Title: The debate on social networking and the usability of SNSs in e-governance

Authors: Eirini Souri, Evika Karamagioli, Vasilis Koulolias

Addresses: Unit for Policy and Citizen Engagement, Gov2u, A technological NGO, Anavriton 20, Maroussi 15124, Athens, Greece. ' Gov2u, A technological NGO, Anavriton 20, Maroussi 15124, Athens, Greece. ' Gov2u, A technological NGO, Anavriton 20, Maroussi 15124, Athens, Greece

Abstract: Social Network Sites brought citizens enormous benefits in communication and information flow. Given their popularity, researchers came to study and acknowledge their potential in e-Governance. This paper will attempt to examine SNSs: providing their opportunities and challenges; discussing their usability in e-Governance; and scrutinising their potential role in e-Participation. Main argument of the paper is that SNSs| utilisation in e-Participation has benefits since SNSs seem to solve some of the problems of e-Participation, concerning citizens| engagement. Nonetheless, the need to expand our knowledge of these new tools and further investigate how successfully SNSs contribute to fostering political activity still exists.

Keywords: social networking; ICT; internet technology; communication technology; web 2.0 technologies; social network services; EU; European Union; e-governance; electronic governance; e-participation; electronic participation; online participation; citizen engagement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2010.038607

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2010 Vol.3 No.4, pp.373 - 394

Published online: 13 Feb 2011 *

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