Introduction: The widespread and significant influence of mass media, especially social media, virtual social networks and mobile messaging tools, the various dimensions of human life more influenced by these emerging technological platforms in the age of information and information society. In the present era, social media has become an integral part of our lives. All aspects of our lives have changed from politics to society, culture, and economics via social media and new technologies. Social media has caused revolutionary changes throughout society, becoming a dominant means of communication and transforming the ways in which organizations in both the private and public sectors need to interact with citizens (Mahajan-Cusack, 2016: …show more content…
So, democratic governments, through social media, provide citizens political participation and get a chance for citizens in government decision-making and use citizens opinions for strengthening of government governance. Social media has the potential to increase public participation, but many governments fail to use social media for anything other than a tool for one-way informing from government to citizen. To make the most out of social media’s dynamic communication capabilities, governments need to go beyond simply sharing information to actually engaging with citizens (Moore 2013). As social media increasingly becomes part of everyday life, more government agencies are carving out a social media presence online. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube not surprisingly, are perhaps the most common outlets for government social media efforts. Initially, the governments worldwide were not that supportive of using social media for improving governance but slowly and steadily governments world over are embracing this platform (Srivastava, 2013). The purpose of this research paper is to explain how the Afghanistan national unity government (ANUG) including presidential palace and chief executive office uses Facebook pages in order to communication and interaction with Afghan citizens. Also, this paper is addressing the level of Afghan citizen’s interaction with government through Facebook pages
Congress, 80% of our representatives use social media to engage with constituents. That has never been done before and is changing how politicians respond. We even see some votes in Congress made based on their Facebook feedback.”(The Economic) The Internet is like being there in the whole scene. Missing out information is impossible, a simply Google search, all the information is stored. When computers came out, it cost thousands, now it’s cheaper and faster. There’s tablets and phones with the opportunity to surf the web. More than half the candidates have some type of social media, either them or a fan.
Social media is a fast growing platform, which can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the way in which a large public service such as the NHS communicates with the population (Bashar, Ahmad and Wasiq, 2012). In line with the growing rise of social media, social media practices are considered to have a growing influence on society. This report positions social media as a platform which offers opportunities for organisations and individuals alike to listen and to have opportunities to
With instantaneous, ease of access to large online communities, members of society have the opportunity to communicate with, and assemble large groups. The creation of these groups would, in most cases, be impossible to congregate without social media. Additionally, online communities have proven advantageous in motivating bystanders. All popular social media hubs, such as Facebook and Twitter, have made it as simply as the click of a button to spread information. As far as political and social impact goes - the larger the group, the more efficient and likely the goal will be achieved, shown with the Ferguson protest. The extensive use, and ease of use of social media has significantly increased political participation in society.
Iosifidis starts the article by discussing in detail his first topic- social networks as a new public sphere. His main argument is that while social media spaces create new public spheres of both “democratizing and empowering functions” (2011), the Internet is also capable of both informing individuals and manipulating them. He argues that the public sphere is still a strong analytical instrument in today’s societies, as it “helps us help us make sense of the relationship between the media and democracy (civic engagement)” (2011). Iosifidis brings up several interesting and debatable reasons why social media is mostly overstated and represents hopefulness in the ability to be a public sphere. His six reasons are: open participation of social media may turn
Bertot, J. C. (2011, November 3). "The impact of polices on government social media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations". Retrieved March 27, 2014
Social media are the online means of communication, conveyance, collaboration, and cultivation among interconnected and interdependent networks of people, communities, and organizations enhanced by technological capabilities and mobility. Like traditional media, social media include several channels, and within each channel there are specific vehicles. (Solomon 2013,25)
The social media has not replaced face to face communication since according to a research presented by Marotta (web) there exist some important facts against the view that social media is reducing face to face interaction. Analysis of some theories about the use of social media was done in this research. It was found in first study that a great number of actions performed on different websites were of reactive type involving searching the profiles and reading news of various events rather than socializing. It was also found that the participants spent only 3.5% of their time on social interaction for example, talking and giving the remarks (Marotta). This is a very small percentage of the total population that use the internet and modern methods of communication. The research also demonstrated that the social interactions of the
In less than two decades, social media has revolutionized modern communication and information sharing. What began as a simple form of social networking has turned into innumerable platforms for people around the globe to share ideas, create and share businesses, promote brands, read news from various sources, as well as share and find vast amounts of information, among many other uses. Thus, with a few clicks of a button, people are now able to interact with someone on the other side of the world. The capabilities created through social media’s many uses have forever changed global politics, business, and interpersonal communication.
Finally, the author suggested that consumers of social media may use it as an instrumental platform where they can advance their own interests. By advancing their interests, they are more likely to engage in political activity including political protest. The content on social media outlets may be used for mobilization making it possible for individuals to use it to serve their own interest by engaging in further political action including political protest or social movements.
For today, government organisations and agencies slowly increase use of social media channels; only now it got obvious for them, that there is
Daily, elected leaders turn to social media to communicate, promote or update status of their daily activities. They should however adopt best practices as they do this to avoid getting themselves into trouble. One such practice is to take time to think and formulate thoughts before posting anything. They should also have strict policies in place to govern how they get word out to ensure they get out accurate and timely information. One that is free of bias and inappropriate editing. Nevertheless, they should be very selective on whom to authorize to do their posting for them. The policies they put in place should ensure adequate training and accountability to
The current social mobilizations differ from the past ones in many aspects, being one of the most important the existence of new communications technologies that facilitate the access to content and information.
Social media is a form of political activism that has received a significant amount of debate. Does it offer major value to political parties hoping to gain traction with key demographics? Or does it simply detract from the real message, creating a giant distraction that does not turn into actual voter turnout? Pew Research Institute and others have shown that social media popularity has actually led to improvements in voter turnout and that there is a positive correlation between a candidate’s Facebook likes and his or her actual voter numbers. This conclusively shows that social media has real political value, offering a candidate the opportunity to communicate a point to many new viewers who may have otherwise never heard the message. Today, many candidates are using social media to the exclusion of more expensive methods like TV campaigns, because they are able to gather significant support with the added expense.
Social media presents a new method of communication in which the modern citizen may participate in informal political debate,
I think that the social media is a great platform for the politicians to communicate with the citizens