1st Edition

Social Media for Government Theory and Practice

Edited By Staci Zavattaro, Thomas Andrew Bryer Copyright 2016
    240 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Social media is playing a growing role within public administration, and with it, there is an increasing need to understand the connection between social media research and what actually takes place in government agencies. Most of the existing books on the topic are scholarly in nature, often leaving out the vital theory-practice connection. This book joins theory with practice within the public sector, and explains how the effectiveness of social media can be maximized. The chapters are written by leading practitioners and span topics like how to manage employee use of social media sites, how emergency managers reach the public during a crisis situation, applying public record management methods to social media efforts, how to create a social media brand, how social media can help meet government objectives such as transparency while juggling privacy laws, and much more. For each topic, a collection of practitioner insights regarding the best practices and tools they have discovered are included. Social Media for Government responds to calls within the overall public administration discipline to enhance the theory-practice connection, giving practitioners space to tell academics what is happening in the field in order to encourage further meaningful research into social media use within government.

    Part 1: Social Media in Government: An Introduction Introduction and Overview Staci M. Zavattaro Part 2: Social Media: Internal Management and Issues 1. The Impact of the Public Commons on Public Sector Organizations Martinella M. Dryburgh and Karabi C. Bezboruah 2. Disclosure in Online Promotions: The Effect of FTC Guidelines on Digital Public Relations and Advertising Cayce Myers 3. Applying Records Management Principles to Managing Public Government Social Media Records Patricia C. Franks 4. Some Ideas for Branding via Social Media Staci M. Zavattaro 5. Social City Hall Warren Kagarise 6. Telling the Story of Boston through Social Media Lindsay Crudele 7. Digital Dashboards as Social Media: Using Data to Increase Transparency and Accountability Nicole M. Rishel Elias and Peter S. Federman 8. Dashboards as Social Media Tools: Practitioner Perspectives Ray Parr Part 3: Social Media: External Relations 9. Fostering Engagement Through Social Media?: The Case of the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department Lori A. Brainard 10. Social Media and the Boynton Beach, Florida Police Department Stephanie H. Slater 11. Social Media for Emergency Management Clayton Wukich and Alan Steinberg 12. Social Media in Emergency Management: Examples from the Field Suzanne L. Frew and Alisha Griswold 13. Hashtag Activism at its Best?: A Comparative Analysis of Nonprofit Social Media Use for Mobilizing Online Action Rowena L. Briones, Melissa Janoske, and Stephanie Madden 14. Social Media at a Regional Food Bank: The Case of Second Harvest Greg Higgerson, Melissa Kear, Maria Shanley, and Dave Krepcho 15. Branded ‘Man’ – Myth of ‘free’ services, and the Captured Individual Arthur J. Sementelli 16. The Risks of Social Media: Full Transparency, Partial Transparency, and Empowering Transparency Thomas A. Bryer Part 4: Social Media in Government: Future Directions Conclusion and Next Steps for Research and Practice Thomas A. Bryer

    Biography

    Staci M. Zavattaro is an associate professor of public administration at the University of Central Florida, USA.

    Thomas A. Bryer is an associate professor and director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Central Florida, USA. He is also Fulbright Core Scholar from 2015-2017 at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania.

    "Social media has, without a doubt, a great potential to transform government and the way government agencies interact with citizens and other stakeholders. This book takes a theory-practice approach and is able to produce powerful insights from government managers to academics and to other government managers. Social Media for Government starts building a necessary bridge between social media practice and research and, therefore, I highly recommend it."Ramon Gil-Garcia, State University of New York at Albany, USA

    "This book will be truly appreciated by both scholars and agency staff alike. As someone who has been immersed in public sector social media for nearly a decade, both as a practitioner and advisor, I deeply relate to this insider's view of managing the opportunities and risks of social technologies in bringing value to our public."Kristy Dalton, CEO of Government Social Media LLC, USA and "GovGirl.com" Internet personality

    "Social Media for Government offers terrific advice for government social media coordinators. The real world examples from fellow ‘govies’ is invaluable and serves as a great resource for those just starting out or looking to enhance their social media engagement."Luke Stowe, City of Evanston Digital Services Coordinator, USA