Prposal essay
Enacting social media success in local public administrations An empirical analysis of organizational, institutional, and contextual factors
J. Ignacio Criado and Francisco Rojas-Martín Department of Political Science and International Relations, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, and
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, USA and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico City, Mexico
Abstract Purpose – The diffusion of social media among public administrations has significantly grown in the last years. This phenomenon has created a field of research that seeks to understand the adoption and impact of social media in the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that make social media successful in Spanish local governments. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an adapted version of a neo-institutional model: Enacting Electronic Government Success (EEGS). The data have been collected through three main sources: primary data from a questionnaire designed and conducted by the authors, secondary data of statistical sources, and tertiary data collected through Klout Score. Findings – The results from a survey and statistical analysis provide preliminary validation of the model and show a direct relationship between organizational, institutional, and environmental factors with the successful use of social media in local public administrations. The data analysis shows that ten variables jointly explain 54.6 percent (adjusted R2 ¼ 0.546) of the variability observed in the dependent variable. Research limitations/implications – First, the analysis model used represents a limited sample size to carry out a complex quantitative analysis. Second, the use of Klout Scores can offer some bias. Finally, certain variables complicate the comparative potential of the study. Originality/value – This study provides original primary data and contributes to the growing field of study related to social technologies in public administrations. This research also confirms in an exploratory way the validity of the EEGS model. Keywords Social media, Public sector management, Public administration, Social networks, neo-institutionalism, Institutional theory Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction The diffusion of social media has occurred rapidly, particularly in the last 15 years. Some social media services that grew extremely fast and that were early objects of study, such as SixDegrees, have either disappeared or are on their way to doing so, while others have developed more recently, such as Facebook and Twitter, and have hundreds of millions of users across the world (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). In sum, the data show a high level of penetration in advanced societies of these social technologies. It has been calculated that there are around 2.44 billion social media users around the globe (Statista, 2016), which helps us understand the scale of this phenomenon.
There is broad consensus in the literature about the rapid diffusion of social media among public administrations at all levels (Agostino, 2013; Bonson et al., 2013;
International Journal of Public Sector Management Vol. 30 No. 1, 2017
pp. 31-47 © Emerald Publishing Limited
0951-3558 DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-03-2016-0053
Received 19 March 2016 Revised 17 August 2016
Accepted 13 September 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm
This research has been possible with the support of the research programme S2015/HUM-3466 NEW TRUST-CM (Comunidad de Madrid) and research project CSO2013-48641-C2-1-R (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad).
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Criado and Rojas-Martín, 2015a; Criado et al., 2013; De Saulles, 2011; Graham and Avery, 2013; Mainka et al., 2014; Maultasch Oliveira and Welch, 2013; Mickoleit, 2014; Mossberger et al., 2013; Nam, 2012a; Panagiotopoulos and Sams, 2012; Sobaci, 2015). However, it is also true that there remains a great deal of work to do to understand the dynamics that occur around the adoption of these technologies in the public sector. In this context, it is important to identify the factors that lead to success in the use of social media by public administrations, particularly in terms of interaction and engagement with citizens.
This study develops a line of research about social media in public administrations and seeks to fill a gap at both theoretical and empirical levels. This work has been refined since 2013, and has evolved with contributions in diverse academic conferences and seminars. The research question of this paper is:
RQ1. What are the success factors for social media use in local public administrations?
We try to answer this question with data from an analysis of large Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. In the absence of holistic models to analyze social media in public administrations, we propose that a starting point is the Enacting Electronic Government Success (EEGS) model, put forward by Gil-García (2012). This theoretical neo-institutional model has been previously applied to the study of electronic government (e-government) and, according to his author, is inspired by Fountain’s (2001) book, in which she studied the interactions generated between government and information technologies. Therefore, this study contributes from the theoretical level, putting forward a model of analysis adapting a previous framework for future research in the field of social media in public administrations.
The paper is organized in six sections, including the foregoing introduction. The following section contains the theoretical and analytical framework; Section 3 describes the research design and methods used for this study, including sample selection and data collection approach. Section 4 presents results and implications. Finally, the final section is dedicated to concluding remarks.
2. Theoretical and analytical framework The rapid diffusion of social media in public administrations across the world has generated widespread interest from academics. The study of this phenomenon is relatively recent and has a multidisciplinary character (Boyd and Ellison, 2007), including the fields of computer science, business, law, sociology, political science, and public management, among others. Each of these disciplines has a common aim: to understand technologies whose social component converts them into something potentially disruptive. From the side of public administration studies, some authors, like Mergel (2012b), argue that the application of these tools in the public sector can be considered the “fifth wave” of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This state of development, in the case of public administrations, would situate us in a process of transition from e-government to Government 2.0, characterized by the co-creation of services and more inclusive public decision making (Chun et al., 2010, Nam, 2012a).
2.1 Theories to study information technology in public administration With the aim of proposing an analytical framework for social media research in public administrations, we start with the presentation of a neo-institutional model (Gil-García, 2012): EEGS. Neo-institutionalism represents a useful theoretical framework to understand factors that may influence technology adoption processes in government agencies (Criado, 2009; Criado and Rojas-Martín, 2015b; Fountain, 2001; Gil-García, 2012; Luna-Reyes and Gil-Garcia, 2011; Orlikowski and Iacono, 2001). The EEGS model is orientated toward the analysis of e-government and so in this paper some adaptation is required in order to be able to employ it
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in social media research. Likewise, it is necessary to credit previous approaches to information technology in organizations influencing this perspective.
There are several theoretical approaches that help to explain the interactions between information technologies and organizations. As Gil-García (2012, p. 33) pinpoints in his revision of literature, “each of these approaches emphasizes different ontological, epistemological, and methodological characteristics of the research within the information systems field. However, most of them agree on the existence of a theoretical approach that emphasizes the social and complex nature of information systems.” Among others, social constructivism, socio-technical systems theory, organizational psychology or structuration theory are some of the most prominent approaches to build an ensemble view of information technology and organizations.
First, social constructivism introduces the concept of “multiple enactments.” It looks at how technologies are adopted in complex social and organizational systems (Sismondo, 2009). In Orlikowski and Iacono (2006, p. 36) words: “Because IT artifacts are designed, constructed, and used by people, they are shaped by the interest, values, and assumptions of a wide variety of communities of developers, investors, users, etc.” In other words, social actors interacting with technological artifacts shape their meanings, what is crucial to understand the dynamic and emergent nature of information technology in organizations.
On the other hand, socio-technical systems approaches consider technologies as socio-technical networks. They do not have direct effects but they are mediated by other internal and external environmental dimensions (Kraemer et al., 1989). Therefore, it is necessary studying that environment in order to understand the IT effects on organizations. Thus, the study of organizational environment is critical to make sense of the effects of those external factors (technological availability, economic conditions, or vendor marketing practices) in the process of technological adoption in organizations. At the same time, internal factors (structure of the information systems staff, structure of the information systems organization, or organizational structure) operate in the process of computing change. Most recently, Cordella and Iannacci (2010) found similar dynamics in terms of the relationship between e-government policies and information systems choice and design.
Third, organizational psychology looks at the impacts of the new technologies in the organizations introducing the concepts of “technologies as equivoque” or “sense making.” Weick (1990) emphasizes the importance of “pre-conceptions” to understand the results of a process of “enactment” in organizations (Weick, 1979, 1995). This work highlights the interaction between people and information technology and the process-driven mechanisms behind the diffusion of information technologies in organizations.
Additionally, structuration theory looks at the individuals’ interactions to understand social practices. Individual actions are constrained by social rules and, at the same time, social structures are affected by those actions. According to this theory, technologies impact social structures affecting the way society thinks and behaves (De Sanctis and Poole, 1994). These authors also suggest the dynamic nature of technology adoption and use in organizational settings. In this case, there is a duality between structuration and appropriation processes, being the second the immediate visible actions, which are evidence of deeper structuration dynamics.
Finally, EGGS model is also inspired by a previous theoretical approach to the adoption and use of ICTs, specifically, in public administration: technology enactment framework. Fountain (2001) created this analytical framework, through which she sought to understand the influence of institutional arrangements and organizational forms in the selection, design, implementation, and use of ICTs in the public administrations of the USA. In her work, Fountain (2001) explained how objective information technologies are influenced by these factors, which then produce “enacted technologies”. According to the author, this influence transforms the original objective technology, which may become molded by institutional
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factors, giving rise to “represented technology.” As a result, “It is not surprising, therefore, that similar organizations may use identical information systems in vastly different ways” (Fountain, 2001, p. 89). At the same time, she concluded that adopted technologies can also modify the prevailing institutional and organizational order in a recursive manner.
For his part, Gil-García (2012) used the technology enactment framework as a basis to develop a broader analytical proposal about e-government in public organizations. The EEGS is a unifying concept that has been tested through studies of information technologies in the sphere of public administrations. But it is also a model that could be used to understand any type of e-government initiative, including the use of social media (Gil-García, 2012). The EEGS model seeks to enhance the technology enactment framework, incorporating social constructivism, socio-technical approaches, structuration theories, environmental frameworks, and other unifying lenses. As a result, this framework not only takes into account Fountain’s (2001) institutional and organizational arrangements in public administration, but it also analyzes the contextual or environmental conditions of those administrations. EEGS also proposes how to measure some of the main construct and how to test some of the relationships among them.
In this proposed model, the success of information technology is defined and represented in terms of enacted technology and organizational outputs and outcomes. In the seminal study of Gil-García (2012), enacted technology refers to certain characteristics of e-government initiatives (hardware, software, functionality, usability, or accessibility), but also the derived social relations and diverse uses. In his proposal, success would also include some of the “potential outputs and outcomes stated in the goals and objectives of an e-government initiative such as efficiency, cost-savings, effectiveness, greater service quality, transparency, and/or increased citizen participation, among others” (Gil-García, 2012, p. 55). Then, according to the EGGS model, the study of social media success in government can be tackle addressing the following research question:
RQ1. What are the success factors for social media use in local public administrations?
Including the hypothesis of the research, this perspective is now developed in the following paragraphs addressing to components of an analytical framework to investigate success factors of social media technologies in public sector organizations.
2.2 Analytical strategy The EEGS model is inspired in the previous theoretical approaches, giving more attention to the political nature of public organizations. While adopting some of the ideas of previous theoretical frameworks, it considers the effects of ICTs in the public sector, including social media, not as independent results, but rather as dependent on other exogenous factors such as institutional arrangements, organizational practices, and the context in which they are embedded (political, demographic, economic, etc.). Therefore, if an understanding of the results of the implementation of e-government in public administrations is sought, then the institutional, organizational, and contextual factors that influence these technologies must be studied (Gascó et al., 2012; Gil-García, 2012) (see Figure 1).
2.2.1 Social media success in public administration. The above three dimensions are used in the analysis of the success of social media in the public administration. The study of social media technologies success is now in its infancy; however it can be analyzed paying attention to other previous technologies. Research on information technology and organizations have highlighted the objective and subjective outcomes that can be used to measure the success of a project. Kraemer et al. (1989) suggested objective outcomes as observed results of the “computing package” and subjective outcomes as the interpretations of those results by different groups within the organization.
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Consequently, it is not easy to find a consensus on evaluating the results of a technological project within a given organization.
In the same vein, defining the success of social media is problematic because there is a certain level of abstraction and success can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. There is a line of study that has previously discussed this problem and sought to standardize the measurement of success in public sector technology adoption (Gil-García, 2012; Hofmann et al., 2013; Luna-Reyes et al., 2013; Mergel, 2013). In some cases, the emphasis has been put on analysis of the content: identifying those technologies that offer the best results in terms of positive interactions (Hofmann et al., 2013; Magnusson et al., 2012). In this case, our study relies on a neo-institutional perspective by analyzing explanatory factors for the success of social media in the public administration (Gil-García, 2012). This paper contributes to the social media in public administration field testing social media success as a dependent variable.
At this point, the Klout Score is the most internationally used measurement of social media success. This scale allows us to identify social media profiles with the largest number of followers, the most activity, that produce the greatest number of interactions, and that have the most positive evaluations. In sum, these represent a collection of variables that have been employed in previous research in this field of study in order to assess the level of success of social media use in organizations (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, p. 65; Mickoleit, 2014). In other words, Klout Score is an index providing a measure of influence of social media profiles of organizations, being the most internationally recognized. This measure can be used in both private and public sector settings. Now, it is time to focus on the three constructs and factors of the model, including the hypothesis derived from the literature review.
2.2.2 Organizational factors. The EEGS model includes the organizational dimension as an important factor in the analysis of e-government. The organizational structures and processes as well as management strategies have a direct influence on the success of the technologies adopted, implemented, and used (Luna-Reyes and Gil-Garcia, 2011). Both constructs are unified in the EEGS framework through indicators such as the number of people who work in ICT for the organization, accessibility to training for professionals, the number of channels of communication employed, and the service that is provided, either internally or externally (Gil-García, 2012, p. 69).
This construct integrates both organizational forms and management action. This is coherent with other previous integrative approaches that recognize the filter function of information technology management (Kraemer et al., 1989; Cordella and Iannacci, 2010). Among these organizational/managerial factors positively affecting the success of social technologies this study includes the existence of a strategic plan (Gascó et al., 2012; Gil-García, 2012; Meijer and Thaens, 2013; Picazo-Vela et al., 2012), existence of public employees training (Gil-García, 2012), organizational size (Gil-García, 2012), technological experience of the organization (Criado, 2009; Gascó et al., 2012), and
Organizational factors
Social Media Success
Institutional factors
Contextual factors
Source: Own elaboration adopted from Gil-Garcia (2012)
Figure 1. Relations between the analytical variables
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leadership (Gascó et al., 2012). In this case, the hypotheses, together with some sub-hypothesis, of this study are:
H1. The structures and organizational processes have a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H1a. The existence of a strategic social media plan has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H1b. The access to specific training by the public employees of the municipality has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H1c. The size of the organization has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H1d. The experience of the organization in the use of social media has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H1e. The existence of project leadership has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
2.2.3 Institutional factors. The EEGS model also includes institutional factors. These factors are essential to adequately understand the results of any ICT project in public administrations (Luna-Reyes and Gil-Garcia, 2011). In the words of Gil-García (2012, p. 60), “Institutional arrangements are very important elements in understanding how information technologies are selected, designed, implemented, and used in public organizations.” These arrangements include the laws, regulations, system of government, political control, and cultural or socio-structural behaviors impose to and/or accepted by members of the organization.
The analysis of institutional factors acquires special importance in public administrations because of their specific and unique characteristics. In the words of Criado (2009, p. 18): “The adoption and diffusion processes of the new technologies in government agencies present difficulties due to their bureaucratic and institutionalized environments.” Taking this dimension into account is critical in order to understand the elements that may explain either the success or failure in the adoption of these social technologies. The institutional factors that positively affect social technologies success include the orientation to transparency of the organization (Luna-Reyes et al., 2009; Bonson et al., 2012), the existence of normalized criteria about the use of social media technologies (Gil-García, 2012), formal commitments related to access to public information (Luna-Reyes et al., 2009; Graham and Avery, 2013; Nam, 2012b; Bertot et al., 2012b), development of e-administración (Mickoleit, 2014; Bertot et al., 2012a), and promotion of citizen participation (Mickoleit, 2014; Ellison and Hardey, 2014; Linders, 2012; Bertot et al., 2012a; Picazo-Vela et al., 2012). Then, the general hypotheses related to this construct are as follows:
H2. The institutional arrangements have a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H2a. The existence of formal commitments regarding transparency has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H2b. The existence of formal commitments about access to public information has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H2c. The existence of formal commitments about e-administration development has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H2d. The existence of normalized criteria for the use of social media has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
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H2e. The existence of formal commitments about participation has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H2f. The existence of a culture of transparency has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
2.2.4 Environmental factors. The EEGS model includes an additional dimension that is orientated toward identifying the contextual or environmental factors that affect the use of technology in public administrations. The environmental conditions are identified in the literature as relevant factors “in shaping the way information technology is designed, implemented, and used in organizations” (Gil-García, 2012, p. 61). However, the evidence indicates that this influence can be mediated by institutional or organizational variables (Gil-García, 2012). Therefore, it is important to control for the effects of environmental factors on the characteristics of information technologies used in the public sector.
Different authors have investigated the impact of environmental factors on information technology implementation. Clearly, the context of public organizations is without doubt an important factor for the success of information technologies (Kraemer et al., 1989). Here, technological (Criado, 2009; Gascó, 2009), economic (Gascó et al., 2012; Gil-García, 2012), demographic (Gil-García, 2012), and political contextual variables of public organizations help to understand the dynamics behind social media implementation, as they will have a positive impact on it success. Looking at the main environmental variables, the hypotheses of this research are:
H3. The environmental conditions have a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H3a. The technological development in the municipality (in terms of access to the internet and ICTs product equipment) has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H3b. The economic development of the municipality (in terms of budget balance, total debt and unemployment rates) has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H3c. The demographic development of the municipality (in terms of population size, educational level, and average age) has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
H3d. The political development of the municipality (in terms of political stability of government, mayor’s political party, and existence of majority government) has a direct relationship on the success of social media in public administration.
In sum, the model described in this section may be used in to understand any type of social media policy. This paper is the first instance to test the validity of the EEGS model to the use of social media technologies in public administrations. Then, the purpose of this research is demonstrate the usefulness of this enacting framework by analyzing the organizational/managerial, institutional, and environmental aspects related to social media success in local public administration. The following section presents the research design and methods used to fulfill the abovementioned purpose.
3. Research design and methods This paper is going to use the EEGS model as a point of departure to develop a proposal for an analytical model adapted to social media. We selected this starting point for three reasons. First, because it has been successfully tested in previous studies of the public sector. Second, we have drawn on a model designed to analyze e-government, which can
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also encompass the study of social media in public administrations (Gil-García, 2012). Lastly, a neo-institutional focus, like the one found in the EEGS model, provides tools to understand complex phenomenon in the relationships between information technologies and public administrations (Criado, 2009, p. 18; Criado and Rojas-Martín, 2015b; Gil-García, 2012, p. 53).
In order to respond to the research question, we rely on a group of integrated independent variables in three large constructs, following the approach undertaken in the EEGS model: organizational structures and processes (X1); institutional arrangements (X2); and environmental conditions (X3). Finally, the dependent variable is the success of social media in municipalities (Y). These three dimensions are operationalized through the identification of specific indicators related to the analysis of social media.
In order to operationalize the construct “organizational structures and processes” (X1), we employ the following five indicators: project management (Gascó et al., 2012; Gil-García, 2012; Meijer and Thaens, 2013; Picazo-Vela et al., 2012), represented by the existence of a strategic plan for social media; the size of the organization, measured by the number of employees in the unit that manages social media (Gil-García, 2012); employee access to training (Gil-García, 2012), including whether or not specific training exists for the employees responsible for managing social media; the organization’s experience in the use of social media (Gascó et al., 2012), as expressed by the number of years employing these technologies; and leadership in the form of a champion for social media among organizational management (Gascó et al., 2012) (Tables I-III).
The aim of this study is to identify the variables that contribute to explaining the success of the use of social media in Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (Y), although the proposal may be applied to other public institutions at different levels or with different functions. The dependent variable, “success in the use of the social media” (Y), is measured by using the Klout Score scale of social influence, a measure that prior scholars have employed in their work (Anger and Kittl, 2011; Edwards et al., 2013). The Klout (2015) Score index is the most widespread global measurement of social media influence, with more
Dimension Independent variable Information Source
Organizational structures and processes/ organizational characteristics and management strategies
Existence of a strategic social media plan
3. Are the initiatives related to social media documented in a strategic plan for information technologies, the action plans of those responsible for the technological area, and/or the public communications with citizens?
Questionnaire
Access to specific training by the municipality
12. Do you receive training in the management of social media by the municipality?
Questionnaire
Size of the organization (Number of employees in the unit)
11. Could you indicate to us how many people are dedicated to work related to the management of social media in your institution?
Questionnaire
Experience of the organization in the use of social media
1. Could you indicate for me from what date social media have been present on the official profiles of your municipality?
Questionnaire
Leadership 13. Do you believe that there is leadership at the head of your institution supporting the presence of social media?
Questionnaire
Source: Own elaboration
Table I. Operationalization of the analytical model: organizational dimension
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than 620 million profiles, individual and organizational, including the public sector. In order to determine the Klout Score of a profile, the application analyzes some user’s social media measures and assigns a score between 1 and 100, with 0 being the minimum level of influence and 100 the maximum. The application measures the size of the user network and correlates its content with the ways that other users make use of it. It is not merely a quantitative index that measures the volume of content generated or of profile followers, but
Dimension Independent variable Information Source
Environmental conditions
Technological development
Access to the internet in households with computer equipment
Statistics National Institute (INE)
ICT product equipment in households Statistics National Institute (INE) Economy Balance Ministry of Taxation and Public
Administrations Total debt per inhabitant Ministry of Taxation and Public
Administrations Unemployed Statistics National Institute (INE)
Demography Population Statistics National Institute (INE) Educational level Ministry of Education Average age Statistics National Institute (INE)
Politics Political stability of government Wikipedia and Ministry of the Interior
Political party of the mayor Wikipedia and Ministry of the Interior
Minority/majority government Wikipedia and Ministry of the Interior
Source: Own elaboration
Table III. Operationalization of the analytical model:
environmental conditions
Dimension Independent variable Information Source
Institutional arrangements
Formal commitments about transparency
2. Do there exist formal commitments about transparency, access to public information or the development of e-administration in your municipality?
Questionnaire
Formal commitments about access to public information
2. Do there exist formal commitments about transparency, access to public information or the development of e-administration in your municipality?
Questionnaire
Formal commitments about e-administration
2. Do there exist formal commitments about transparency, access to public information or the development of e-administration in your town hall?
Questionnaire
Existence of normalized criteria for the use of the social media
4. Please indicate if some kind of user guide has been developed for the use of social media in your administration
Questionnaire
Formal commitments about participation
3. Degree of commitment with citizens Questionnaire
Culture of transparency
Extracted from the ITA International Transparency Index 2014
ITA International Transparency Index
Source: Own elaboration
Table II. Operationalization of the analytical model:
Institutional arrangements
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rather the capacity to influence (Edwards et al., 2013). This point is essential because it allows us to adequately capture, with comparative potential and through a synthetic index, the degree of success of public organizations with social media use (the dependent variable of this study).
Municipalities are a type of public administration with a long historical trajectory on the Spanish politico-administrative map (Vallés and Brugué, 2001). Specifically, there are more than 8,000 municipalities in Spain with very heterogeneous sizes and populations. Furthermore, many of the municipalities are responsible for the delivery of services that are important for the welfare of local communities.
In this study the sample selection takes into account population size, with the aim of analyzing municipalities that have sufficient capacity to employ innovative technologies. From that starting point, we selected municipalities with a population greater than 50,000 (producing a total of 146). Of those, we have specifically focused on those that have, at a minimum, an active profile on Facebook and Twitter, the main social media through a general institutional account of the local government, narrowing our population to 124 cases (n). We have excluded from the study those institutions that, at the time the field work was undertaken, were only present on social media through a narrow sectorial area of management such as tourism, youth, or a customer service section for citizens. This decision, which restricts the units of analysis, aims at preventing excessively heterogeneous realities that can bias the results of the study.
The data that for this study have been collected through three main sources: primary data from a questionnaire we designed and conducted, secondary data of statistical sources at the country-level for Spain, and secondary data collected through Klout Score.
The primary data were collected by using a questionnaire created by the authors based on their own prior research, as well as the National Survey of Social Media Use in State Government by Bailey and Singleton (2010) and previous research work in the same field (Criado and Rojas-Martín, 2013a, b; Hrdinová et al., 2010). The questionnaire had 21 questions and was sent to those responsible for managing social media in the municipalities. The field work for the collection of data took place between March and July 2014, and had a response rate of 97.6 percent of cases (121/124). National statistics were extracted from a variety of sources: National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística – INE), Electronic Administration Observatory (Observatorio de Administración Electrónica – OBSAE), Transparency International Index (Índice ITA de Transparencia Internacional), Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior), Ministry of Employment and Social Security (Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social), and Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations (Ministerio de Hacienda y Administraciones Públicas). As described earlier, the Klout Score was used to assess the influence of these municipalities via social media.
4. Results and implications In this section, we present the main results from the application of the model. For the analysis of the variables, we selected multiple linear regression. Following a pilot analysis, we begin with a bivariate analysis to identify the main tendencies that the model presents. In a second step, a multiple linear regression has been carried out by using the stepwise method. The results of the analysis, by means of multiple linear regression, present heterogeneous data, as can be seen in Table IV.
The data analysis shows that ten variables jointly explain 54.6 percent (adjusted R2 ¼ 0.546) of the variability observed in the dependent variable, success of the social media. These variables are: ICT product equipment in households, municipal balance: income less expenditure, debt per inhabitant, population, political party of the mayor, formal commitments relating to the development of the e-administration, existence of criteria for
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the use of social media, culture of transparency, access to specific training by the municipality, and leadership. These variables include elements from all three larger constructs proposed in the analytical model created from the EEGS, specifically, (X1) structures and organizational processes, characteristics and management strategies, (X2) institutional arrangements, and the (X3) environmental conditions.
Regarding the first construct, organizational structures and processes, characteristics, and management strategies, the results show the importance of having an internal leader to achieve success in ICT projects, as demonstrated by Luk (2009) and Gil-García (2012). There is also a relationship between the size of the organization and the success of this type of project. This could have been affected by the selection of municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, but smaller local governments may not have enough resources to develop technological projects. Finally, training also shows itself as relevant in explaining the variability of success with social media.
The analysis of the institutional arrangements shows how the existence of formal commitments to the development of e-administration and criteria for the use of social media intervene in a significant way on the level of variation of the dependent variable. In both cases, formal documents that capture the governing guidelines for public employees could help to better guide their development. Lastly, as has already been shown in the literature, there is a fruitful relationship between social media and transparency (Bertot et al., 2012a, b; Bonson et al., 2013; Meijer and Thaens, 2013; Picazo-Vela et al., 2012). The results show the importance of having a culture of transparency.
The inclusion of environmental conditions in the model helps clarify the importance that public administration environments have in the development of social media. The size of the population of the municipality has shown itself to be a particularly important variable in the
Bivariate Stepwise β Sig. β Sig.
Access to the internet in households with computer equipment 0.096 0.326 ICT product equipment in households 0.144 0.140 0.163 0.063* Municipal balance: income less expenditures 0.356 0.000** 0.194 0.034* Total debt 0.271 0.005** Debt per inhabitant 0.072 0.465 0.203 0.021* Population 0.571 0.000** 0.489 0.000** Unemployment per inhabitants −0.037 0.703 Educational level (high education) 0.093 0.343 Average age 0.016 0.873 Political stability of government −0.011 0.909 Political party of the mayor 0.001 0.992 −0.138 0.091* Minority/majority government 0.058 0.556* Formal commitments to transparency −0.315 0.001** Formal commitments to public information access −0.248 0.013* Formal commitments relating to the development of e-administration −0.318 0.001** −0.290 0.001** Existence of criteria for the use of social media −0.331 0.001** −0.182 0.034* Formal commitments to participation 0.183 0.111* Culture of transparency 0.138 0.232 −0.203 0.024* Existence of a strategic social media plan −0.159 0.103 Access to specific training by the municipality −0.149 0.132 −0.175 0.038* Size of the organization 0.221 0.023* Experience of the organization in the use of social media 0.170 0.089* Leadership 0.368 0.000** 0.188 0.033* Note: *,**Significant at o0.05 and 0.01, respectively
Table IV. Results of the
statistical analysis
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Enacting social media success
model, which reflects prior research on ICT use (Gil-García, 2012; Mossberger et al., 2013). The data presented here show that the number of families with ICT equipment in their households (Gascó, 2009, p. 45; Gascó et al., 2012), a more positive municipal balance between income and expenditures, and a lower level of debt per inhabitant (Gil-García, 2012; Gascó et al., 2012) all yield better results. Finally, it has been confirmed that the political party of the mayor (Criado et al., 2012) has relevance in the variability of the success with social media, with left-leaning parties producing higher success levels.
In this paper we propose a model for the analysis of social media in local administrations, focused on Spanish municipalities. The EEGS model from Gil-García (2012), which is a holistic model for the study of e-government and web portals, served as a reference point. The statistical analysis presented here provides preliminary validation of the EEGS model as a useful tool to understand the variables that explain the success of social media in Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Specifically, ten variables were found that show a statistically significant relationship with the dependent variable, success of social media. The remaining proposed variables in the model were rejected, in some cases to prevent multicollinearity regarding other explanatory variables. In other cases, the analysis rejected their statistical relationship with the dependent variable, although in these latter cases, the sample size or the quality of the data may have influenced that rejection. Consequently, additional studies will be necessary to identify if these variables are statistically relevant for the model in future observations.
These results are coherent with those in the previous literature about the study of ICT in public administrations. The available data make clear the necessity of analyzing organizational, institutional and environmental variables to understand the use of social media in the public sector, similar to any other ICT used in government settings (Criado, 2009; Fountain, 2001; Gil-García, 2012; Luna-Reyes and Gil-Garcia, 2011; Orlikowski and Iacono, 2001). The neo-institutionalist approach also appears to be effective in analyzing social media use and can throw light on the functioning of social media within the public sector.
This proposal has come about due to the lack of a specific framework for the analysis of the success of this generation of technologies in public administrations, but its employment represents a fundamental step forward in understanding their dynamics of adoption and use. Previously, Gil-García (2012) had already indicated that the EEGS model could serve for the analysis of other types of technology such as social media, cloud computing, big data, and sensors. This study contributes to the growing field of study related to social technologies in public administrations and confirms in an exploratory way the validity of the EEGS model and its neo-institutionalist focus to help better understand the use and success of these technologies in public administrations.
It is also worth highlighting that the development of this study has faced diverse methodological challenges that must be taken into consideration to better understand the results. First, the analysis model uses statistical techniques, which makes it necessary to rely on adequate empirical data and a sufficient sample size. In our study, data from 121 Spanish municipalities have been employed, which represents a limited sample size to carry out a complex quantitative analysis. If we had used a greater number of municipalities, and consequently an increase in the variability of the cases, foreseeably a greater number of significant relationships could have been obtained. Second, the use of Klout Scores can offer some bias given that the greater part of the indicators upon which its scales are based are not public; however, it is a broadly diffused tool that has international use and that has been employed in previous studies (Anger and Kittl, 2011; Edwards et al., 2013). Finally, certain variables complicate the comparative potential of the study, to the extent that public organizations have significant differences among themselves, not only in terms of level of government, but also regarding policy domain, goals, and resources, among other relevant variables.
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5. Concluding remarks This study sought to respond to the research question:
RQ1. What are the success factors for social media use in local public administrations (in this case, Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants)?
For that reason, an analytical model derived from the EEGS was developed, with a neo-institutionalist focus (Gil-García, 2012; Fountain, 2001). The results presented show that a statistical relationship exists among ten of the explanatory variables (drawn from organizational, institutional, and environmental categories) and the dependent variable: Success of social media use in public administrations. This results show the importance of studying these three constructs or groups of factors to better understand the social media enacting process in public administrations.
This paper may also contribute to the e-government field in different ways. The results presented may be compared with previous literature focused on IT in public organizations. Regarding the research results, the analysis of data shows coincidences with leading research on the field. Thus, there is a relationship between the size of the organization (Gil-García, 2012), size of the population (Mossberger et al., 2013), transparency (Bertot et al., 2010), IT development (Gascó et al., 2012), having an internal leader (Luk, 2009), and staff training (Gil-García, 2012) with success of the IT use in the public administration. However, this study did not find relationship between experience factor and success of the IT (Gascó et al., 2012). Further research must be developed in order to understand traditional IT and social media similarities.
Also, this research has provided sound evidence about the usefulness of studying social media with traditional theories about information technologies in organizations, such social constructivism, structuration theory or institutional theory. The link between EEGS model and those theories has been pinpointed in the previous pages by highlighting the complexity of information technologies in organizations and the enactment dynamics in the processes of implementation (Gil-García, 2012). Additionally, the research has opened the doors to future (qualitatively) research in order to contrast ideas derived from the conclusions of this study, including the collaborative and social nature of this new generation of technologies 2.0.
It can be seen from the conceptual and theoretical review that by developing initiatives that avoid the risks described by various authors, social media can strengthen relationships between citizens and government agencies. Their application may enable the achievement of the final phase of evolution of e-government, as Chun et al. (2010) suggest, oriented toward openness, participation, and collaboration. This final phase, known as Government 2.0, is characterized by the promotion of shared governance to transform the way in which public administrations operate by promoting collaborative decisions using technologies derived from Web 2.0 (Nam, 2012b).
Social media represent a step forward in the aspirational goal of achieving public administrations that are more collaborative, social, and relational and that overcome hierarchies and bureaucracy. In sum, the potential of social media in public management would increase the relational capital of public organizations, in the same way as it would for its directors and employees. And that, without doubt, creates public value, to the extent that it has an impact on the dimension of legitimacy of public action, not only in terms of getting closer to meeting the real needs of citizens, but also in their involvement in public decision-making processes, within logics of greater transparency, openness, and collaboration.
In future research it will be necessary to validate the proposed model within different contexts and, if possible, with an even broader sample size. However, this study provides a solid base of work that can be replicated to achieve an increasingly refined understanding of the factors that explain the successful use of social media in public organizations. This collective challenge will likely be one of the most interesting lines of research in this field of
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study at the intersection between technologies and public administrations. In other words, social media technologies and collaborative knowledge platforms will shape public sector organizations and this will require systematic and comparative research.
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Corresponding author Francisco Rojas-Martín can be contacted at: francisco.rojas@inv.uam.es
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