Social Media in Government. Special Issue of GIQ

Government Information Quarterly is seeking scholarly manuscripts for a special issue on Social Media in Government, scheduled for publication in July 2013. Government Information Quarterly (GIQ) is the leading journal that examines the intersection of policy, information technology, government, and the public. In particular, GIQ focuses on how policies affect government information flows and the availability of government information; the use of technology to create and provide innovative government services; the impact of information technology on the relationship between the governed and those governing; and the increasing significance of information policies and information technology in relation to democratic practices. More information regarding GIQ is available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf.

The special issue is being edited by Dr. Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazan (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México), Dr. J. Ignacio Criado (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), and Dr. J. Ramon Gil-Garcia (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas).

More information regarding this special issue:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BytYLlV06Y3GNE82eklsNDl5cFk/edit?pli=1

Scope

This special issue targets high-quality research on social media in government, from economic, social, legal, policy, political, or other related perspectives. Social media cover different Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networking, multimedia sharing, mashup applications, tagging, virtual worlds, and crowdsourcing, among others. The study of these different strategies and applications in public settings is important to understand how the exchange of information between governments and citizens may significantly transform the way in which the public sphere operates, create new ways of governing, and/or enhance different forms of participation. In other words, social media applications have the potential to transform the mediation process between government actors, institutions, and citizens. During the last few years, different public agencies across the world have made advances in this field; thus, this special issue will assess the existing potentials, pitfalls, opportunities, and/or risks derived from the implementation of social media in government. The papers are expected to emphasize policy aspects and political implications.

Intended contribution

This special issue welcomes contributions from different perspectives and areas of research on social media in government. The issue seeks to bring together international high quality research to produce theoretical and empirical insights on aspects related to the adoption, use, results, and impacts of social media in government settings, with a particular emphasis on policy, as opposed to technical, aspects. In recent issues, GIQ hosted some related contributions on cloud computing, transparency, openness, and Web 2.0 alignment. This special issue attempts to provide an integrated perspective on social media in government. To do so, it uses the structure that follows, based on three main aspects: topics, tools, and goals. All submissions should consider not only the technical aspects, but the social and policy implications of the different tools and applications.

Topics

The manuscripts are expected to cover one or more of the following topics or any other topic related to the main focus of the special issue:

- Theories and discourses on social media in government. Social media open up a cutting-edge field of research. What theories and discourses can be applied to improve the analysis and understanding of the social media phenomenon in government?

- Access policy for social media. Social media in government imply new challenges regarding the accessibility to public agencies in the digital sphere. Who, and to what extent, can access social media in governmental settings? What are the legal implications of social media accessibility in government?

- Disability policies using social media. Innovative routes to deal with government for those with disabilities have come about from social media. How can social media facilitate and encourage access to government for all individuals?

- Governance strategies for social media in government. Governing social media in the public sector is based on political vision and strategic management. Who should engage in formulating policies for social media in government, and how can or should different governmental actors and social agents participate?

- Strategies/policies for implementation of social media in government. Successful implementation of social media in government depends on careful attention to different aspects. What are the most relevant policy issues to adequately achieve the objectives of social media implementation?

- Human resource management and new public sector profiles related to social media. Social media introduce managerial requirements in public agencies, including human resource management. How should social media be managed with regard to public employees, and what should be the competencies of social media managers in government?

- Openness, transparency, and accountability through social media. The implications of social media for openness, transparency, and accountability in government derive from the nature of this set of tools. How have open government requirements been met by public agencies? To what extent are the regulations and standards of conduct in the digital sphere applied in government?

- Crowdsourcing, co-production, and citizen participation in the public sector through social media. Social engagement is a fundamental part of the adoption and diffusion of social media in government. How are social media in the public sector?

- Methodologies and methods to understand social media in government. The study of social media in government may demand specific methodological approaches from those used in previous studies of electronic government.  How can social media affect traditional methodologies and methods to understand the use and diffusion of ICTs in government?

- Government use of information from social media applications, including business intelligence, data warehousing, data mining, and artificial intelligence, among others. The use of social media amplifies the data at the disposal of public agencies. What are the most relevant uses of data in government? How can governmental agencies use data derived from the citizens to improve public policies?

- Measurement tools to analyze and assess the use of social media in government.

- Social, economic, legal, and political effects derived from the use of social media in government. Social media in government may alter different areas of government-market interactions, as well as the relationship between government and citizens. What are the most feasible and important social, economic, legal, and political effects to address in the near future as a consequence of social media’s adoption in public agencies?

- Social media limitations and challenges. Different challenges and threats remain or are emerging for social media in government. What are the most salient challenges derived from the use and diffusion of social media in government? 

Tools

Second, the expected social media applications analyzed for this special issue may range from different types and nature—including, but not limited to, the following:

- Social networking (e.g., Facebook).

- Microblogging (e.g., Twitter).

- Multimedia sharing (e.g., YouTube).

- Virtual Worlds (e.g., Second life).

- Mashups and open data (e.g., Data.gov).

- Questioning Tools (e.g., Quora).

- Crowdsourcing (e.g., Mechanichal Turk,).

- Collaboration Tools (e.g., Peer to patent and WikiGovernment)

Irrespective of the technology application analyzed, the papers should include social and policy aspects and implications.

Goals

Third, contributors should also focus on one or multiple goals derived from the use of social media. The articles submitted to this special issue should address social, policy, and managerial goals that are expected to directly or indirectly derive from the use of social media in government. Among the expected goals are:

- Openness and transparency.

- Public Policy of Social media participation and inclusion.

- Policy effectiveness.

- Managerial efficiency.

- Citizen participation.

- Cost savings.

- Good governance (fight against corruption).

- Public employee performance and satisfaction.

This special issue will publish articles able to assemble these three dimensions/aspects (topics, tools, and goals) for a better understanding of social media in government. Therefore, each article is expected to consider, if possible, at least one topic, one tool, and one potential goal. However, it will be highly valued providing knowledge about different aspects in a single manuscript. We hope that this effort will contribute to understand this emerging topic in a more systematic and integrative manner. It is also expected to help delineating the research agenda on social media in government for the coming years.

Submission procedure and important dates

The submission procedure will follow the usual norms and regulations of GIQ and Elsevier. In addition, proposals will be evaluated by the guest editors for scope and thematic appropriateness for the special issue, before starting the review process. Below are the expected dates to prepare the issue for publication in 2013:

Call for papers: June 2012.

Article proposal due (500 words): August 1st 2012.

Proposal notification: September1st, 2012.

Full article proposals due: December 1^st, 2012.

Peer review results: February 1^st 2013.

Final revised article due: March 1^st, 2013.

Notification of final acceptance: April 1^st, 2013.

Publication: July – October 2013.

Please, send proposals to: socialmedia.giq@cide.edu