Social Media and Public Participation: Opportunities, Barriers, and a New Framework

View Sample PDF

Author(s): James Patrick Toscano (Dots Matter, Inc., USA)
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 17
Source title: Handbook of Research on Citizen Engagement and Public Participation in the Era of New Media
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Marco Adria (University of Alberta, Canada)and Yuping Mao (California State University Long Beach, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1081-9.ch005

Keywords: Business Science Reference / Digital Communications / Government and Law / Media & Communications

Purchase

View on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

This chapter presents social media as a legitimate form of citizen participation in government decision making. The chapter details the power of social media and the opportunity it presents for citizens to inform government decision making as well as for public agencies that require citizen input. The chapter also details barriers to social media legitimacy in participation, including current laws and public organization behaviors. Using Arnstein's ladder of participation as a theoretical foundation, this chapter proposes a new evaluative framework of public participation – a Social Media Participation Range. The framework offers a new evaluative tool for researchers and practitioners to analyze citizen participation via social media.

The IRMA Community

Research IRM

Social Media and Public Participation: Opportunities, Barriers, and a New Framework

Purchase

Abstract

Related Content

IRMA Sponsors