seem to still be locked in the one‑way communication “paradigm” where information flows unilaterally from government to citizens and seldom vice‑versa. As a result, citizens are more receivers rather than conscious producers of information, data, ideas, solutions and decisions in the context of public policies. By means of an extensive literature review, this paper aims to explore the challenges on the part of government that prevent the transition to more dialogic governance and identifies the requirements for a meaningful application of social media for this purpose. The paper contributes to the literature in three ways: i) redefining a typology of social media‑based citizens‑government relationship; ii) clarifying the difference between challenges and risks of social media application by governments and identifying a typology of government challenges; and iii) identifying government requirements as a conditio sine‑qua non for overcoming these challenges upfront, enabling more effective two‑way interactions between governments and citizens. The paper concludes with discussion of implications and directions for further research.