Gohar Feroz Khan

From e-government to social government: : Twitter use by Korea's central government

– This study aims to explore Twitter use by Koreas central government by classifying the governments Twitter-based networking strategies into government-to-citizen (G2C) and government-to-government (G2G) strategies. , – The study investigates the nature of social media interactions and networking strategies in the Korean government by extracting tweets, follower/following relationships, and hyperlinks for 32 ministries. Network patterns and networking strategies are reviewed through descriptive statistical analysis and social network analysis to map the governments Twitter activity. , – The results indicate that the governments direct networking strategy targeting citizens does not necessarily motivate their participation in the governments social media activities but that it plays an instrumental role in reinforcing G2G relationships. , – This study investigates the social media use patterns (e.g. network properties and co-link analyses) and strategies (e.g. the reciprocity of relationships and content-push strategies) in the context of G2C and G2G relationships in Koreas public sector.

The e-government research domain: A triple helix network analysis of collaboration at the regional, country, and institutional levels

Abstract This study introduces a hybrid approach (i.e., a social network analysis technique and triple helix indicators) to study certain aspects of the e-government (EG) domain that would otherwise remain hidden when using conventional analytic tools. Particularly, we provide network analysis of the EG research domain by focusing on the network collaboration between regions, nations and institutions. We collected and analyzed 1091 scholarly papers which were classified as being about “e-government” by the Web of Science database. The results indicate that hybrid method can be used to understand certain network-level structures and patterns in the EG domain which are beyond the scope of the predominantly-used systematic literature review (SLR) method. Particularly, the hybrid method is useful in understanding collaboration patterns between countries, institutions and regions in the EG domain, identifying key players by studying their network properties (i.e., degree centralities); and in understanding the pattern of relations among universities, industries, and government. The implications of these results in terms of research and practice, and study limitations are discussed.

Social Media Risks and Benefits: A Public Sector Perspective

Social media are becoming an important intermediary for interaction between governments, governments and citizens, and governmental agencies and businesses. This is due to the unique characteristics of social media: openness, participation, and sharing. However, despite rapid adoption, a growing concern and skepticism regarding the use of social media exists in the public sector. The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically the risks and benefits of social media use by public agencies. For this purpose, a research model was developed and tested in a survey of 289 government sector employees from six South Korean government research institutes. We found that both risks (i.e., social risk, time, psychological risks, and privacy concern) and benefits (i.e., social connectivity, social involvement, information attainment, and entertainment) significantly affect public sector employees’ satisfaction with and intention to use social media. However, the effect of the benefits on users’ satisfaction was stronger than the risks. The results of the study have important implications for researchers and policy makers.

Social media communication strategies of government agencies: Twitter use in Korea and the USA

This study examines Twitter use by the central government in Korea and the federal government in the USA by employing the webometric technique to extract their Twitter activity (basic Twitter statistics such as the numbers of followers, followings, and Tweets) and the social network analysis technique to map the relationship between their Twitter accounts and the direction of outlinks in their Tweets. The results of the initial analysis indicate some differences in Twitter strategies between the two governments. For example, Korean ministries were well connected through a dense network, engaged in collective cooperation, and retweeted common content to reinforce their collective agendas regardless of their main administrative functions, whereas US government departments were less collective and more individualistic and retweeted those messages that specifically fit the purpose of each department. In addition, the results for outlinks indicate that US government departments preferred private sources of information, whereas Korean ministries, government sources.

The Government 2.0 utilization model and implementation scenarios

Although it seems that Government 2.0 will finally deliver the promise of a truly transparent government, many practitioners around the globe (particularly those in the developing world) are reluctant or unable to develop strategies and allocate resources to Government 2.0. As a result, governments around the world ignore or mishandle the opportunities and threats presented by Government 2.0. The primary reason underlying this behavior is the lack of understanding regarding Government 2.0. The purpose of the study is to address this gap in knowledge and understanding by presenting and illustrating fundamental concepts of Government 2.0. A web survey of 200 government websites from 40 countries (20 each from advanced and developing countries) and 45 Web 2.0 initiatives across the globe was used to present and illustrate fundamental concepts of Government 2.0. We suggested a three stage Government 2.0 Utilization Model (GUM) starting from information socialization (stage 1), and then moving on to mass collaboration (stage 2), and social transaction (stage 3). Based on the web survey, we also suggested three Government 2.0 implementation scenarios (i.e., standalone, nested, and hybrid implementation). The study will help researchers and practitioners in understanding the Government 2.0 phenomenon and the opportunities presented by it.

Information technology management domain: emerging themes and keyword analysis

By employing the social network analysis technique, this study decomposed author and title keyword networks of the information technology management domain formed by 351 outlets, 914 institutions, 64 countries, 1913 authors, and thousands of keywords. The network and ego level properties—such as, degree centralities, density, components, and degree distribution—suggest that the keyword network exhibits power law distribution: a few popular keywords or themes are frequently used by follow-on studies. The study sheds light on the emerging and fading themes in the domain. In light of the analysis some important implications are discussed.

Social media-based systems: an emerging area of information systems research and practice

This article presents a review of the social media-based systems; an emerging area of information system research, design, and practice shaped by social media phenomenon. Social media-based system (SMS) is the application of a wider range of social software and social media phenomenon in organizational and non-organization context to facilitate every day interactions. To characterize SMS, a total of 274 articles (published during 2003–2011) were analyzed that were classified as computer science information system related in the Web of Science data base and had at least one social media phenomenon related keyword—social media; social network analysis; social network; social network site; and social network system. As a result, we found four main research streams in SMS research dealing with: (1) organizational aspect of SMS, (2) non-organizational aspect of SMS, (3) technical aspect of SMS, and (4) social as a tool. The results indicates that SMS research is fragmented and has not yet found way into the core IS journals, however, it is diverse and interdisciplinary in nature. We also proposed that unlike the conventional and socio-technical IS where information is bureaucratic, formal, bounded within the intranet, and tightly controlled by organizations; in the SMS context, information is social, informal, boundary-less (i.e. boundary is within the internet), has less control, and more sharing of information may lead to higher value/impact.

Mapping ICT knowledge infrastructure in South Asia

Information Communication Technology (ICT) has a significant impact on the socioeconomic development of a country. However, the inequitable access to ICT still remains a major issue in developing countries. In this context, this study examines ICT knowledge infrastructure in South Asia from a network point of view. Existing research on ICTs are useful in understanding the common facts, but are limited in revealing the hidden structures and properties of the ICT research domain in South Asia. The hidden structures and properties, like key players, network of key players for scientific collaborations, and their network characteristics are analyzed and synthesized in this study. This study applies the mixed approach of Social Network Analysis techniques and Triple Helix indicators on scholarly papers obtained from the Web of Science database. Further, burst detection algorithm is applied on keywords appearing in the titles of the South Asian ICT scholarly papers to understand the emerging trends in the ICT research domain. This study helps in providing a better understanding of current trends, strengths, and weaknesses of ICT in South Asia, which provides a better understanding to bridge the digital divide and achieve socioeconomic development through ICT.

Theories in communication science: a structural analysis using webometrics and social network approach

This exploratory study analyzes the networked structure of theories in social sciences represented by co-occurrences on the World Wide Web. For this, co-occurrences of communication science theories were retrieved from the Web and analyzed using social network analysis tools. Several networks and node-level properties were measured to examine the relationships of theories in terms of co-occurrences. Communication science theories were grouped into four clusters. The results shed some important light on structural dynamics of communication science theories on the academic and social Web.

Best Practices in Social Media at Public, Nonprofit, Education, and Health Care Organizations

Interaction facilitated by social media is becoming an integral part of life in contemporary society, tweaking the human psyches deep need to connect. Having changed the creation, sharing, and consumption of information, it must be inevitably integrated into the operation of most human organizations. While some organizations readily adapt themselves to social media, the majority have struggled. This special issue of the Social Science Computer Review investigates different aspects of social media use in government, nonprofit, education, and health care organizations.