From the local to the federal level, governments are increasingly using social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to act as forums for their initiatives. The results from these efforts have largely been positive, although some fear that the sheer amount of information that is publicly available could lead to some significant drawbacks. In this article, we take a look at the ways in which these social media-hosted initiatives have managed to foster innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors. We also examine the potential fall-out from the age of unfettered communication.
• Pros
Social media is exceptional at harnessing the collective energy of a crowd. The most successful government initiatives have capitalized on this fact by creating sites where people can congregate and share stories, job leads and solutions to community-wide problems.
Both the “Real Warriors” campaign on Facebook and the Army’s page on the new social media site Pintrest have created a space where vets can find each other and communicate about issues specific to their experience. The Real Warriors campaign targets vets with post traumatic stress disorder, while the Pintrest site serves as a more informal forum for picture sharing, story-swapping and morale building. In each case, the sites allow people to help each other in a setting that is relaxed, friendly and always accessible. The U.S. State Department’s LinkedIn profile provides visitors with up-to-the-minute postings on new jobs, which in turn helps the government staff positions more quickly from a wider and more qualified pool of applicants. In a sense, these three websites provide counseling, support and relocation services at a fraction of the cost of a traditional brick and mortar facility.
The most visible form of innovation and collaboration among a more diverse set of constituents can be found on both the San Francisco 311 Center Facebook page and the New York City mayor’s office page on Twitter. The 311 Center allows citizens to input service requests for problems like potholes or broken streetlamps. The NYC mayor’s office Twitter page makes it easy to create and monitor dialogues, set up physical meetings or share vital information. Each of these pages fosters easy and open communication between citizens and their government. Specific issues can be addressed and tracked thanks to the superior organizational qualities of social media. This makes it easy for public government employees and private citizens to collaborate on issues.
However, social media isn’t just a wonderful organizational tool. It also functions as an excellent way to reach out to a younger generation. Citizen engagement in government is one of the measures of a healthy society. Making it easy for a younger generation to participate in their government should be one of the most pressing concerns of any governing body. A fully engaged citizenry will take pride in their communities and work to maintain a certain level of social order. By using social media formats that appeal to a younger generation, a government has a much better chance of retaining its influence and effectiveness.
• Cons
What could be possibly be harmful about a system that engages citizens while providing them with a forum for innovation? The potential drawbacks of hosting government initiatives on social media come from companies that interpret the information in a practice known as “web-lining.”
“Web-lining” takes its name from a practice banking institutions used after World War II to determine which veterans would receive loans according to the provisions of the G.I. Bill. Certain neighborhoods, usually those which were populated by African-Americans, were outlined on a map in red in banking offices. Anyone applying for a loan that wished to live in those neighborhoods was unfairly denied a loan due to “red-lining.”
Web-lining is a similarly insidious practice where individuals can be denied credit or other financial aid based on the types of websites they visit or forums to which they contribute. While no direct instances of web-lining have been associated with online government initiatives, the potential exists for some financial institutions to deny people money based on their affiliation with a particular group or place.
The open nature of most social media makes it difficult for governments to protect people from this practice. However, the benefits of fostering strong, healthy communities still outweighs the threat of the malicious use of public information.
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