Social Media Readiness in Public Administration - Developing a Research Framework
31 Pages Posted: 14 Mar 2014
Date Written: March 13, 2014
Abstract
This paper develops a multi-level model of Social Media Readiness (SMR) in public administration. Social Media Readiness is described as the extent to which an individual, group or organization is willing, able and prepared to use social media for professional purposes. We survey literature that potentially informs our understanding of SMR. In order to develop a model that is both tailored to the specific context of public administration, and sufficiently represents the complexity of the phenomenon, we conducted an explorative study in late 2011, based on eight case studies within a German state administration. We analyzed social media initiatives in order to identify antecedents of SMR based on the perspectives and experiences of public employees involved in such projects. Finally, we substantiate the resulting model based on established theories of technology acceptance, digital divide, trust, innovation diffusion and public entrepreneurship in order to propose a, both, empirically and theoretically founded framework for future research into social media readiness in public administration.
Keywords: Social Media, Public Administration, Public Management, Readiness
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