Social Media and Africa's Public Sector: Perspectives on Contemporary Issues 9783031226410, 9783031226427

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Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector Perspectives on Contemporary Issues Eric Kwame Adae · Kojo Kakra Twum Robert Ebo Hinson · Helen Inseng Duh Doreen Anyamesem Odame

Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa Series Editors

Robert E. Hinson University of Ghana Business School Accra, Ghana Nnamdi O. Madichie Center for Research & Enterprise Bloomsbury Institute London, UK Justice Nyigmah Bawole University of Ghana Business School Accra, Ghana Rosina Foli Department of Political Science University of Ghana Accra, Ghana

This series examines the business and management strategies that are employed in the management of public services in Africa, which is currently experiencing significant change and revolution. In the 1990s academics observed that the public is increasingly recognized as a customer; since then public sector organizations have applied marketing tools and strategic planning to sell government policies. Today, almost every service in the public domain is given a marketing twist. The increasing role of public services in driving the African economy makes it essential for these services to be well managed. In the 2000s, the public sector in African countries was expected to spearhead socioeconomic development; however it has proved largely ineffective in this task. In fact it could be argued that the economic and social challenges that characterize the continent are partly due to the systemic weaknesses and poor performance of public sector institutions. The issues around public sector management have become so complex that the various sub-components deserve special conceptual and case based treatment to fully capture the issues around public sector management in Africa. Books in the series offer arguments and frameworks that push forward existing knowledge about what, why and how the public sector contributes to the socio-economic development of Africa. The series will cover a range of diverse topics including leadership, ethics, public sector procurement and logistics, human capital management and public sector marketing management. All submissions will be double blind peer reviewed. For more information on the peer review process please visit our website: https://www. palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/your-career/early-career-researcherhub/peer-­review-­process

Eric Kwame Adae • Kojo Kakra Twum Robert Ebo Hinson • Helen Inseng Duh Doreen Anyamesem Odame

Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector Perspectives on Contemporary Issues

Eric Kwame Adae School of Journalism and Mass Communication Drake University Des Moines, IA, USA Robert Ebo Hinson Ghana Communication Technology University Accra, Ghana

Kojo Kakra Twum Presbyterian University College Abetifi-Kwahu, Ghana Helen Inseng Duh University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa

Doreen Anyamesem Odame Ghana Communication Technology University Accra, Ghana

ISSN 2730-6119     ISSN 2730-6127 (electronic) Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa ISBN 978-3-031-22641-0    ISBN 978-3-031-22642-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the ­publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and ­institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

This book is dedicated to the glory of God Almighty and to our families and yours. This book is also dedicated to the furtherance of the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Contents

1 Overview of Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector  1 2 Exploring  Facets of Africa’s Public Sector’s Dance with Social Media 21 3 Main  Objectives and Expectations for the Use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa 45 4 Catalysts  for Social Media Adoption in the Public Sector in Africa 65 5 Democracy  and Use of Social Media by Public Sector Organisations in Africa 85 6 Social Media and E-Government Services in Africa103 7 The  Way Forward for the Use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa119 Index129

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About the Authors

Eric Kwame Adae,  PhD, APR, is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations at Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He holds a doctorate degree in media and communication from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). He is from Ghana in West Africa, where he earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Ghana. He is an accredited public relations practitioner and was a communications consultant for over 15 years in Ghana. His research interests include Afrocentricity, responsible management, CEO activism, social justice, corporate social advocacy, and corporate social responsibility/sustainability. Kojo Kakra Twum,  PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Administration and Economics, Presbyterian University, Ghana. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, University of Cape Coast. As a marketing academic, he has been involved in training public sector organisations in adopting marketing strategies to enhance their effectiveness. He has published research on service marketing, political marketing, and public organisation marketing. Robert E. Hinson  is the Pro Vice-Chancellor at the Ghana Communication Technology University and an Honorary Professor at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. He has authored/edited several books and has over a hundred scientific publications to his credit. He has also served as the Rector of the Perez University College in Ghana and holds two doctorate degrees, one in International Business from the Aalborg University in ix

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Denmark and another in Marketing from the University of Ghana. Hinson has, for the last twenty-two years, consulted for and trained several public and private sector institutions globally in the general areas of Marketing, Sales, and Service Excellence and served as well on the boards of local and international institutions. Helen  Inseng  Duh holds a PhD in Marketing from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and is an associate professor and Head of School of Business Sciences (SBS). She researches consumer behaviour, brand management, social marketing, and electronic and social media marketing. She has published widely in reputable international journals and is the winner of the 2017 Wits Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management Research Excellence Award. Duh is the first African member of the Advisory Committee of Transformative Consumer Research Movement (TRC), a US-based movement that develops theories and policies for the study and improvement of consumer, environmental and societal well-being. Doreen Anyamesem Odame,  PhD, is a lecturer and examination officer at the Department of General Studies in the Faculty of Computing and Information Systems at the Ghana Communication Technology University in Accra, Ghana. She has published in prestigious outlets such as the Journal of International Development and recently completed her PhD in Development Studies at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.

List of Abbreviations

AfCFTA African Continental Free Trade Area A2A Authorities-to-Authorities A2C Authorities-to-Citizens BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa CIVETS Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa C2A Citizens-to-Authorities C2C Citizens-to-Citizens CNN Cable News Network COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease DOI Diffusion of Innovation (Model) DVLA Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority e-GDR E-Government Development and Regulation EAGLE Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies (including Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Taiwan, and Turkey) EDI Emergency Disaster Information (Service) EMDEs Emerging Markets and Developing Economies GHANEPS Ghana Electronic Procurement System ICTs Information and Communication Technologies ILR Integrated Literature Review IMF International Monetary Fund MINTS Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey MOH Ministry of Health NCWSC Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company NITDA National Information Technology Development Agency NPM New Public Management OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development xi

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

OGD Open Government Data OGM Open Government Model(s) SLR Systematic Literature Review TOE Technology Organisation Environment (Framework) TRA Theory of Reasoned Action TV Television UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development

List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 6.1

Regional distribution of social media users. Source: Statista (2022) 23 Open government data stage model. Source: Karakiza (2015) 33 Major government objectives and expectations for using social media. Source: OECD (2013) 48 Crisis communication matrix. Source: Reuter et al. (2018) 52 Technology, organisational and environmental context. Source: Adapted from Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) 74 The South African E-Government Model. Source: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_ document/201711/41241gen886.pdf111

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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3

Overview of social media policies of selected African countries that have implemented social media campaigns for public sector organizations Principal elements for developing a social media policy Analysis of social media platforms of selected government agencies across Africa

35 36 38

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CHAPTER 1

Overview of Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector

Abstract  This chapter offers an overview of important aspects of how public sector entities across the African continent are leveraging digital and social media channels to achieve various strategic ends, including enhancing public communication, more effectively engaging citizens in democracy and governance, improving public service delivery, crisis communication and management, government image enhancement, boosting internal communication within public sector organizations, and achieving financial goals. The chapter profiles significant facets of the African sociocultural milieu, including some contemporary stimulants and barriers to digital and social media use by public sector organizations across Africa. Overall, the chapter illuminates patterns of employment of major social media channels by public sector organizations in Africa. It uniquely positions the book as helping develop a systematic approach to understanding many transformations taking place within the African public sector landscape, with the view to enriching understanding of social media practices and how these could be better integrated into the operational activities of public sector institutions in Africa. It discusses integrated literature review and textual analysis as major methods for collecting and analysing data for the entire book and describes the overall structure of remainder of the book.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_1

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Keywords  Social media • African context • Integrated literature review • Textual analysis • African public sector management • Communication strategy

1.1   Introduction Governments and other statutory agencies all over the world are incorporating social media into their daily operations for a variety of reasons. These rationales include disseminating valuable information, nurturing mass collaboration, and enforcing laws and other regulations (Khan & Swar, 2013; Osimo, 2008). The development of effective information sharing systems with the general public can generate more public interest and eliminate misinformation (Myers, 2021). Traditional/legacy media (radio, television, and print media) used to be the principal vehicles by which most public sector organisations and governments disseminated information. Today, the situation is different as social and digital media platforms have become lead channels and somewhat more effective vehicles to reach the local, regional, provincial and national audiences, while serving as avenues for the governed/citizenry to provide diverse forms of feedback to governments and public organisations. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (2014) offers some overview and glimpses of the use of some common social media platforms as follows: Facebook This social media platform allows users to share content with users. Facebook pages are used by organisations to reach audience segments who might be interested in their operations and activities. Facebook is used as a link to the blogs, websites, photos, and videos of organisations. Twitter This social media platform allows for micro blogging. The messages are limited to 140 characters. They are used by organisations to disseminate information and also provide links to information for consumption by the general public. YouTube

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This social network site allows for sharing videos with users. The content on this social network site can be shared on other social media platforms. Organisations generally use YouTube to share information about their operations, offerings, initiatives and activities to the general public. Flickr This is a photo and video hosting social media platform that allows users to share content with users. Social media users can view photos and videos shared by organisations about their activities. Users do not need to have an account to view content shared by organisations. Instagram This is a photo and video sharing platform that enables users to take photos and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on other social media platforms. Organisations mainly use this platform to share photos and videos on initiatives that are undertaken to inform their target publics. LinkedIn This is an international social networking site for people in professional occupations with the objective of connecting with other professionals. LinkedIn offers the opportunity to access professionals and organisations, as well as related news, updates, and electronic conversations. In order to enhance the delivery of their mandate, government agencies are gradually adopting social media technologies (Karakiza, 2015). It is further expected that public sector organisation would markedly increase budgetary allocations for social media marketing; employ social media channels to address the challenge of misinformation; boost customer support initiatives; sharpen grassroot engagement; and leverage social media channels for promoting both intraorganisational and inter-organisational collaboration. Social media platforms have the potential to fundamentally revolutionise how public sector organisations engage with their publics, as these evolving media vehicles provide multiple opportunities to improve government accountability and confidence, generate new ways of citizen involvement and participation in public decision making and improve interorganisational and intraorganisational cooperation (Khan et al., 2014).

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1.2   Social Media and the African Sociocultural Context On 1st November 2022, Twitter kickstarted its new Africa Regional Headquarters after its initial announcement in April 2022 (https://www. ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Twitter-­Africa-­officially-­ starts-­operations-­from-­Accra-­HQ-­1654832/). An article on Ghanaweb reported that the mission for Twitter’s entry into Africa (through Ghana) was to serve and improve public conversation across Africa. Given the size of Nigeria and seemingly better choices such as South Africa, there was some surprise expressed by global media outlets like the BBC (see https:// www.bbc.com/news/world-­africa-­56860658), who in an article entitled “Ghana basks in Twitter’s surprise choice as Africa HQ—BBC News” opined that Ghana was a fairly surprising choice for citing Twitter’s Africa Regional Headquarters. What might have learnt credence to this surprise siting is the fact that northern Africa had the largest number of users on all social media platforms. For example, there were almost 104 million Facebook users in the northernmost region of the continent in 2022, followed by Western Africa with nearly 58 million (https://www.statista. com/topics/9922/social-­media-­in-­africa/#dossierKeyfigures). Back in the year 2010, the United Nations suggested a seismic shift in social media and internet adoption, arguing even back then that Africans are coupling their already extensive use of cell phones with a more marked interest in social media (https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/ december-­2010/social-­media-­boom-­begins-­africa). Almost in fulfilment of the 2010 UN prophecy mentioned earlier, a September 2022 Statista article (https://www.statista.com/topics/9922/social-­media-­in-­africa/ #dossierKeyfigures) has noted that the number of African social media users has risen continuously, amounting to over 384 million as of 2022, with Facebook remaining the leading social media platform in Africa in terms of market share. The Statista article also noted that as compared to 2020 when individuals connected to mobile Internet in Africa accounted for 28% of Sub-­ Saharan Africa’s population, mobile devices were responsible for over 73% of the web traffic on the African continent as of 2022. Further, social media penetration in Africa has grown together with a significant uptick in internet use. However, despite the rapid growth, internet connectivity on the continent is lower, compared to other world regions. In 2022,

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internet penetration in Africa was estimated at 47%, rising from the 2010 rate of 9%. Again, the Statista article reports that since January 2021, Facebook has maintained traffic generation capabilities of over 50%. YouTube and Twitter followed with a share of around 9.4% and 3.8%, respectively, as of May 2022. In absolute terms, there were 271 million Facebook users in Africa in 2022, a number projected to exceed 377 million by 2025. Furthermore, YouTube had around 180 million African users, while Twitter’s user base stood at about 24 million as of the same year. It could be argued that in spite of the relative infrastructural deficits that plague the continent of Africa in comparison with more advanced continents such as Europe and North America, and the fact that by the end of 2021, internet penetration in Africa was short of the global average by 23.1 percentage points, suggests that social media uptake in Africa is certainly on the rise and a discussion of the usage of social media to deliver public sector services in Africa is certainly an appropriate one. There has been recent pressure on African governments to adopt social media in service delivery due to citizenry social media participation (Hairsine, 2022), and as of February 2022, some 56% of the population in Northern Africa used social media, while the share was 45% in Southern Africa. In Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, social media users favor WhatsApp while on the other hand, users in Egypt and Morocco tend to prefer Facebook (https://www.statista.com/topics/9922/social-­ media-­in-­africa/#dossierKeyfigures). The fairly commendable social media uptake on the African continent has not been without controversy though, with continental powerhouses such as Nigeria falling afoul of Twitter when their president threatened to punish regional secessionists (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/1/12/nigeria-­ends-­its-­twitter-­ban-­after-­seven-­months). The ban when was suspended after 7 months, following Nigeria’s removal of the post from the president which threatened to punish regional secessionists (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-­africa-­59958417). Another recent report titled “Increased social media use puts African leaders on edge” has argued that social media is enabling Africans to actively engage in a participatory governance cycle within the global public sphere. However, indications are that some leaders are kicking back due to the unusual service delivery pressure, social media users exert (https://corporate.dw.com/en/ increased-­social-­media-­use-­puts-­african-­leaders-­on-­edge/a-­61303854).

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On another fairly embarrassing note, an October 2022 Twitter spat between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his son played out when Father Museveni announced that his son Ugandan General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, would no longer tweet about the country’s affairs and that General Kainerugaba should steer clear of “talking about other countries and partisan politics of Uganda” on Twitter. But in a sharp rebuttal, General Kainerugaba averred that “no one will ban him from anything” a day after his father made the announcement (http://www.businessghana. com/site/news/politics/272789/-­U gandan-­g eneral-­d efiant-­o n-­ president&). This is an excellent example of how social media could be a government service delivery enabler, as well as a platform for national embarrassment when it is not used appropriately. The advent of social media means there has been a significant shift from the use of traditional media by public sector organisations. Hanna et al. (2011) acknowledge the power social media ecosystem in connecting people through interaction and engagement. In Africa, Bohler-Muller and Van der Merwe (2011) and Shirazi (2013) posit that social media has the potential to influence socio-political change on the African continent. However, the use of social media has witnessed some challenges in Africa leading to questions about to what extent has the medium replaced traditional information sources, and whether it has created new forms of citizenship and governance (Mare, 2013). Also, a careful look at social media policies by governments to encourage the public sector to use the tools is a concern. A study by Mushwana and Bezuidenhout (2014) identified that the lack of social media policy for government agencies in South Africa hindered the use of the platforms. The authors argue that social media has become the “home” of people and the best way to reach people now is for organisations to have a presence on social media platforms. Mergel (2012) provides details on how Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are used in the public sector, and what unique attributes each of these social media platforms offer. Studies such as that of Asamoah (2019) have sought to present practical cases of the use of social media by public sector organisations in Africa. The impersonal nature of social media allows a lot more people to engage their leaders without fear or apprehension and are therefore able to speak truth to power. One does not need to drive to a town hall meeting before their voice can be heard (Lee & Kwak, 2012). Through social media, citizens can sit in the comfort of their homes and monitor proceedings of public engagements while making insightful contributions.

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For government agencies on the continent of Africa, André-Michel Essoungou has argued back in 2010 that public sector organisations such as Kenya Airways were using various social media platforms to better interact with customers and readers. He also noted that protagonists in political elections in Côte d’Ivoire did not only tour cities and villages, but that they also moved the contest online, feverishly posting campaign updates on Twitter and Facebook (Essoungou, 2010). In Emerging Markets & Developing Economies (EMDEs), social media platforms provide a technological solution to the economic challenges faced by governments and people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. On 1st March 2021, for instance, the top Twitter trend for Ghana was the hashtag #IWillTakeTheVaccine, a reference to the President and First Lady of Ghana publicly taking the first jabs of the Oxford vaccine Ghana received from the Covax facility (Ismail, 2021). This is but one example of social media being used by a government to market an idea to foster social good. COVID-19 is a killer and given the fairly wide prevalence of vaccine skepticism, social media platforms provide an effective technological avenue for public education and the communication of facts to help combat a deadly health menace. On the African continent, discussions of the use of social media in governance are yet to gain traction. Such discussions thus far have pointed to a rather negative impact of social media on employee productivity (Wushe & Shenje, 2019) rather than highlighting its effective use as an innovative tool for governance and productivity. Kalyango and Adu-Kumi (2013) have examined the importance of social media for political mobilization, particularly the role of such technologies in the overthrow of tyrant regimes in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Zambia, Kenya, and Egypt. These scholars refer to the role of Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace as well as mobile phones in citizen mobilisation drives and the promotion of political discourse among opposition party-political organisations. In those instances, it was the citizenry mobilising through social media to take action, it was neither formalized nor government led. The OECD (2013) identified that the use of social media by government promotes improved public communication, engaging stakeholders on government processes, improving public service delivery, crisis management, improving government image, improving internal communication, and achieving financial benefits. It must also be stated that, when it comes to global Internet penetration rates, Africa’s share as of 2010 was just about 5%, although the

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Internet is regarded as a major breakthrough in mass communication and a catalyst for human and social advancement (Bonjawo, 2002; Castells, 2007; Gyamfi, 2005). Some scholars have observed that most youths in Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, and other parts of Africa tended to use the Internet for the purposes of creating and testing out lifestyles, such as making new friends, and for online dating across the globe, a trend similar to the new media uses and gratifications patterns of young people in relatively developed countries (Fair et al., 2009). Social media is however seen as a challenge by the rulers and the ruled in Africa (Kalyango & Adu-Kumi, 2013). Dwyer and Molony (2019a, 2019b) noted that in Africa, sometimes, political leaders often view social media as a threat because it can provide the public with greater access to information and potential to mobilise and challenge leadership. Additionally, it has been noted that in the African country of Burundi, public political discussions on Facebook and Twitter tended to exclude ordinary citizens and was rather dominated by a small number of elites who acted as brokers (Dwyer & Molony, 2019a, 2019b). In the Ghanaian context for instance, Asamoah (2019) examined the use of social media by public sector organisations. The results of the study revealed that there is limited use of social media platforms by government agencies. On the use of Facebook by two government agencies, the study found that an account created in 2008 has generated 278 likes, while another account created in 2017 has only 102 likes (Asamoah, 2019). Also, the study found that the government agencies had made 12 posts and 68 posts respectively on Facebook. These results is an indication that there is limited use of social media to engagement the general public by the government agencies studies.

1.3  Focus of This Book Recent books and related scholarship on Africa’s social media usage and the continent’s development have focused on political engagement, elections, digital dissidence, and social media censorship (see e.g., Bosch, 2020; Dwyer & Molony, 2019a, 2019b; Kperogi, 2022; Ndlela & Mano, 2020). Other treatments have dwelt on digitally developed countries like South Africa (see Bosch, 2020) with a focus for instance on social media and everyday life in South Africa. It is noteworthy however that this is not representative of the overall pattern of social media and development in Africa.

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Books that are similar to this have focused more specifically on the adoption, spread, and impact of social media in Africa. These books discuss the rapid spread of social media platforms in Africa, including social media uses in areas and sectors such as elections, health, relationships, and citizenry and country engagements. The overt focus on social media adoption and public sector service delivery in Africa is not pronounced and as a consequence our knowledge of such issues remains limited. Governments and public sector agencies in Africa are slowly but increasingly adopting social media technologies. Citizens now demand interaction with government and authorities through social media and intensive scrutiny of public documents such as budgets. This trend can potentially ensure transparent and effective governance in Africa. Whichever platform you choose, social media remains an effective and powerful platform that if well managed, will enhance public sector effectiveness and efficiency by keeping the public informed and updated. Given all these social media ecosystems development in Africa, why are discussions around social media in Africa’s Public Sector so important at this time? As noted earlier, there have been similar books on this subject, but this does not give a direct focus on the application of social media for public sector development in Africa, which remains the prime aim of this book. We seek to answer questions about how social media tools and platforms are being critically used to facilitate public sector service delivery in Africa and this is the gap the book is positioned to fill. This book focuses on developing a systematic approach to understanding the transformations in the public sector social media landscape in Africa. To narrow the focus, the book takes on the use of social media from the African public sector perspective and presents a comprehensive understanding of social media practices and how these could be integrated into African public sector institutions’ operational activities to deliver greater value for African citizens and consumers of public services. Thus, in light of the ambivalent verdict on social media and government/public sector service delivery in Africa, we launch a fresh investigation on five key issues in relation to the role of social media in Africa’s public sector and government business: . Social media types and their application in the public sector in Africa 1 2. What are the objectives for government using social media.

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3. What are the catalysts for social media adoption in Africa’s public sector? 4. What are the key uses of social media in African government policy and delivery of same? 5. Social media and marketing-public relations: A Public Sector Framework This book aims to provide a practical guidance on the use of social media in Africa’s public sector and governmental spaces. It provides practical perspectives by addressing contemporary issues about social media use by public sector organisations. This book also serves as a relevant teaching text in governance and public sector communication efforts within the African context in both undergraduate and graduate programmes, as well as executive training for practitioners.

1.4  Collecting and Analysing Data for This Book Integrated Literature Review (ILR) Diverse forms of literature review methodologies exist, such as systematic, semi-systematic, and integrative approaches, with each method proving suitable, depending on several conditions, such as purpose and quality of execution sought (Snyder, 2019). Snyder (2019) discusses diverse forms of literature review and guidelines for conducting literature review methodologies, including narrative or integrated reviews (see Baumeister & Leary, 1997; Wong et  al., 2013); systematic reviews, and meta-analysis (see e.g., Davis et al., 2014; Liberati et al., 2009; Moher et al., 2009), and integrative reviews (see Torraco, 2005) among other forms of literature reviews, while Okoli and Schabram (2010) and Fink (2005) focus on systematic literature review. Fink (2005) conceptualised SLR in terms of a purposeful literature review that is systematic, explicit, comprehensive and replicable. Systematic literature reviews (SLR) (see e.g., Okoli & Schabram, 2010) have very rigorous standards and tactics for the search strategy and serious inclusion/exclusion criteria for selection of publications for review. They also offer great merits for analysing and synthesising what the selected secondary sources portend for a given research question or topic (Snyder, 2019). A key strength of SLR is that is an established method for interrogating secondary data with the view to spotting gaps in knowledge, and explore

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and describe available body of knowledge about a phenomenon (Agudelo et al., 2019). Agudelo and co-workers (note that): The motivation for following a SLR is because it is commonly used to summarize the existing literature and identify gaps, to describe the available body of knowledge to guide professional practice, to identify effective research and development methods, to identify experts within a given field and to identify unpublished sources of information (p. 2).

However, SLR may not be the most effect or efficient approach, particularly when dealing with a relatively broad topic/issue with a generally incoherent conceptualisation and multiperspectival treatments (Snyder, 2019). Thus, Snyder (2019) further argues that the SLR may not always be the best route, particularly when the task is to investigate a much broader phenomenon on which scholars are yet to reach a consensus universalis and on which various disciplines have diverse takes, as we see concerning the relationship between social media and Africa’s public sector organizations. Such mix of factors necessitate a more nuanced and creative approach to collecting and analysing relevant literature on the subject-matter. A semi-systematic or an integrative path to the review of the literature may be called for, especially when the mission is not a systematic and comprehensive / complete review of all of the published literature on the phenomenon, “but rather to combine perspectives to create new theoretical models” (Snyder, 2019, p. 334). Wong et al. (2013) suggests that a semi-systematic (sometimes referred to as narrative review) genre of literature review is ideally suitable when the topic under investigation has diffused conceptualisations from diverse disciplines such that a systematic review may be unwise, impossible, inefficient, and/or impossible (see e.g., McColl-Kennedy et al., 2017). Akin to the narrative or semi-systematic review, Torraco (2005) posits that the Integrated Literature Review (ILR) is essentially a critical review framework, with the view to assessing, critiquing and synthesizing in an integrated manner that supports the emergence of fresh theoretical pathways and lenses. As can be found with such an approach (see e.g., Covington, 2000); Gross, 1998; Mazumdar et al., 2005), the ILR involves a relatively nascent phenomenon, but sometimes mature topics, with the goal of offering an overview of the corps of knowledge via a critical

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assessment, possible reconceptualisation, or broadening of the extant theoretical foundation through an overtly creative data collection mechanism and no intention at a census of secondary data and literature on the topic (Snyder, 2019). The goal is rather an eclectic overview of existing perspectives and insights from diverse disciplines, philosophies, epistemologies, or research traditions (Snyder, 2019). In order to guide the ILR process, we focussed on broad thematic areas revolving around Africa’s public sector’s dance with social media. Some of the core themes that shaped the ILR process were patterns of how governments and public organizations on the African continent use social media, features of social media vehicles that serve as motivations for their use by public organizations in Africa, strategies and objectives for social media use, the role of social media in Africa’s democratic experiment, social media and e-governance in Africa, impediments in adopting social media, etc. In undertaking the ILR, we deliberately resorted to academic/scholarly publications and findings by reputable institutions. We took this path because of quality assurance concerns, but also because such publications typically go through a rigorous peer review process. Overall, articles were selected, based on their suitability and relevance to the goals of this book. We also mined the references of some of the seminal articles for additional references (Agudelo et al., 2019). Textual Analysis We also analysed selected media and communication texts, which served as empirical data for some of the discussions in this book. Textual Analysis is an approach by which researchers gather and interpret information about how cultures and subcultures make sense of the world (McKee, 2003). It is the analysis of talk and communication text, with the view to ascertaining how concepts (Fairclough, 2003). Textual analysis involves going beyond the manifest/overt meanings of texts and seeking to ascertain the latent/covert meanings provided by various layers of the cultural context within which the text is produced, consumed and interpreted (Fairclough, 2003; McKee, 2003). Such texts may be cultural artifacts including webpages, social media platforms, films, television programs, ads, books, magazines, clothes, graffiti, etc. (Daymon & Holloway, 2002).

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1.5  Organisation of the Book This book is organised according to seven specialised chapters that examine various themes at the crossroad of social media and public sector organisations in Africa. Chapter 2: Exploring facets of Africa’s Public Sector’s Dance with Social Media generally discusses social media within the context of Africa’s public sector. This chapter suggests that social media usage by governments and public sector organizations on the African continent displays remarkably different characteristics than how such media channels are deployed within commercial settings. The chapter illustrates how social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, and LinkedIn are deployed by public sector organisations across Africa to achieve strategic communication objectives. Social media strategies adopted by government agencies on the African continent may involve a push strategy, a pull strategy, and a networking strategy. This chapter suggests that the use of social media vehicles among public sector organisations on the continent of Africa may go through diverse stages. The chapter contributes to the relatively nascent literature streams on the nature of social media in the public sector in Africa. Chapter 3: Main Objectives and Expectations for the Use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa interrogates Africa’s public sector organisations’ major objectives for using social media. This chapter acknowledges the role played by social media platforms in enhancing government communications, engagement, and participation in governance. Based on a systematic literature review and analysis of selected social accounts of public sector organisations in Africa, it emerged that social media platforms are basically used to provide information to citizens, but also to identify effective pathways for offering opportunities for citizens to engage with public sector organisations in Africa. The chapter also identifies that social media platforms assume increased importance during times of crisis to manage emergencies in Africa, and in delivering e-government services in African countries. Politically, social media plays a crucial in promoting democracy and citizens’ political participation. Chapter 4: Catalysts for Social Media Adoption in the Public Sector in Africa aims to deepen our understanding of the factors that serve as catalysts for social media adoption by public sector organisations in Africa. Using the Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework, this chapter explains how social media technology is adopted and used by

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public sector organisations in Africa. It was found that in most African countries, governments have policies in place to take advantage of the enormous benefits of social media. This chapter argues that several organisational factors, including top management support, resource availability, and skilled human resource to sustain social media technologies are significant tonic factors that catalyse the adoption of social media by Africa’s public sector. Chapter 5: Democracy and Use of Social Media by Public Sector Organisations in Africa notes that the adoption and use of social media is influenced in part by the prevailing political environment. This chapter discusses some of the factors militating against the use of social media in Africa. Some of the toxic factors have been found to include the promotion of misinformation, fake news, hate speech, and voter manipulation. Major obstacles include the lack of political will, and sometimes by opposition by some governments. The chapter provides the reasons why social media is viewed as anti-democratic within the African socioeconomic context. This chapter advocates for the promotion of social media because of its democracy-deepening function and concludes that social media must be promoted to develop democracy on the African continent. Chapter 6: Social Media and E-Government Services in Africa relies on examples and mini case studies of social media use in providing e-­government services in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda and Nigeria. The chapter found that enables citizens to conveniently access e-government websites and facilitates engagement with users of e-government services. The use of government portals to provide e-­government services can be augmented with social media accounts providing communications about the services and serving as an avenue to engage the public about e-government services. This chapter makes a strong case for integrating e-government portals with social media accounts in the African public sector. Chapter 7: The Way Forward for the use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa offers some reflections on the use of social media by public sector organisations in Africa. It proposes some social media strategies that can guide public sector organisations, and recommends that governments must develop social media policies for public sector organisations. The use of social media to attain communication objectives and enhance political participation are also proposed. The chapter recommends that social media platforms can be used to promote the delivery of e-government services in Africa. Finally, it provides some tips for using social media.

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1.6  Conclusion The book focusses on providing public relations practitioners and students with the requisite knowledge to have a better understanding of the implications of digitalisation in the emerging market environment. With new technologies disrupting the marketplace, the emerging economies need to be repositioned to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Public sector organisations must seize the opportunities of new technologies provide to innovate, increase digital and mobile penetration and develop winning digital strategies. While there may be hordes of books on the subject matter of social media use by public sector organisations, this book is clearly differentiated. It is unique in its focus on the African public sector. In the face of many technological changes and demands for Africa’s public sector organisations to become more effective and efficient in delivering on their various mandates, the pivotal role of social media and cognate technologies become even more critical. This book is unique and timely because of focus on Africa and the pathways through which the continent’s public sector organisations can better leverage social media tools. Managers of social media accounts of public organisations and public servants who seek to use social media as the new norm to interact and engage with citizens can use this book as a guide. The book provides an African context-specific experience of social media adoption and use. The practical cases from many African countries will serve as a guide for public service practitioners. The book will likely provide the opportunities and challenges of social media use by government organisations peculiar to African countries. This book is targeted at readers in most African and developing economy universities and especially those with information technology and communication programmes. Indeed, most African and developing economy universities have programmes and modules on information technology and communication, and there is an increasing demand by students for specialized books in this subject. It is also anticipated that universities and marketers in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa); EAGLE economies (those which are expected to lead growth in the next 10 years, such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia,

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South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Taiwan, and Turkey) will find great interest in this book. Other interested parties include: • Public relations associations • Marketing research firms • Advertising agencies • Advertising Associations

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Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: Explanation and elaboration. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151, W–65. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-­4819-­151-­ 4-­200908180-­00136 Mare, A. (2013). A complicated but symbiotic affair: The relationship between mainstream media and social media in the coverage of social protests in southern Africa. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 34(1), 83–98. Mazumdar, T., Raj, S. P., & Sinha, I. (2005). Reference price research: Review and pro-positions. Journal of Marketing, 69, 84–102. https://doi.org/10.1509/ jmkg.2005.69.4.84 McColl-Kennedy, J.  R., Snyder, H., Elg, M., Witell, L., Helkkula, A., Hogan, S. J., & Anderson, L. (2017). The changing role of the health care customer: review, synthesis and research agenda. Journal of Service Management, 28(1), 2–33. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-­01-­2016-­0018 McKee, A. (2003). Textual analysis: A beginner’s guide. Sage. Mergel, I. (2012). Social media in the public sector: A guide to participation, collaboration and transparency in the networked world. Wiley. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151, 264–269. https://doi.org/10.7326/00034819-­151-­4-­200908180-­00135 Mushwana, G., & Bezuidenhout, H. (2014). Social media policy in South Africa. Southern African Journal of Accountability and Auditing Research, 16(1), 63–74. Myers, N. (2021). Information sharing and community resilience: Toward a whole community approach to surveillance and combatting the “infodemic”. World Medical & Health Policy, 13(3), 581–592. Ndlela, M. N., & Mano, W. (Eds.). (2020). Social media and elections in Africa, Volume 1: Theoretical perspectives and election campaigns. Springer Nature. OECD (2013). The use of social media in risk and crisis communication. Retrieved from: https://www.oecdi-library.org/governance/the-use-of-social-media-inrisk-and-crisis-communication_5k3v01fskp9s-en. Okoli, C., & Schabram, K. (2010). A guide to conducting a systematic literature review of information systems research https://doi.org/10.2139/ ssrn.1954824 Osimo, D. (2008). Web 2.0  in government: Why and how? JRC Scientific and Technical Reports. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/EURdoc/EURdoc/ JRC45269.pdf

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Shirazi, F. (2013). Social media and the social movements in the Middle East and North Africa: A critical discourse analysis. Information Technology & People, 26(1), 28–49. Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039 Torraco, R. J. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, 4, 356–367. https://doi. org/10.1177/1534484305278283 USAID. (2014). Social media (Facebook, Flickr, GitHub, Instagram, LinkedIn, Storify, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube) Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA). https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/Social_Media_ PIA_Summary_May_6_2014.pdf Wong, G., Greenhalgh, T., Westhorp, G., Buckingham, J., & Pawson, R. (2013). RAMESES publication standards: Meta-narrative reviews. BMC Medicine, 11, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-­7015-­11-­20 Wushe, T., & Shenje, J. (2019). The relationship between social media usage in the workplace and employee productivity in the public sector: Case study of government departments in Harare. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 17, 10.

CHAPTER 2

Exploring Facets of Africa’s Public Sector’s Dance with Social Media

Abstract  The chapter discusses social media within the context of Africa’s public sector. This chapter suggests that social media usage by governments and public sector organizations on the African continent displays remarkably different characteristics than how such communication and media channels are deployed within commercial settings. The chapter illustrates how social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, and LinkedIn are deployed by public sector organisations across Africa to achieve strategic communication objectives. The chapter argues that social media channels are pivotal in enhancing public sector communication due to their characteristics such as interactivity, participation, and user-generated value. Social media strategies adopted by government agencies on the African continent may involve a push strategy, which focusses on providing information to the public; a pull strategy, which seeks to engage and interact with target audience, and a networking strategy that focusses on information sharing. This chapter suggests that the use of social media vehicles among public sector organisations on the continent of Africa may go through diverse stages. These include an initial stage of using social media to provide information to target audiences, very much akin to propagandist, press agentry, and public information models. This is followed by an intermediary stage that involves employing using social media channels to engage and interact with the target publics in a manner that ensures receiving some feedback. Then, there is an © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_2

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advanced stage where public sector organizations employ social media use for two-way communication, collaboration and co-creation, but also for boosting service delivery. This chapter contributes to the relatively nascent literature streams on the nature of social media in the public sector in Africa. Keywords  Social media • Dialogic communication • Communication strategy • Public sector management • Africa

2.1   Introduction The advent of social media has produced a significant shift from the use of traditional media channels by public sector organisations. Hanna et  al. (2011) acknowledge the power of the social media ecosystem in connecting people through deeper levels and intensities of interaction and engagement. On the continent of Africa, Bohler-Muller and Van der Merwe (2011) and Shirazi (2013) posit that social media platforms have the potential to influence deeper levels of socio-political change in the continent of Africa. Social media presents a means to target audience in Africa. From the global statistics, there are about 4.6bn active social media users and a 58.4% penetration rate (Statista, 2022). From a regional perspective of Africa, Statista (2022) reports that citizens are using social media. The report also indicates that 38.47% of Nigeria’s population use social media and this is expected to increase to 91.55% by 2027 (see Fig. 2.1). Therefore, the high social media penetration and the increasing usage of the tools in Africa is making it a major communication medium that government must take more seriously. However, the situation is not always rosy. The use of social media can sometimes be fraught with some challenges on the continent of Africa, leading to some hard questions about the extent to which these new and still-emerging media platforms have managed to displace traditional information sources (Shirazi (2013). Trendwatchers also continue to consider some possibilities for such new media systems in helping create and crystalise unique forms of citizenship and governance (Mare, 2013). An examination of social media policies by governments, with the view to motivating public sector organizations to employ these new digital communication platforms has been gaining quite some traction across the

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Fig. 2.1  Regional distribution of social media users. Source: Statista (2022)

developing world (Asamoah, 2019). In this vein, some commentators have focussed on closely scrutinising social media policies by governments across Africa, with the view to gauging the extent to which such media use blueprints incentivize public sector organizations to employ such channels as part of their multi-media mixes and communication strategies and tactics. For instance, Mushwana and Bezuidenhout (2014) identified the lack of social media policies as a significant factor working against the uptake of social media vehicles by government agencies in South Africa. Within the context of the strident growth in the adoption of social media platforms across board, these channels continue to grow in stature as major communication tools. Social media has become a major communication tool (Mergel, 2012) to the extent that some scholars have suggested that these comprise some of the best avenues for reaching organisational publics through effective interactions and engagements

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with their strategic constituents on social media (Mergel, 2012). Increasingly, social media platforms are being recognised as comprising some of the best means by which organisations can reach and engage various echo chambers of strategic audiences through the creation and maintenance of diverse social media accounts (Hanna et al., 2011). Suggesting that social media provides numerous opportunities for governments and the public service to interact with diverse audiences, Mergel (2012) provides some glimpses of how governments and public sector institutions employ Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and what unique attributes each of these social media platforms offer such entities. This scholar also analysed the unique attributes and capabilities offered by each of these social media platforms. Studies such as that of Asamoah (2019) have sought to present practical case analysis of the use of social media by public sector organisations in Africa. This chapter employs selected social media models to explain the adoption and use of social media by government agencies. Specifically, it showcases the uses to which public sector organisations in Africa put social media platforms. It also discusses some of the significant ways in which social media usage by public sector institutions on the African continent runs counter to how these organizations employ traditional/legacy media channels. Also examined is the strategic deployment of new digital media forms in electronic-government service delivery. To investigate key themes pertaining to social media adoption by African governments and public sector organizations, this chapter opens with some definitions of the notion of social media. The chapter then delves into an exploration of some models that help to explain the adoption of social media by public sector organisations. It also discusses the social media strategies used by public sector organisation. It examines the unique role played by diverse social media platforms in Africa’s public sector, and employ carefully-selected case studies to make sense of the uses and motivations that governments and para-statal entities on the African continent have for employing social media. Based on the analysis and discussions, the chapter concludes with some recommendations for public sector organisations on the African continent for a more strategic and impactful use of various social media platforms.

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2.2  Understanding the Social Media Concept 1. There are many definitions of social media that seek to enhance the understanding of the concept. One of the most cited definitions is that of Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), who conceptualise social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content.” Web 2.0 signals the second stage in the evolution of the World Wide Web, marked by a shift from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content, ease of use, a participatory worldview, and the marked use of social media. Taking a functionalist perspective, Carr and Hayes (2015) see social media as “Internet-based channels that allow users to opportunistically interact and selectively self-present, either in real-time or asynchronously, with both broad and narrow audiences who derive value from user-­ generated content and the perception of interaction with others” (p. 50). These authors further provided an explanation of this definition by focussing on several key terms and characteristics, including the following: • Internet-based: a fundamental part of this definition is that social media make use of broader Internet tools instead of web-based applications. The introduction of mobile applications has facilitated the use of other applications on the Internet, and breaking the monopoly of the Worldwide Web as the only tool necessary for the rollout of social media. • Perceived Interactivity: interaction among users is necessary to distinguish a social media. The central idea is that social media enables users to create and utilize a social media to interact with others. • Interactive/participatory channels: social media communications are based on the wish of the user to commit to participation, unlike face-to-face where parties need to be committed to participate in communication at the same time. Social media makes use of asynchronous communication tools that can enable real time communication such as text chats. • User-generated Value: the value of social media is dependent on the value created from the interactions of users and not just the content created by the organisation. Users of social media apart from the benefit they derive from organisationally generated content, can also gain some additional gratifications from other individual users.

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2.3  Social Media: A Public Sector Perspective The unique characteristics of social media, including participation, openness, and sharing present to government organisations some opportunities to engage and interact with citizens (Khan et  al., 2014). The nature of social media platforms enables government institutions to collaborate with citizens in a manner that promotes deeper relational levels of participation and openness. Through the use of social media by governments, citizens can be given a voice and the agency to contribute to governance. Also, the use of social media for collaborations and participation can promote government-to-citizens relations and facilitate the attraction of new clients and audience segments for government information and services. Social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are common tools used for government communications and can also be deployed as vehicles for providing critical government services. Also, these social media tools can be used at different levels and scales within the governance system, including government-to-citizens (G2C), government-to-employee (G2E), government-to-government (G2G), and government-to-­ business (G2B).

2.4  Government Social Media Strategies Governments adoption of social media is guided by some media strategies, designed to ensure the attainment of organisational goals. Mergel (2010) suggests that government agencies adopt three main social media strategies, namely (1) push, (2) pull, and (3) networking. The first two strategies (viz., push strategies and pull strategies) are content-driven approaches that rely on one-way communication, and focus on information-dissemination to the audience. On the other hand, the networking strategy offers the opportunity to use social media to engage with audiences in a dialogical fashion with the goal of getting various stakeholders to become directly involved in information sharing. (a) Push (Representation) Strategy Government agencies adopt the push social media strategy as an approach to providing information to their stakeholders (Mergel, 2010). This strategy is used when a government agency uses a centralised unit to broadcast messages using social media platforms, while offering precious little opportunities for the citizens to participate and engage in the process. In

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some instances, Mossberger et al. (2013) suggest that government agencies may even resort to blocking comments on their social media platforms and make very little investment in updating information and posts on their social media handles. This strategy could also be effectively seen as a representation and/or name-placement strategy adopted by government agencies, primarily to establish a robust social media presence (Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013). (b) Pull Strategy The pull strategy entails employing social media to direct audience traffic to other online and owned media channels such as websites and blogs. The pull strategy does not provide content on social media but uses social media as a means of leading audiences to other media channels where the audience members can access official information provided by government agencies. Mossberger et al. (2013) assert that the pull strategy may also be seen as an engagement strategy aimed at seeking content and feedback from the audience. This way, government agencies can solicit information and ideas from citizens by encouraging their participation on social media. (c) Networking Strategy The networking strategy goes beyond just engaging social media audience. The strategy relies on the notion of open social innovation and entails actively involving the audience to participate in information sharing. For instance, ideas for government policies are developed based on crowdsourcing using social media. Mossberger et al. (2013) explain that the networking strategy involves extensive discussions between government actors and citizens on social media to elicit ideas from citizens. Unlike the engagement strategy that emphasizes co-production of content, the network strategy lays emphases on dialogue (Mossberger et al., 2013).

2.5   Models of Social Media in the Public Sector Social media use by governments and government agencies is explained and guided by diverse models (Khan et al., 2014). Some of these models include open government maturity model (see Lee & Kwak, 2012), the

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model for social media use in public sector (see Khan, 2015), and the adoption process for social media (see Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013). The next section discusses each of these models and connects them to how social media is adopted and used by government agencies. (a) Open Government Maturity Model This model involves the use of social media to unlock and drive unprecedented possibilities in the intensity of engagement between the public and government (Lee and Kwak, 2012). This model enables public sector organisations to understand the social media adoption activities and to implement their social media strategies in an orderly and more effective manner. According to Lee and Kwak (2012) the Open Government Maturity Model for Social Media has five maturity levels: (1) initial conditions (Level 1), (2) data transparency (Level 2), (3) open participation (Level 3), (4) open collaboration (Level 4), and (5) ubiquitous engagement (Level 5). Level 1: Initial Conditions The Level 1 is the initial stage where there is little or no government capabilities on social media, leading to no or seldom social media use. At this stage, government institutions may lack social media capabilities, systems, policies, and procedures. Thus, the government entity in this case heavily relies on one-way communication methods. An alternative for not having an engaging social media platform is government using their websites to provide information without seeking engagement with citizens. Level 2: Data Transparency A necessary step towards an open government is ensuring there is increased data transparency. The development of a digital economy and enormous data requires the transparent use of data by governments. This process begins with governments making every possible attempt to make relevant information and documents available to the general public. To achieve this, two key initiatives and preconditions must be present, including identifying high-value and high-impact data for the public, and improving and ensuring data quality relating to accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of information.

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Level 3: Open Participation Level 3 involves efforts to increase the open participation of the public in government work and decision, using social media platforms. The aim of such a system of open participation is to formulate and implement effective policies and provide an enhanced delivery of government services by welcoming and accepting inputs of the public. Level 4: Open Collaboration The maturity stage of open participation leads to open collaboration among government agencies and the public. Open participation refers to a complex form of public engagement that leads to cocreation of strategic information and services. Level 5: Ubiquitous Engagement After achieving transparency, participation, and collaboration, the next stage for government agencies is to optimally harness the power and functionality of social media and related technologies. At this stage, government agencies build on their social media technologies and open government initiatives to fully operationalise engagement with users to achieve the full benefits. (b) Social Media Used in Public Sector Model This model proposes that social media provide opportunities to connect governments with their strategic stakeholders. This ability of social media to connect government agencies and stakeholders depends on information socialisation, mass collaboration, and social transaction (Khan, 2015). The following stages of social media use by government agencies explain the progress that can be made at any given time to ensure there is effective engagement with stakeholders through social media. Stage 1: Information Socialisation At the information socialisation stage, the social media tools used by government agencies are mainly for informational purposes. The main objective of using social media at this stage is to enhance awareness of citizens and to enable them to participate in government activities. Therefore, the

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main thrust for using social media at this stage is for socialisation purposes. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are firmly integrated into government agency websites to provide regular information to the citizens. It is also noteworthy that the use of social media in socialisation demands limited financial resources and limited e-government infrastructure, thereby, presenting countries in the developing world with the chance to take advantage in creating an online presence and seriously involve the citizens in the governance process. Stage 2: Mass Collaboration This stage of the social media adoption continuum is focused on mass social collaboration and crowd sourcing. The government and citizens use social media and other Web 2.0 tools to foster collaboration. In the areas of regulation, law enforcement, and cross-government agency collaborations, social media enables the harnessing of government technology infrastructure and expertise for service delivery and socioeconomic development. Stage 3: Social Transaction The final stage of social media use by government agencies involves government agencies going beyond using the technologies for information-­ sharing and collaborations. This end-stage in the process is described as using social media for transactions between government and users. A vital aspect of this stage of social media adoption is the use of social media channels to deliver government services. Even though the use of social media for transactions is mostly observed in developed economies, there is a limited use of social media platforms for transactions by government across the world. The ultimate objective is for governments to strive to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Web 2.0 sites to provide a one-stop shop for government services related to essential services, such as housing, taxes, driving test, births and deaths registry, marriages, health care etc. (c) Adoption Process for Social Media A three-stage adoption model for government institutions proposed by Mergel & Bretschneider (2013) assumes that ICT adoption by government agencies begins with early experimentation without a formal organisational rule (Stage 1), providing standards and regulation (Stage 2), and

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a centralised and institutionalised ICT use (Stage 3). These phases in the process are explained below: Stage 1: Intrapreneurship and Experimentation The use of social media as a form of ICT is used informally by an individual who has some experience in using the technology. The use of social media in particular from the its infant stage was mainly for non-work-­ related activities. Thus, the users may have some experience in using them for their personal communications. At this stage, some influential individuals within the organisation will serve as change-agents by facilitating the diffusion of innovation processes of social media technologies within their organisations. These technologically savvy change-agents will then be active in influencing the top-management of public sector organisations to initiate the use of social media platforms for communications and service delivery. The use of social media at the individual level then means that many platforms could be harnessed, thereby creating a challenge concerning which tools must be adopted. Given the limited organisational experience existing at this stage, there may well be some problems and bottlenecks as employees seek to apply social media applications in their work groups. Some of these challenges and growing pains may include non-existent technology infrastructure, personal and professional conflicts, information accuracy, information privacy, and uncontrolled access to information (Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013). These challenges may slow down the adoption process of technologies and may also lead to the use of incompatible technologies in an organisation. Stage 2: Order from Chaos This stage in the use of social media by organisations may result from institutionalising the use of the technology. An initial adoption of the technology by individual intrapreneurs in different units of the organisation will later be integrated into the everyday activity of the organisation by providing technical support and funding (Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013). Some of the strategies used by organisations to streamline the use of social media can include interorganisational taskforce, steering committees, and setting technical rules and policies. These usually tend to be activities designed to make a business/strategic case for the adoption of social media by experimenting with the usefulness of the tools in terms of generating feedback from the target audience. Here, management can be

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presented with quantitative statistics of social media communications and reciprocations and also the growing number of users on the platform. Stage 3: Institutionalisation The final stage of social media adoption involves setting guidelines for the use of social media in the public sector. At this stage, there is likely to be a publication of official social media policy to direct the norms of social media practice. The social media policy document provides a detailed standards and guidelines for the production of information, vetting of information, intellectual property rights, posting schedules, and directive on how to measure social media impact through clear data analytics and metrics. At this point, the social media platforms are made compatible with other technologies within the organisational communication and media climate. Also, there are standards for the private use of social media accounts by employees. (d) Open Government Data Model The Open Government Data (OGD) model follows the Open Data philosophy in advocating for making data freely available to everyone, without limiting restrictions (Kalampokis et  al., 2011). The OGD model comprises five key stages (see Fig. 2.2); Stage One (Aggregation of Data), Stage Two (Integration of Government Data), Stage 3 (Integration of Government and Non-Government Formal Data), Stage Four (Integration of Government Data with Non-Government Formal and Social Data) (Kalampokis et al., 2011) and Stage 5 (Data Compatibility with Mobile Devices (Karakiza, 2015). Stage 1: Aggregation of Government Data The first stage involves opening up data, making data available online for others to use, and aggregating data provided by different sources. The main objective at this stage is to ensure that data is readily available online. Here, the public sector organization may use different technologies to publish data and make same available to the target audience. A typical use of technology is the aggregation of all data source on a website portal. Stage 2: Integration of Government Data This stage is the integration of government data from different public sector agencies. The challenges of having different government agencies

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Data Complexity

Integration of Government Data Aggregation of Government Data

Stage 1 Initial Condition

Integration of Gov Data with non-Gov data collected from expressive social media

Stage 2

Integration of Gov Data with non-Gov data collected from expressive and collaborative social media

Stage 3

Stage 4

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Data Compatibility with mobile devices

Stage 5 Ubiquitous Engagement M-Government U-Government

Open Collaboration

Open Participation

Vertical and Horizontal Integration Transparency

Open Government Maturity

Fig. 2.2  Open government data stage model. Source: Karakiza (2015)

providing data based on their operations and administrative levels is addressed. A decentralized data management approach is adopted where an effort is made for the seamless merger of all datasets from disparate government agencies. The integration ensures that the data is complete and concise since there is a unified view of the government from different sources. Stage 3: Integration of Government Data with Non-government Formal Data The integration of government data with other non-governmental sources helps to build a system of openness. Unlike government sources of data that are frequently deemed accurate and reliable, at this stage, consumers are also able to access data from non-government sources. Overall, the integration of these different sources of data makes it possible to have richer data. Stage 4: Integration of Government Data with Non-government Formal and Social Data This stage entails the integration of not just governmental data and non-­ government formal data, but also social data. Social data are those voluntarily shared by citizens through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These data are usually intertexts, commentaries, personal opinions, beliefs, and preferences. The integration of these data may lead to the generation of new ideas to create some innovative ideas to enhance government service delivery.

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Stage 5: Data Compatibility with Mobile Devices, Ubiquitous Engagement, M-Government, U-Government This stage of the open government model entails participation, collaboration and transparency at the highest level of maturity. This stage of integration ensures that there is seamless compatibility between government information technologies and mobile devices, leading to citizens being able to access government data, applications, and government services using mobile applications.

2.6  Overview of Goals of Social Media Policy in Promoting Government Communications The adoption and use of social media by government agencies in Africa can be promoted by the formulation and implementation of social media policies. In Table 2.1, we present an overview of some African countries that have implemented social media policy for public sector organisations. For instance, the Nigeria social media policy framework provides a detailed plan for government agencies to follow in adopting social media, including the following: 1. To provide a social media policy to be documented, 2. To formulate social media objectives, 3. To identify the target audience of social media communications, 4. To provide a clear governance structure to manage the social media, 5. To develop a communication strategy, 6. To identify the risk associated with the social media communication, 7. To ensure the institutionalisation of social media, 8. To get in place key success criteria and performance indicators, 9. To monitor the use of the social media platforms, and 10. To evaluate the use of the social media platforms. A study by Hrdinová et al. (2010) posited that there are eight key elements that are needed for developing a social media policy for governments, as outlined in Table 2.2.

Source: Authors (2022)

Uganda

Nigeria

https://ict.go.ug/wp-­content/ uploads/2019/12/Government-­of-­ Uganda-­Social-­Media-­Guide.pdf

http://www.rmp.nitda.gov.ng/pdf/ FrameworkAndGuidelinesForTheUseOf SocialMediaPlatformsInPublic Institutions.pdf

https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/ files/docs/resourcecentre/guidelines/ social_media_guidelines_final_20_ april2011.pdf

South Africa

In 2011, the government introduced a social media policy for public sector agencies. The Government Communication and Information System (2011) social media policy is to guide the use of social media by government agencies and employees The objectives of the policy are: 1. To a guide for the use of social media by government employees 2. To identify of the specific social media tools that will be beneficial for government agencies 3. To indicate the potential benefits and risk of using social media tools by government agencies 4. To provide best practices of the use of social media tools such as The framework and guidelines for social media use in public sector organisations was adopted in 2019 (National Information Technology Development Agency, 2019). The objectives of the policy are to: 1. Encourage the use of social media by public sector agencies 2. To use social media in a sustainable manner 3. To guide the use of social media by government employees The Government of Uganda’s social media guide sought to make a business case for the use of social media by public sector organisations The National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (2013) guide seeks to achieve the following: 1. To encourage the development of social media use by public sector workers 2. To enhance the participation of citizens in governance 3. To provide a detailed guide to public sector workers on issues of privacy, transparency, and risks

Document source

Country Details of the policy

Table 2.1  Overview of social media policies of selected African countries that have implemented social media campaigns for public sector organizations

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Table 2.2  Principal elements for developing a social media policy Element

Description

Employee access

There must be a clear line between work-related and non-work-­ related social media use. There must be clear rules on which employees can access official government social media sites. There must also be a process for gaining access to official social media sites. To do this, governments tend to limit the number of social media managers and the number of social media platforms adopted. In some cases, formal proposals are required to make a business case for the adoption of social media platforms Though there are many ways of gaining access to social media accounts, one way is to gain approval from only one designated authority. Usually, Public Relations Officers are in charge of the social media accounts. In some instances, approval for employees to use official social media sites can be granted by two or more parties. Sometimes, the Information Technology departments are also involved in granting access to users The acceptable use policy of social media entails how employees must utilize the resources, the restrictions to use, and the consequences for breaching the policy. Some questions pertaining to how much time must employees spend on their personal social media when at work. Also, uses of acceptable use of personal social media accounts by employees must be addressed. For the acceptable use of official accounts, the social media accounts must be monitored and managed by supervisors There must be an ethical professional code that guides the use of social media. This policy must set out the consequences of violation of the codes of conduct There must be a directive on who is supposed to post content on the official social media platforms. Also, there must be a process for scrutinizing content posted. In some cases, the Public Relations Officer is charged with ensuring accuracy of posts and creating content for social media accounts. Some government agencies demand their employees to issue a disclaimer on their personal views on social media since they are presenting their personal views The social media policy must address issues of privacy and security of data. The policy can target technical security issues such as hacking and misuse of data. The usernames and passwords of the social media accounts must be strictly managed by designated officials. Also, unethical social media behaviour must be checked. Some behaviours such as phishing and social engineering must be avoided

Social media account management

Acceptable use

Employee conduct Content

Security

(continued)

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Table 2.2 (continued) Element

Description

Legal issues

The social media policy must adhere to legal requirements. In some instances, social media policies must specifically address legal issues pertaining to freedom of speech, privacy, public record management, freedom of information, accessibility, and public disclosure The two-way nature of communication on social media sites calls for a need for government agencies to decide how to control content created by citizens. There must be rules of acceptable behaviour to guide what actions must be taken when misconducts occur and to indicate to citizens how they must behave using the social media sites. Issues that come to bear include inciting violence, offensive language, and promoting illegal activities

Citizen conduct

Source: Hrdinová et al. (2010)

2.7  Some Evidence of Social Media Use in Africa There is evidence to show that government agencies in Africa have adopted social media platforms to aid in their communications and delivering of services. In Table  2.3, we present the most popular social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube), the social media accounts and the use of these platforms by government agencies in some African countries are presented.

2.8  Conclusion The role of social media in enhancing public sector organisation communication effectiveness is outstanding. Various models have been used to explain the phases public sector organisations go through to adopt social media tools. All these models provide some insights into the preconditions and what public sector organisations must do to gain the full benefits from using social media tools. The phases always begin with the development of a solid information technology infrastructure to aid in communicating with target audience using social media platforms. This first stage may be aimed at having the means to disseminate information to the target audience. The second stage entails the use of social media to encourage participation and collaboration with target audience. The final stage, which most public sector organisations are yet to attain, is the use of social media to engage and cocreate with clients.

Country

South Africa

Kenya

Department of Tourism

Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC)

Driver and Ghana Vehicular Licensing Authority (DVLA)

Government agency

Remarks

On the Facebook page, an engagement strategy is used since it allows for clients to comment and ask questions about services of the authority Twitter: The Twitter account is very informative providing https://twitter.com/dvlaghofficial customers and the general public information about the agency Instagram: The Instagram page is mainly used to post videos on https://www.instagram.com/dvlaghofficial/ services of the authority. Customers are provided with channel/ tutorials on driving tips and rules, vehicular licensing and maintenance Facebook: The department has information on tourism related https://www.facebook.com/ activities. There is also an active engagement with NationalDepartmentOfTourism users seeking clarifications and information Twitter: The Twitter page of the department has many https://twitter.com/Tourism_gov_za information and videos about the tourism initiatives and programmes of the country Facebook: The Facebook page on customer care is dedicated to https://www.facebook.com/NairobiwaterCus providing timely information to clients on service tomerCare/?ref=page_internal delivery. Some of the information are on water supply interruptions and tariff reviews Twitter: The Twitter page is very engaging and seeks to https://twitter.com/Nbiwater_Care address queries of the public YouTube: The YouTube page has videos on the water https://www.youtube.com/channel/ production process UCGBkytjYkhiPgDKW8Lup0DA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ DVLAGhana/?_rdc=1&_rdr

Social media usage

Table 2.3  Analysis of social media platforms of selected government agencies across Africa

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Rwanda Energy Group

Agence Nationale des Porte

Nigeria Identification Management Commission Twitter: https://twitter.com/nimc_ng

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nimc.ng/

The Commission uses the Instagram page to post messages about its activities and services The page was created in 2013 and provides vital information about the services of the port The page is used to post photos and videos relating to ports services of the country

The Facebook page of the commission is used to create awareness of the services of the agency and to address queries of citizens The Commission has an active Twitter page to provide information to the general public about the service and procedures to get services The Commission has short videos of the activities of the organisation and how citizens can access services

(continued)

This channel features videos on port operations as well as video recordings of webinars on important issues concerning the operations of the port The Facebook page is used as a customer service tool. The information includes public announcement on outages of power Twitter: This Twitter official handle of the company is used in https://twitter.com/reg_rwanda providing vital information to citizens of power supply YouTube: The channel has documentaries on sustainable energy https://www.youtube.com/channel/ supply, the connection of power and other utilities to UCstIekq5IuM1P3-­ZJcxRCxQ communities, and showcasing safety tips in using energy Flickr: This social media site is used by the organisation to https://www.flickr.com/photos/127491669@ share photos to inform stakeholders N07/sets/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCRjeenGpZNJRXXk9l-­tpquQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nimc_ng/ Morocco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ANPMaroc Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ agence-­nationale-­des-­ports-­anp/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ ANPMaroc/videos Rwanda Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reg.rw

Nigeria

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Source: Authors (2022)

Zambia Electoral Commission

Government agency

Country

Table 2.3 (continued)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ electoral-­commission-­of-­zambia/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCofZ3PXjKOi0xzpJVgJk0yA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ electoralcommissionofzambia?_rdc=1&_rdr Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZambiaElections

Social media usage

The social media account is used by the commission to educate the citizens about electoral issues. Also, information regarding upcoming elections and results The platform is used to convey messages about elections and electoral education. The communications also have details about results of elections and upcoming elections This platform is used to educate audience about the commission and its work. It is also used to publish electoral results The channel is used to announce major election results in the country. The 2021 Presidential results of the country has been uploaded on the channel

Remarks

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The use of social media by public sector agencies in Africa is becoming a common phenomenon. One important factor that could propel public sector firms to adopt social media is the formulation and adoption of a social media policy for government institutions. Social media policies set out the rules and guidelines that provides a standard for public sector organisations to follow. The development of social media policies by African governments can propel public sector organizations to move towards using social media. Many public sector organisations across Africa are using popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to communicate with target audience. From our analysis of the social media platforms of government agencies across Africa, we found that the social media channels enable a two-way communication with the target audience. Citizens are able to send messages to government agencies to solicit for information or have their concerns addressed. However, the use of social media for collaborative learning, engagement, and transaction appears to be limited. On the use of social media for the delivery of government services, the evidence in Africa shows that this is at its infant stage. Social media platforms are mainly deployed to encourage two-way communication. In most cases, social media platforms are not used to deliver real time informational needs of citizens. For instance, there appears there is limited use of instant messaging opportunities on social media to handle customer queries. Recommendations for Public Sector Organisations in Africa Public sector organisations must develop social media policies and strategies to enable the effective rollout of social media tools to achieve communication objectives. Having a social media policy will regulate suboptimal instances, such as the personal use of social media by employees and the corporate use of the technology. Social media policies will also provide clear objectives, neatly outline the nature of social media tools to use, and establish the standards to be must adhere to. Governments through the agencies responsible for managing government communications must develop social media policies to provide a clear path for government agencies seeking to utilise the technology. Having a social media policy supported by the government can encourage public sector institutions to pursue social media use. Apart from the policy, governments can support public sector institutions with facilities and

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training. There must be communications about the business case for using social media and top government officials must spearhead this agenda. Public sector firms must find innovative ways to offer services using social media platforms. The use of social media to offer customer care services must be aggressively pursued. Due to the ubiquitous nature of social media, users of government services can be provided with services without them visiting the premises of the service providers.

References Asamoah, K. (2019). E-governance in Africa’s local governments: Do district assemblies in Ghana optimize the use of websites and social media? The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 85(4), e12082. Bohler-Muller, N., & Van der Merwe, C. (2011). The potential of social media to influence socio-political change on the African Continent. Africa Institute of South Africa, Policy Brief, 46(2). Carr, C. T., & Hayes, R. A. (2015). Social media: Defining, developing, and divining. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(1), 46–65. Government Communication and Information System. (2011). Social media policy guidelines. https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/resourcecentre/guidelines/social_media_guidelines_final_20_april2011.pdf. Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V.  L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54(3), 265–273. Hrdinová, J., Helbig, N., & Peters, C. S. (2010). Designing social media policy for government: Eight essential elements. Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany. Kalampokis, E., Tambouris, E., & Tarabanis, K. (2011). Open government data: A stage model. In International conference on electronic government (pp. 235–246). Springer. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. Karakiza, M. (2015). The impact of social media in the public sector. Procedia-­ Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, 384–392. Khan, G.  F. (2015). Models for social media-based governments. Asia Pacific Journal of Information Systems, 25(2), 356–369. Khan, G.  F., Swar, B., & Lee, S.  K. (2014). Social media risks and benefits: A public sector perspective. Social Science Computer Review, 32(5), 606–627. Lee, G., & Kwak, Y. H. (2012). An open government maturity model for social media-based public engagement. Government Information Quarterly, 29(4), 492–503.

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Mare, A. (2013). A complicated but symbiotic affair: The relationship between mainstream media and social media in the coverage of social protests in southern Africa. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 34(1), 83–98. Mergel, I. (2010). Government 2.0 revisited: Social media strategies in the public sector. American Society for Public Administration, 33(3), 7–10. Mergel, I. (2012). Social media in the public sector: A guide to participation, collaboration and transparency in the networked world. Wiley. Mergel, I., & Bretschneider, S. I. (2013). A three-stage adoption process for social media use in government. Public Administration Review, 73(3), 390–400. Mossberger, K., Wu, Y., & Crawford, J. (2013). Connecting citizens and local governments? Social media and interactivity in major US cities. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), 351–358. Mushwana, G., & Bezuidenhout, H. (2014). Social media policy in South Africa. Southern African Journal of Accountability and Auditing Research, 16(1), 63–74. National Information Technology Authority-Uganda. (2013). Government of Uganda social media guide. https://ict.go.ug/wp-­content/ uploads/2019/12/Government-­of-­Uganda-­Social-­Media-­Guide.pdf. National Information Technology Development Agency. (2019). Framework and guidelines for the use of social media platforms in public institutions. http:// www.rmp.nitda.gov.ng/pdf/FrameworkAndGuidelinesForTheUseOf SocialMediaPlatformsInPublicInstitutions.pdf. Shirazi, F. (2013). Social media and the social movements in the Middle East and North Africa: A critical discourse analysis. Information Technology & People, 26(1), 28–49. Statista. (2022). Social media—statistics and facts. https://www.statista.com/ topics/1164/social-­networks/#topicHeader__wrapper.

CHAPTER 3

Main Objectives and Expectations for the Use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa

Abstract  This chapter interrogates Africa’s public sector organisations’ major objectives for using social media. The review of the literature and social media accounts found that social media platforms are used to provide information to citizens. The secondary objective is to identify effective pathways for offering opportunities for citizens to engage with public sector organisations in Africa. The chapter also identifies that social media platforms assume increased importance during times of crisis to manage emergencies in Africa. Social media platforms are an integral part of delivering e-government services in African countries. On the political front, social media plays a crucial in promoting democracy and citizens’ political participation. This chapter acknowledges the role played by social media platforms in enhancing government communications, engagement, and participation in governance. Keywords  Government communications • Democratic governance • Engagement • Participation • Africa’s public sector

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_3

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3.1   Introduction Information is relevant in every facet of our lives, not only at our personal lives, but also collectively at the national and globally. Timely, relevant, real-time and accurate information for individuals, organisations, and nations has become even more important in the contemporary information age. The times when legacy media channels, such as television, radio and newspapers were the main sources of information are long gone. With the proliferation of social media platforms, the amount of information that is churned out by the minute is unimaginable. Individuals and organisations (private and public) as well as ministries, departments and agencies, and the various arms of government have all found innovative ways to engage their audience through the use of social media. Within the present-day socioeconomic context, social media platforms have become major sources of information for many people. Besides, with a lot more people joining the work force annually, the investment of time to sit and listen to radio or watch television in order to obtain information may seem a bit wasteful. Thus, people who are mobile find social media to be a great source of information which also allows individuals and organisations to tailor the information received to their specific needs. This chapter seeks to investigate the main objectives and expectations for the use of social media in the public sector in Africa. Africa is one of the poorest continents with a vast majority of its people living on under the poverty line. Additionally, there is a stark digital and information divide on the African continent, where access to the Internet is usually concentrated in major cities and towns leaving the majority rural dwellers with poor or no Internet connection. Besides, there is also the factor of the exorbitant cost of mobile gadgets and computers and accessories. The OECD (2013) provides details about governments’ objectives for using social media. It has been found that generally, the most popular objective for using of social media is to enhance public communications. Another objective relates to the need to engage and interact with strategic stakeholders. From a service marketing delivery perspective, the OECD report suggests that social media platforms offer governments the opportunity to deliver their services to citizens. The use of social media to manage crisis is another reason why government agencies use social media. It is noteworthy that governments are attempting to create collaborative and participatory governance systems and cultures by involving citizens in the formulation of ideas and policies.

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In this vein, it stands to reason that social media presents an avenue to generate and spur public participation, interaction, and engagement in governance. Across Africa, social media use is gaining some strong traction. CNN, citing a Reuters, reported that in 2014 alone, some 100 million individuals accessed Facebook monthly across Africa, adding that more than 80% of the people did so over mobile phones. However, that figure is now estimated to be north of 120 million, with 4.5 million of those Facebook users situated in Kenya, 15 million in Nigeria and 12 million in South Africa. In general, around 9% of Africans utilize such platforms for virtual entertainment purposes, with South Africa being among those that spend the most time on social media per day, with an average of 3.2 h daily, contrasted with the world average of 2.4 h, as per the data. These findings lend credence to why governments and agencies in Africa would find social media as an add-on (if not entirely an alternative) to traditional media in providing information to the masses. With the number of social media users on the continent increasing by the day, its adoption as a means of reaching a wider or specific audience in any part of the world not excluding Africa is a welcoming news. It would thus be imperative to know the main objectives and expectations for the use of social media in the public sector in Africa. This chapter examines the objective of using social media by public sector organisations in Africa. The chapter also provides some recommendations to public sector organisations in Africa.

3.2  The Use of Social Media to Enhance Government Communications Governments all over the world have found in social media a useful tool that effectively compliments traditional media outlets in public information dissemination. African countries are not left out of this novelty. Through various governmental agencies and departments, several African countries have resorted to the use of social media platforms to engage and enhance government communication efforts with the citizenry. Governments use of social media will assist various ministries, departments and agencies in establishing direct contact with citizens because this is where most citizens spend their time, making it easy to reach them. Therefore, it is expected that government agencies would utilize social

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media platforms to better engage with the public in a responsible and productive way in order to achieve their desired policy objectives. Local communities, state agencies, and national governments are utilizing social media as a low-cost and efficient communication medium. While using social media for government outreach and community involvement can present some difficulties, there are also unquestionable advantages especially in enhancing government communications. In Fig. 3.1, we present some of the objectives and advantages, as espoused by the OECD (2013). While all these objectives are laudable, we argue that the attainment of government communication objectives for using social media could be greatly enhanced if there is a purpose-driven approach for using these digital technologies. For a purpose-oriented use of social media, the OECD (2013) provided a checklist for ensuring that the objectives for using the platforms are achieved. Below are some of the OECD’s checklist of key questions and considerations: • What is the important information provided by the institution? • How can social media be deployed to support the core mission of the institution? • How can social media be used to support the activities of the institution? • Is there any central oversight body responsible for social media use across government agencies?

Fig. 3.1  Major government objectives and expectations for using social media. Source: OECD (2013)

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• What is the social media regulation for official accounts and personal use? • Are there any legal restrictions that may affect how social media is used by government agencies? • What is the availability of the human resource to achieve sustainable impact of social media.? • Is there a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the risk associated with social media use? • Is there a way to measure the performance of social media using some key indicators?

3.3  Social Media Use During Crises and Emergencies Crises and emergencies are inevitable and when they occur, institutions and governmental agencies mandated to deal with them must provide timely and relevant information to manage the triggering risk issue and allay the fears of affected parties and/or their relations. Governments must convey accurate and up-to-date information to the public at all times, and this is especially important during times of crisis or emergencies. The dissemination of urgent information can be significantly aided by social media. The ability to share timely information to warn citizens of an impending risk and provide direction as to where to seek assistance is essential during crises and emergencies. Additionally, the ability to respond swiftly to crises or emergencies could be hampered by the flow of information either from those in need of the help or the agencies responsible for providing the assistance. Social media could be instrumental in managing crises or emergencies since it offers a real-time two-way communication. For instance, at its most basic level, information put out on a social media platform can enable individuals to label themselves as “safe or unsafe” during natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis, as well as during terrorist attacks and insurrections. Social media platforms can be used to provide vital information on disaster management. Furthermore, social media can be a potent instrument for authorities to combat any misinformation. The phenomenon of this kind of false news or communication is growing. How sensitive densely populated cities and metropolitan regions are to catastrophe responses and emergency management has been made

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especially clear during the COVID pandemic. Especially, in providing information during the early period of the pandemic when very little was known about the disease (theconversation.com, 2022). In order to build relationships and resolve problems at rates never previously seen, communication is now immediate, and it must be acknowledged that social media platforms have altered how the general public communicates. Social media is the preferred channel for conveying information swiftly and concisely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove the need for crisis communication channels. Since social media allows users to get input and track sentiments, it has become the primary digital channel for two-way communication. Some recent statistics indicate that as at February 2022, the countries in North Africa and southern Africa had the largest share of social media users in Africa. In North Africa, 56% of the population used social media, while this figure stood at 45% in southern Africa. In Central Africa, only eight percent of the people used social media, representing the lowest rate across Africa and the lowest regional share worldwide (Galal, 2022). While some government agencies have a significant government social media presence, many government agencies are yet to consider social media. In the past, the Department of Human Services of the Australian Federal Government received complaints from the general public who were dissatisfied with the procedure for filing and claiming social security benefits. In response, this government department started the Facebook page “Family Update” to help families that depend on Medicare, Centrelink, and Child Support payments even more. Also, social media platforms have been implemented by municipal governments in several countries around the world. In Australia for instance, the Brisbane City Council made history during the Brisbane floods in the summer of 2010–2011, according to the Connecting with Communities research (Content Group Australia). Social media was used to connect communities with life-saving information and engage with those who needed to evacuate their homes and places of business. Social media outlets for the government cannot be taken for granted or disregarded, especially as tools for fostering trust and commitment, even while attempting to rally popular support from government disaster management efforts. Without the audience’s confidence, government messages and communication campaigns would receive scant public support and would be scarcely understood (https://contentgroup.com.au).

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On the African continent, some countries have employed social media in the strategic management of risk issues and during full-blown crises and emergencies. Here, the COVID-19 pandemic readily comes to mind. Most African countries used Twitter and Facebook to provide periodic updates about the pandemic to their citizenry. Especially on issues of relevant statistics such as the daily case counts, mortalities, recovery rates, as well as several other issues concerning governments’ management of the crisis. No country on the African continent was left out on the use of social media during the pandemic. In Ghana, the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health, and the Government of Ghana’s own Twitter handles posted regularly on the rising caseloads of COVID-19 as well as what to do and where to go if someone was suspected of catching the disease. The President of Ghana also tweeted bullet points of his regular addresses to the nation concerning the measures that his government is taking to mitigate the spread of the disease. Several other African counties also did same during the hight of the pandemic. During Ebola outbreaks as well, African nation-states such as Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which were the hardest hit in West Africa, relied on social media to provide relevant information to the citizenry as well as the international community. By way of context of the impact and magnitude of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the country was the hardest struck by the pandemic because of its weak health infrastructure. Liberia battled with a terribly underdeveloped healthcare system prior to the start of the Ebola epidemic because it had been destroyed and damaged by a protracted civil war. It had a population of 4.3 million but only 50 doctors, making it ill-equipped to handle an epidemic that size (Fall, 2019). In South Africa, during the xenophobic attacks in 2020, social media was very handy in providing information to immigrants who reeling were under such attacks. Consulates in South Africa took advantage of the two-­ way communications capabilities of social media to engage their citizens in South Africa to provide safe houses for them. Social media was also instrumental in providing the much-needed information to airlift those who wanted to return home. The South African government also used social media to calm the situation by tweeting about actions that were being taken to bring the situation back to normalcy. The South African Police also tweeted about arrests made and prosecutions to build confidence in the force.

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Citizen/Public

Authorities to Citizens (A2C):

Citizens to Citizens (C2C):

Crisis Communication

Self-Help Communities

Authorities to Authorities (A2A):

Citizens to Authorities (C2A):

Inter-Organizational Crisis Management

Integration of Citizen Generated Content

Authority

Citizen/Public

Receiver

Authority

Sender

Fig. 3.2  Crisis communication matrix. Source: Reuter et al. (2018)

Reuter et al. (2018) provides four categories of social media use in the strategic management of risk issues and crises, as depicted in the Crisis Communication Matrix (Fig. 3.2): (a) From Citizens to Citizens (C2C): Self-Help Communities There is evidence to suggest that citizens have been involved in social media communications to help each other during crisis. Thus, the C2C scenario involves situations where the content generated by citizens on social media platforms is primarily intended for other citizens, rather than government agencies. Individuals basically use social media to help other citizens out, and to cooperate among themselves. There are some instances where individual bloggers use their social media platforms to educate people about global health crisis. Microblogging is a major source of information for citizens who visit the pages of bloggers to be entertained and informed. These bloggers use their platforms to provide information during crisis. Social media users during natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding use such platforms to mark themselves safe and check up on others. Most people use social media in

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times of crisis to communicate with other people to share information about the crisis and ensure the wellbeing of others. On the Facebook page of Hashem Al-Ghaili, the blogger provides users with information on diseases such as the Ebola outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic in Africa has been partly tackled using citizen coalition groups on Facebook such as the COVID-19 Campaign Coalition-Ejura. Another citizen advocacy is the fight against xenophobia in South Africa by a private group known as the Xenophobia Updates on Facebook. (b) From Authorities to Citizens (A2C): Crisis Communication This describes the conceptualisation of government agencies using social media to basically target their citizens. In Africa, the social media infrastructure is increasingly being utilised by governments for this purpose, especially in the strategic management of crises. During crisis, governments have resorted to social media to provide timely information to general public. Increasingly, government authorities are employing social media as a major crisis communication/management tool. In this instance, the communications are geared towards providing details about the crisis and how citizens must behave in order to prevent incidents and emergencies. The communication strategy during crisis management could be informational, reactive, and deliberative (Twum & Nimako, 2022). It is however noteworthy that for governments efforts to succeed in crisis communication/management, it must focus on ensuring there is adequate staff to manage social media accounts and produce reliable information to the general public. An example of the use of social media to tackle crisis is the role of these media platforms in responding to xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The National Action Plan to combat xenophobia strongly makes a case for the use of social media to promote a national discourse and cognate issues relating to the xenophobia. To guide the appropriate use of social media, the government of South Africa has promulgated several laws to guide against using social media to attack individuals based on race and nationality (National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, 2019). Another example of the use of government social media platforms to communicate with citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic was how the Ministry of Health in Ghana used its official Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/MOHGhana) to provide daily update to citizens. These daily Facebook updates provided details about confirmed cases and deaths. Also, the general public were reminded of the prescribed

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protective behaviours, such as social distancing, hand washing, using hand sanitising, and wearing mask. The Facebook account of Ghana’s Ministry of Health was aggressively used to provide details of vaccinations, such as announcing the arrival of Vaccines through the Canadian government initiative. These communications assured the general public about the availability of the vaccines to support the nation’s response strategy for COVID-19. (c) From Citizens to Authorities (C2A): Use of Citizen Generated Content This describes situations where the citizens use social media to reach out to the government and government agencies. The texts, pictures, and videos shared by citizens on social media platforms can be accessed by government agencies. However, content from individuals must be subjected to verification, in order for such crowdsourced content to be made more actionable, reliable and credible. The content generated by citizens offers an opportunity for governments to identify and examine problematic situations within the society. The integration of the content posted by citizens using data mining by governments may help to identify important information regarding a crisis. Here, an ethical concern however, relates to how data mining technologies are used to collect and analyse user information. (d) From Authorities to Authorities (A2A): Organisational Crisis Management Despite the limited use of social media for intra-organisational and inter-­ organisational communication purposes, there could be informal use of social media platforms to create awareness on topical issues among agencies. Social media platforms such as wikis can be used for knowledge sharing within an organisation. Employees can also be directed to seek further information on social media platforms of their organisations. Other government agencies may become of crisis management through the social media communications of other government bodies. During crises, certain government agencies are recognised as the official communicators and formal opinion leaders in the handling of the situation. Consequently, other government agencies that are interested in the situation take directives and information from designated organisation who may use social media to achieve this. During the COVID-19

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pandemic, African countries relied on the ministry responsible for health and the ministry responsible for information to be the official government mouthpieces in spearheading efforts to address the pandemic.

3.4   Internal Communications Using Social Media Private and public organisations as well as state institutions communicate with their internal teams on a regular basis. Whether to schedule a meeting, organise a team for a project, announce changes in processes and procedures or even to socialize, social media has become a very great tool and platform to carry out some of these processes. For all internal communications there are laid down rules to ensure formality is maintain even in an informal setting. Steve Nicholls author of the book Social Media in Business (2012) offered some ten tips on how to improve internal communication with social media. The author explained that internal communication via social media can be enhanced by first creating a common language platform and training everyone. Next, it is important to describe how the language platform relates to employees’ specific division or department and how it will assist the organisation reach its goals. Additionally, Nicholls urges the top echelon of organisations to gather information bottom-up from the staff. Social media’s user-­ generated information is valuable and worth its weight in gold. It offers the institution the opportunity to gather as much information as possible from engaging with its internal customers. It is noteworthy that there are always risks associated with every opportunity, and social media is not different. People who choose not to use social media in their businesses due to the danger will fall behind the author added. One must take the attendant risks into account and guard against them by carefully integrating them in the organisational model. Organisations must be careful not to veer off-course by putting in place a well-reasoned step-by-step plan that will progressively introduce the appropriate combinations of social media in the perspective of specific business goals and within the framework of the business environment, in order to effectively harness the benefits (Nicholls, 2012). For the purposes of internal communication via social media https:// ugn.com identified six guidelines, in what appears to be a more synthesised version of Steve Nicholls’ postulations. These include:

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(a) Recognize the Corporate Culture Assuming you are the organisation’s leader or even aspire to be one, you have a thorough knowledge of your business culture. Invariably, your organisation’s culture will influence how your team uses the Internet resources. Adoption will be sluggish if your culture tends to be very secretive and closed. Employees will be reluctant to speak up for fear of punishment. Thus, make sure there is an internal communication climate that is transparent and open. (b) Building Internal Social Networks Nichols suggests LinkedIn as a resource for creating and maintaining internal social networks. Beyond LinkedIn, one could also access Workplace or Slack from Facebook, both of which are excellent for restricted social networks. By enabling rapid group communication, these platforms can decrease the need for meetings and email. (c) Information Exchange If it has to do with distributing notices and alerts, Slack and Workplace might be useful. Nichols advises creating a do-it-yourself wiki for content, articles, and multimedia pertaining to businesses. DropBox is a cloud-­ based storage solution that offers safe access to media across multiple devices. (d) Encourage Involvement Establish a suggestion box where staff members can post suggestions for new initiatives or procedures. This will encourage those who might be too shy to speak up during staff meetings to submit their thoughts. Further, it might be worth adapting the communication channel to one’s teams’ preferences. (e) Utilize Online Project Management Tools and Technology Have meetings online to reduce travel time and costs. Nichols advises using meeting software like Webex, Skype, Zoom or GoToMeeting. Any of these application packages may be useful, depending on the required security level and the size of the group. Skype is excellent for one-on-one video calls. For providing presentations and sharing desktops, GoToMeeting is fantastic, while Zoom is recommended for both corporate meetings and small informal groups.

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(f) Create a Social Media Strategy This is of great importance because it is important to provide some guidance to the staff. Make certain that employees are aware of what may and may not be discussed on such platforms. Be specific about challenges related to industry compliance, privacy, and confidentiality. All the tips above are relevant when using social media for internal communication, whether in the private or public sector. For prompt decision making, internal communication via other means such as social media is critical for business success. Internal communications are a daily occurrence and sometimes very sensitive issues are discussed. This may lead to unauthorised persons having access to some vital information. In order to avoid corporate espionage, one must be very careful as to who has access to the backend of the internal communication via social media. While not all information should be pushed through social media, internal communications must go on and some internal discussions can leak into the mainstream media which might create bad press for the government or institution involved. Therefore, the training at the beginning is very necessary as well as the anticipation of the risk factors associated with using social media for internal communication. The practice has its pros and cons, but cannot be discarded entirely because of the fear that someone else is listening in or have access to your internal matters. Social media can really help speed up certain processes and build stronger bonds among colleagues thereby improving efficiency and effectiveness at the workplace.

3.5  Social Media and Political Participation It is impossible to overstate the impact of new media technology on political discourse around the world. In both developed and developing nations across the globe, social media have recently assumed a dominant role in political mobilization, participation, and electioneering campaigns. Obama’s campaign’s extensive use of social media, which served as an example to other international leaders, is substantially responsible for his success (Okoro & Santas, 2017). Since President Barack Obama of the United States made effective use of social media, it has become more plausible that new media technologies are increasingly being used to facilitate political communication in the modern era. With its variety of information-dissemination methods, new media channels have the important potential to enhance the amount of

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information at the public’s disposal, while giving users unrestricted flexibility to easily generate and share information with other members. Because knowledge is power, the new media has made it possible for the general public to actively participate in the political process. This recent revolution in communication serves democracy, which mandates citizen involvement in the political process (Suntai & Targema, 2017). Abubakar (2012) argued that, the public does not get enough time or space in the traditional media to express their opinions on politics. Adding that several scholars who criticise traditional media contend that voters are subjected to paid political propaganda that only contains meaningless slogans, leading to their disinterest in and cynicism toward politics. The author further alluded to the fact that, there is not a meaningful debate taking place that would encourage people to become knowledgeable about proposals for legislation and related issues, highlighting how this prevents individuals from actively participating in political dialogue. However, the introduction of social media in the twenty-first century has changed the situation and produced digital spaces where people can engage in political dialogue (Abubakar, 2012). The importance of social media as a primary source of personal orientation, anonymous interactions, and social community on a range of topics involving politics and political discourse is therefore stressed by Kweon and Kim (2010). Social media includes blogs for politics, networks such as Facebook and Twitter, video sharing like YouTube among others. Social media is a major interractive online channel that enables citizens to be involved in political and social affairs (Haro-de-Rosario et al., 2018). During the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana, social media was buzzing with heavy politicking with a lot of young people who hitherto would not get involved all having a say because social media was the extension of the political rallies. The presidential candidates of the two major political parties were greatly represented on all social media platforms both officially and by individuals who were sympathizers of the various presidential candidates or the political parties. Another example was the 2011 elections in Nigeria, where politicians, particularly those at the national level, made the most of the opportunity during the presidential election campaigning. For instance, President Goodluck Jonathan ended the long period of silence and anticipation around his decision to post the election results on Facebook. In essence, the three main presidential candidates Nuhu Ribadu, Muhammadu Buhari, and Goodluck Jonathan employed the social media platform to

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convey their political platforms on hot-button subjects and increase public engagement in political processes. The participants might have commented on such topics posed to either support democratic national growth, help to ensure and keep the country as a unified entity, or for other reasons using social media that was comparatively unrestrained and uncensored (Abubakar, 2012).

3.6  Social Media and Government Stakeholder Communication Government stakeholders include the citizenry and other developmental partners such as the international community and Briton Woods institutions like the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. It also includes international non-governmental organisations as well as the United Nations organisations such as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Additionally, government stakeholders also include embassies and consulates of other counties in the host country. Governments through its departments and agencies communicate with these stakeholder groups on a daily bias. While in the past phone calls and official statements on official letter heads were the norm for all government communication with its stakeholders, the introduction of social media into governances have made it easy for some of such communications between governments and stakeholders to be had on social media platforms. Avery and Graham (2013) assert that governments at all levels are increasingly using social media to carry out their promises to be more open, interactive, and collaborative with the public. Governments’ capacity to communicate and interact with citizens is improved by the use of social media. Since citizens frequently feel they have the most direct access to and possible influence over local governments. This more transparent approach to communication is especially advantageous for local governments. The authors further explained that government officials are changing their communication methods and incorporating social media into their communication plans because of how social media’s rising popularity has altered the field of communication.

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Governments now have more possibilities than ever to connect and communicate with stakeholders, and social media provides a low-cost and efficient platform for doing so. The open, two-way nature of social media eliminates many of the communication hurdles that governments had previously experienced (Dixon, 2010). The level of formality at every instance is also reduced as social media has its own language and even at such high diplomatic levels some allowances are given for the use of social media language to ease the flow of communication and these high-powered groups. The communication is relaxed and allows for better camaraderie. It must also be noted that the use of social media for such engagements by governments does not in any way erode its power and authority in any way. It rather enhances its image and even in some instances rehabilitates damaged reputation.

3.7  Social Media and Government Service Delivery Enhancing citizen service delivery is the goal of e-government, which will also increase the effectiveness of government operations. The main tool for achieving the goals of e-government is the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), which is made possible by the Internet and web technology. Since the 1990s, when it became apparent that corporate processes and practices were being altered by the Internet and online technologies, e-government has received attention. The advent of social media also brought about new ways for governments to reach out to the citizenry (Thakur & Singh, 2012). Social media platforms have enhanced service delivery tremendously by providing the avenue for both private and public institutions and businesses to thrive. With the advent of online businesses, social media has also opened more business opportunities for the citizenry. In recent times, the world has gone digital, and both government and private businesses have leveraged on the potency of social media to deliver services to the citizenry and customers. Let Us Analyse These Two Scenarios Consider yourself scrolling through Facebook, trying to decide what to eat for dinner, when you come across an advertisement for free delivery from your preferred neighbourhood eatery. Or maybe you are a business owner looking through LinkedIn when you come across an article about how office supplies delivery services can help you save time and money.

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You might want to use the delivery service in one of these cases or learn more about it. At the very least, you will be better knowledgeable about the brand that posted the article or advertisement and your delivery options. That is simply the power of social media in service delivery. According to webfx.com (2022), there is a reason why social media is used for marketing by more than 90% of companies and that some five billion people use social media regularly, and 74% of customers consult social media sites before making a purchase. There is a term among Millennials and Gen-Zs known as “social media made me buy it”. This is due to the popularity of social media among this age groups would usually consult social media before making a purchase. Social media enhances service delivery in diverse ways, including: Enhanced brand awareness: Social media is great for building brands and enhancing consumer awareness. You may establish a connection with your audience by developing a consistent and sympathetic brand. Each time you post on social media it can be considered as an opportunity to help customers remember your brand’s personality. Enhanced consumer engagement: Since social media is built on a two-­ way communication making it very interactive, there will be several opportunities for organisations and institutions to interact with both present and potential clients. This involvement can improve brand loyalty and keep the business top-of-mind of consumers. Quick client interaction: Social media can be a useful customer care channel. One can swiftly reply and make the necessary corrections if a customer complain on social media about an order problem, preserving the reputation of the business and aiding in a quick response. Increased visibility: Social media provides several options for consumers to learn about the delivery service of organisations, through social media postings, advertisements, and user interactions. Enhanced website traffic and conversions: As a result of the brand’s increased visibility, more people may visit the firm’s website or download the organisation’s mobile application. This may result in higher conversion rates and earnings. Cost-effectiveness: The use of social media as a marketing strategy is successful and strong. To expand the reach of the organisation beyond its organic posts, the firm may subscribe to social media advertisement at a reasonable price or set up a profile and start posting for free. Which every way the firm is likely to receive some feedback either in the form of enquires or even actual sales.

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3.8  Conclusion Social media cannot be overlooked by any business or institution that wants to ensure quick service delivery and cheaper engagement with potential and real customers. Social media platforms have continually become more engaging and interactive, allowing for enhanced service delivery. With some organisations running 24-h service delivery systems via social media platforms, it has become imperative for all organisations both public and private to get on social media to benefit from this enhanced service delivery. Recommendations Public sector organisations in Africa notwithstanding the social media objective must ensure that the long-standing principles of governance are achieved. It is recommended that: (a) Social media use must foster engagement and inform the general public. The social media platforms must be developed and managed in a manner that ensures the public are informed. The ultimate objectives of having social media platforms by government organisations is to ensure citizens have access to government and participate in the democratic process. (b) Extending public sector services. Social media due to its reach to the general public must be used to provide services to citizens. E-­government services are increasing been used by government to deliver services to citizens. Social media platforms must be made an essential part of communicating government service to citizens. (c) Social media platforms must be used to enhance participatory democracy. The aim of using social media is to promote democracy in Africa. Governments must, therefore, see social media as a means of promoting democracy, but not to use us it to oppress the people. The social media platforms must serve the interest of the people. (d) Social media platforms must promote transparency and openness. The social media platforms must make readily accessible government information. Also, social media platforms must serve as an avenue to be accountable to citizens.

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To ensure social media use achieves the intended purpose, public sector organisations must focus on the following: (a) The investment in social media technologies will serve as an impetus to promote the use of the platforms. Public sector organisations must aggressively pursue having social media platforms that serve unique purposes in place. This will help build the technological capabilities of these organisations. (b) Social media platforms must serve the communication needs of public sector organisation. The social media platforms must be selected and managed in accordance with the mission and core activities of the organisations. (c) Work within a social media regulatory framework of the country. Social media platforms must be deployed online with national social media policies and regulations. This is to avoid any challenges with governments regulations. (d) To sustain the use of social media, skilled human resource to manage the platforms must be in place. This will ensure that innovative and creative content are created on the social media platforms. Also, the social media platforms must be engaging enough to achieve the intended purpose. (e) Social media platforms must be evaluated to assess their impact on attainment of objectives. Therefore, performance indicators must be used to examine the usefulness of the technologies. The performance indicators can be used to justify the usefulness of the technologies.

References Abubakar, A. A. (2012). Political participation and discourse in social media during the 2011 presidential electioneering. The Nigerian Journal of Communication, 10(1), 96–116. Avery, E. J., & Graham, M. W. (2013). Political public relations and the promotion of participatory, transparent government through social media. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 7(4), 274–291. CNN. (2016, January 14). How many people use social media in Africa? https:// edition.cnn.com/2016/01/13/africa/africa-­s ocial-­m edia-­c onsumption/ index.html Dixon, B. (2010). Towards e-government 2.0: An assessment of where e-­ government 2.0 is and where it is headed. Public Administration and Management, 15(2), 418–454.

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Fall, I. S. (2019). Ebola virus disease outbreak in Liberia: application of lessons learnt to disease surveillance and control. The Pan African Medical Journal, 33(Suppl 2). Galal, S. (2022, June 16). Social media penetration in Africa 2022, by region. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1190628/social-­media-­penetration-­inafrica-­by-­region/ Haro-de-Rosario, A., Sáez-Martín, A., & del Carmen Caba-Pérez, M. (2018). Using social media to enhance citizen engagement with local government: Twitter or Facebook?. New Media & Society, 20(1), 29–49. Kweon, S., & Kim. (2010). Political communication and participation trend in the social media: focus on the O1-S-O2-R model application. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 2(8), 176–190. National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. (2019). https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_ document/201903/national-­action-­plan.pdf Nicholls, S. (2012). Improve internal communication with these 10 tips. https:// www.theglobeandmail.com/repor t-­o n-­b usiness/small-­b usiness/sb-­ managing/impr ove-­i nter nal-­c ommunication-­w ith-­t hese-­1 0-­t ips/ article4256432/ OECD. (2013). Social media use by public institutions. https://www.oecd.org/ development/pgd/2016%20Barbara%20Ubaldi%20-­%20DevCom1-­rev.pdf Okoro, N., & Santas, T. (2017). An appraisal of the utilisation of social media for political communication in the 2011 Nigerian presidential election. African Research Review, 11(1), 115–135. Reuter, C., Hughes, A. L., & Kaufhold, M. A. (2018). Social media in crisis management: An evaluation and analysis of crisis informatics research. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 34(4), 280–294. Suntai, D. I., & Targema, T. S. (2017). New media and democracy in Nigeria: an appraisal of the opportunities and threats in the terrain. Brazilian Journal of African studies, 2(4), 198–209. Thakur, S., & Singh, S. (2012, October). A study of some e-Government activities in South Africa. In 2012 e-leadership conference on sustainable e-government and e-business innovations (E-LEADERSHIP) (pp. 1–11). IEEE. theconversation.com. (2022, May 16). Social media can be a force for good in a crisis: lessons from Lagos. https://theconversation.com/social-­media-­canbe-­a-­force-­for-­good-­in-­a-­crisis-­lessons-­from-­lagos-­181873 Twum, K. K., & Nimako, R. K. (2022). Communicating corporate social responsibility initiatives: A focus on COVID-19. In Marketing communications in emerging economies, volume II (pp. 93–123). Palgrave Macmillan. webfx.com. (2022). Social media for service delivery. https://www.webfx.com/ industries/professional-­services/delivery-­services/social-­media/

CHAPTER 4

Catalysts for Social Media Adoption in the Public Sector in Africa

Abstract  This chapter aims to provide an understanding of the factors that serve as catalysts for social media adoption by public sector firms in Africa. Using the Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework, this chapter explains how social media technology is adopted and used by public sector organisations in Africa. Social media adoption is an organisational context, and hence the TOE can best be used to understand the factors affecting the adoption of the technology. On the technological factors, African countries have the capability to fully use their technological capabilities to introduce all social media platforms. The crucial issue of concern is that public sector organisations must see social media as having potential benefits to promote communications. The external environmental factors involving pressure from government and citizens for public sector organisations to use social media is mainly due to the increasing use of the technology by citizens across Africa. In most African countries, governments have policies in place to take advantage of the enormous benefits of social media. This chapter argues that several organisational factors, including top management support, resource availability, and skilled human resource to sustain social media technologies are significant tonic factors that catalyse the adoption of social media by Africa’s public sector.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_4

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Keywords  Social media adoption • Technology organisation environment (TOE framework) • New public management (NPM) • Open government model • Social media tools • Social media policy

4.1   Introduction The public sector has moved from the old values and norms of management to a new paradigm of management termed “New Public Management” (NPM) (Hope Sr. & Chikulo, 2000). As an economic management model, NPM emphasises economic efficiency among public sector entities. Growing expectations, such as better service delivery, resource efficiency, accountability, transparency, and the need to boost economic growth, have led to several strategic restructurings and operational re-engineering within the public sector. One key area of restructuring is how public-sector entities integrate the Open Government Models into their operations (Lee & Kwak, 2012). Pirannejad and Ingrams (2022) conceptualise open government as an approach to public administration that empowers citizens by giving them access and greater transparency towards the internal processes of government services and decision-making. Adopting digital technologies to support this transparency and participation potential is critical (Sharif et al., 2015). The public sector has been dramatically affected by the considerable growth and opportunities presented by social media to build community-­ based partnerships. This makes it easier for citizens to engage more freely and frankly with the government. Social media provides a fertile ground for governments to “crowd-source” ideas, suggestions and value-adding public-private partnerships (Liu, 2017). In organisational growth, social media presence is no longer a choice but a revolutionary device used by businesses of all shapes and sizes to enhance their online presence (Lovari & Valentini, 2020). This development was exacerbated by rapid expansion in the number of subscribers across different social media platforms. Datareportal estimated 4.55 billion social media users worldwide in October 2021. Most governments no longer have a choice regarding social media presence and activity, as these new platforms facilitate co-creation between public service providers and citizens. With social media, governments and citizens may be able to rebuild trust in the policy development process, thus affording citizens

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more power to co-create public service and build virtual bridges between communities that are far apart. Social media tools include blogs, wikis, Facebook, chat rooms, audio, photo, video sharing, virtual worlds, Twitter, etc. (Nam, 2012). Unlike e-government or Web 1.0 platforms, such as government websites, which only allowed one-way communication and limited citizen feedback (Ho, 2002), the newer Web 2.0 platforms enable service providers and citizens to work together to create, collaborate and develop. As these technologies become daily norms (Yigitcanlar & Baum, 2008), so will individuals’ ability to better connect to government information, join online public networks, and collaborate on solutions and deliverables (Lee & Kwak, 2012). Of course, implementing Web 2.0 does not guarantee social engagement. However, public managers can use these instruments to encourage or discourage activity (Bryer & Zavattaro, 2011). Governments in developed and developing economies have embraced information and communication technology (also known as electronic government or e-government). These technologies have contributed considerably to improving the quality of government services, reducing corruption, encouraging public participation in government affairs, and expanding public access to information and essential services (Asare & Prempeh, 2017). For instance, Ghana launched its electronic government project campaign in which the nation proclaimed information and communication technology (ICT) as a national priority (Adu et  al., 2018). Since then, stakeholders have gotten behind using social media and ICT to make government more inclusive and close the “digital gap.” Social media facilitates user participation and user-generated content (Sharif et  al., 2015). According to Valentini (2018), social media is the foundation that is transforming how people interact and communicate. Social media is used by people all over the world as a vital tool for central governments, for-profit and non-profit organisations, and for establishing, interacting with, and promoting their online presence (Gao & Lee, 2017). However, as a catalyst for social change, the dynamics and context of social media adoption in terms of myths, beliefs, and general environmental forces present opportunities, but also threats. Specifically, there is concern about the sparse current understanding of the factors affecting public sector organisations’ adoption of social media (Sharif et  al., 2015). This is due to the limited knowledge of the unique characteristics of public-sector organisations.

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This chapter addresses this gap by discussing the catalysts for social media adoption among public sector organisations. The chapter discusses the technological context (perceived benefits, perceived risk, compatibility), organisational context (management drive, social media policies, degree of formalisation), and environmental context (community demand, bandwagon pressure, faddishness) for social media adoption. Mergel (2013) identified some social media adoption tactics by government organisations to include representation of the organisation on all potential interaction platforms, engagement and networking with citizens. Another important issue is how social media applications are diffused across all levels of government. Mergel and Bretschneider (2013) propose a three-stage government agency adoption model of social media adoption. First, organisations experiment formally with social media without a formal policy. The second stage involves a shift from the previous chaotic use to recognising the need to draft norms and regulations. Finally, social media use within an organisation is characterised by an outline of appropriate behaviour, formalised strategies and policies, types of interactions, etc. In line with the gaps mentioned above, the chapter examines the context of social media adoption from technological, organisational, and environmental perspectives. The stages of social media adoption are discussed. The chapter also discusses how to use social media and ends with what this means for policy and practice.

4.2  The Context of Social Media Adoption by Public Sector Organisations Individual technology  adoption intentions are usually described as processes where individuals make rational choices (Venkatesh et  al., 2000). The celebrated traditional theories, such as the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein, 1979), and the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) are described as widely used frameworks to understand technology adoption. However, contemporary theorists emphasise flexibility and the unpredictability of people and their creativity rather than processes (Barrett et al., 2006). According to Awa and Ojiabo (2016), the Technology-Organisation-­ Environment (TOE) framework is one of the first models to provide

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details of generic factors that predict the adoption of innovative technologies. The TOE framework categorises the reasons why organisations use social media into technological, organisational, and environmental contexts. The framework does not distinguish among sectorial differences. Public sector organisations operate in an environment with little or no competitive pressure compared to private sector firms. Consequently, the former may face less pressure to be efficient than the latter, implying that the contextual forces may vary in intensity between the private and public sectors. A discussion of the various contextual influences is explained below. (a) Technological Context First, the technological context examines the perceived benefits and costs related to the adoption of new empirical evidence and general business surveys show that perceived benefits which trigger social media adoption include the quest for competitive edge over other entities (Kwayu et al., 2018) and enhanced internal business processes (Ali et  al., 2020; Eid et al., 2019). Consistently, perceived benefits were named as one of the most important reasons why people use social media. This factor’s benefits include easy access to information, rapid communication; minimal maintenance and operational expenses; and the capacity to generate two-way contact with the community. Community interactions included promoting local activities, sharing information for weather alerts and other emergencies, correcting misconceptions, and engaging society on various topics. It was anticipated that these advantages would facilitate more significant connection with the community, including a broader reach, especially among younger groups that are strongly involved in social media. In essence, it is a strategy for the government to interact with many communities as possible, to provide them with the information they desire and to get their comments and views on board. Perceived costs originate primarily from the predicted integration costs and restrictions based on current internal or external technology use. As a result, higher perceived costs and barriers result from a lack of essential skills, talents, or resources for smooth integration. In the context of public-­sector entities, other costs include resistance and intentional sabotage by employees who may oppose such change or feel threatened when such integration might render them redundant. This is so because, in most developing economies, the public sector employs many citizens.

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Social media appears straightforward from a technology standpoint since the underlying third-party platforms are readily available and easy to use. This means that corporations and their employees may regard social media platforms as having lower technological capabilities than more complicated and expensive information systems. Even though social media has the potential to change the way business is done, there are a lot of costs and problems that come with integrating it. This is because internal communication, marketing, and compliance processes need to be updated to use these new tools. In Ghana, the government has mandated public sector entities to gradually adopt an electronic system for procurement activities called GHANEPS (Ofori & Fuseini, 2020; Yevu et  al., 2022). Some procurement managers have the perception that the new technology encourages transparency and efficiency of work hence, the need to use it in their operations. It is also perceived that the rate of diffusion among entities has been dampened by system compatibility issues. (b) Organisational Context The organisational context of the TOE framework refers to the organisations’ internal structures, policies, beliefs, and processes that may facilitate or constrain the adoption of new information technology (Awa et  al., 2017; Baker, 2012). The critical organisational factors peculiar in the public sector include top executive support, financial resources, social media policies, the organisation’s size and degree of formalisation (Awa et  al., 2017; Lovari & Valentini, 2020). One of the primary drivers pushing social media adoption is thought to be management initiatives. A crucial component for achieving effective social media adoption is for management to actively encourage employees to investigate and utilise social media and to provide the correct supporting resources. Other studies, such as Archer-Brown and Kietzmann (2018) and Garrido-Moreno et  al. (2020) emphasise the importance of social media policy in influencing social media decisions among public sector entities. Such policies, according to Archer-Brown and Kietzmann (2018), are important elements in IT-enabled knowledge management processes where strategic resources are primarily based on knowledge created, shared, and managed through social media. It is vital to establish social media rules for resolving legal concerns and guidelines for use by both

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workers and external users in order to provide a clear framework for all users. It is suggested that organisations may be unable to reap the full benefits of social media adoption without suitable and supporting policies. Moreover, these policies ought to outline how social media should be implemented, who should be allowed to use it, and the boundaries of use. In addition, the size and scale of operations do influence the speed of adoption and integration of social media, especially for marketing-related processes (Li et al., 2021). Essentially, where size relates to the accumulation of resources, firms with lots of financial resources can readily adopt any scale of technology to enhance and simplify their business processes. Another essential organisational factor is the degree of formalisation, referring to the extent to which methods for utilising social media and managing risk are explicitly outlined. This was found to have a significant effect in influencing local government social media adoption decisions. Employees believed that proper documentation, standards, and processes would aid them in using social media successfully, perhaps leading to improved outcomes. Another organisational factor influencing the adoption of technology relates to the degree of centralisation or decentralisation of internal structures and decision-making. Early studies such as those by Hitt and Brynjolfsson (1997) and Patterson et  al. (2003) argue that technology adoption is easier with decentralised structures when the technology is only locally applied within a branch or department within the organisation. In contrast, adoption decisions for technologies that affect a whole organisation are effective and quicker under centralised decision-making rights (Beier & Früh, 2020). As social media adoption raises questions of ownership within an organisation, centralised decision-making should benefit social media adoption decisions (Beier & Früh, 2020). Accordingly, Fusi & Feeney (2018) show that centralised leadership fosters social media adoption in organisations because resource allocations and decision-­ making processes are faster and easier. Most public sector firms, for example, will employ or adopt social media for their operations when they have experienced staff to manage it. The use of GHANEPS for instance, would be encouraged when these firms have an existing team who have experience in managing this new technology. Sometimes, it is also believed that values and orientations of managers would influence the use of social media. Where the manager in question perceives social media to be a platform which encourages immorality other

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than resourceful content, the firm would likely face a lot of resistance to adopting the social media platform. This has been the case for the Ghana Electronic Procurement system among some entities. (c) Environmental Context Environmental factors describe all factors outside an organisation that may facilitate or constrain the adoption of new information technology. Beier & Früh (2020) also define “environmental context” as the arena of a firm’s business operation, which may include factors such as industry, competitive and institutional pressure, and government regulations. Other forces specific to public sector firms in developing economies also have pressure from donor partners such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These forces are mainly external to the firm, so organisational control over them is primarily limited. Environmental factors also include pressure from external stakeholders and the degree of competition within an industry. External stakeholders include entities, groups, or individuals who directly or indirectly influence operations and service delivery in the public sector. Social pressure is a primary driver of social media adoption within the environmental context. The rising usage of social media by the community necessitates those public-sector entities to connect with and respond to the community using social media in addition to their current communication channels. The bandwagon effect describes how success stories of other public sector organisations could influence the adoption of social media by similar entities. This is in line with the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory by Rogers (1962), which states that over time, an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or social system. The theory proposes that the decision to adopt a new product or behaviour is usually the result of a long series of events, starting with awareness and knowledge, then persuasion, a decision, then implementation and confirmation of that choice. Those who have successfully used social media and allowed its advantages to be experienced in practice spread the adoption attractiveness to other entities through a bandwagon effect. Competitive pressure has influenced social media adoption in the private sector. Operational and internal integration is a good indicator of efficiency in highly competitive environments. It is also believed that

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internal integration’s impact on operational efficiency during competition becomes more significant. Also, competition ensures that firms operate at high levels of efficiency, which calls for internal integration. Social media facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among key actors in the value chain. This promotes collaboration between public sector organisations and citizens. Establishing effective communication with the support of information, communication, and technology (ICT) helps enhance organisational performance (Hall & Saygin, 2012)  and trust (Colicchia et al., 2019). Trust has been found to reduce transaction costs because the mechanisms and associated costs that will be put in place to check each party are eliminated (Chao et al., 2013). An atmosphere characterised by trust can be leveraged to design public policies and services more iterative, collaborative, and responsive. Further, the decision to utilise social media is sometimes driven partly by social media’s popularity as a communication tool. Specifically, public entities that do not want to be viewed as technologically behind by their constituents are forced to reorient themselves and move in the spirit of virtual reality. In Ghana, the adoption of GHANEPS in public firms is slower due to the low level or no competition with public sector firms. In the absence of competition, a performance assessment system based on visibility on social media would serve to encourage less motivated entities to appreciate social media technologies. Figure 4.1 shows the interrelationship among these forces.

4.3   Stages of Social Media Adoption by Public Sector Organisations Social media applications are slowly diffusing across all levels of public administration and service delivery. Different theoretical perspectives have studied the adoption and institutionalisation of various e-government resources in different contexts and technological divides. Criado and Villodre (2022) provide a theoretical account of the stages of social media adoption and development. Similar to any staged model, it is likely that some organisations will skip particular phases altogether, while others may move through them at a different pace. Some organisations could spend a long time at one specific stage before moving to the next stage. The three main stages are diffusion, user adaptation, and institutionalisation, which are subsequently discussed.

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Technological forces

Organisational forces

1. Compatibility 2. Technological readiness 3. Perceived benefits

1. Top Executive Support 2. Financial Resources 3. Training and support

Environmental forces 1. Stakeholder Pressure 2. International environmental forces 3. Government financial management policies

Fig. 4.1  Technology, organisational and environmental context. Source: Adapted from Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990)

Stage 1: Awareness and Dissemination The first stage is about increasing awareness of social media tools and their subsequent diffusion among the general public. Authors such as Criado and Villodre (2022), Pirannejad and Ingrams (2022), suggest that the organisational diffusion of new information and communication technologies is initially aimed at individual experimentation with non-work-­ related activities because organisations are systems composed of people. So, once people become familiar, firm-level adoption becomes easier. This first stage was established by the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory by Rogers (1962), which states that over time, an idea or product gains momentum and spreads among the targeted population or social system. The theory proposes that the decision to adopt a new product or behaviour is usually the result of awareness and knowledge, followed by persuasion, a decision, and then implementation and confirmation of that choice. The theory identified four determining factors for successful adoption: communication channels; attributes of the innovation; adopter characteristics; and the social system within which the adoption takes place. Communication channels include the different ways people learn about invention and its advantages, usually through mass media and interpersonal communication. Five user-perceived qualities define an innovation’s attributes: relative advantage, compatibility, level of complexity, trialability, and observability (Rogers, 1962). People evaluate the perceived benefits of a product against its cost before making a decision, such that an

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innovation will have a high adoption rate when it is perceived as beneficial or has the potential to improve existing technology. An innovation is compatible when it matches current behaviours and practices. Products or behaviours that coexist with existing beliefs, historical experiences, and user needs are more likely to be embraced. Innovations that are less complex, easy to understand, implement, and use have better diffusion and acceptance rates. Individuals and end users are more willing to try and attempt an easy-to-use invention. Observability measures an innovation’s visibility to potential adopters. Potential users are more likely to accept an invention with better observability. Rogers (2003) identified five groups of people depending on their receptivity to innovation: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. All these characteristics influence the dynamics of organisation-wide adoption. Stage 2: Implementation of Social Media for Organisational Adaptation Based on the diffusion of innovation, people acquire knowledge and skills and various social media tools and begin to transfer, recommend, and adapt them for organisational use. This section establishes and defines the adoption process as outlined by Mergel and Bretschneider (2013). The processes explain how new ICTs are initially adopted and used by government organisations before eventually becoming routine and standardised. According to Mergel and Bretschneider (2013), the second stage shows how subunits or groups within the organisation adopt various versions of the technology to fulfil both work-related and non-work-related needs. This stage becomes effective when individuals understand the benefits of using social media beyond non-work-related activities. For successful enactment within the organisation, specific structures are needed to create uniformity and ensure information security and integrity of personal data. Fountain (2001) proposes the following critical success factors: First, effective leadership and training on social media use. Second, the presence of internal controls and policies, and third, a general business and organisational climate that supports the adoption and implementation of these technologies within the organisation. Indeed, these factors mentioned are deemed critical because adopting technology can fundamentally change business processes and hence could face resistance from individuals who do not want such change. This is also supported by Rogers’ (2003) characterisation of individuals based on how they receive new innovations.

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Stage 3: Technological Maturity and the Institutionalisation of Social Media Organisations respond to pressure from other stakeholders and similar entities by following certain accepted practices in the industry. The institutional theory establishes that organisations interact with their social systems. At this stage, the entity is expected to adopt similar technologies to those used by similar entities within the same social systems. Once other entities share success stories, other organisations’ responses to societal pressures to increase their legitimacy and survival prospects. Accordingly, Mergel and Bretschneider (2013), and also referred to in Criado and Villodre (2022, p.  3), proposed that the institutionalisation process occurs in three stages as follows: “(1) informal early experimentation occurs when a few entrepreneurs start to use social media within the organisation; this early experimentation generates some problems that need solutions; this is called by the authors as (2) order from chaos (coordinated chaos), when the dissemination of social media results in different visions on how to use and proceed with social media, putting at risk and potentially coming into conflict; finally, the stage of (3) institutionalisation and consolidation of behaviours and norms, prepares the organisation to develop all the necessary actions and protocols, transforming chaos into order, and normalise the use of social media throughout the organisation.” The widespread adoption of an innovation is facilitated by the prevalence of established norms and standards inside an organisation. This is often accomplished by some type of technological support, such as training in the appropriate use of technology, personnel encouragement, and investments in online resources. At last, the new ICT is included in the socialisation of newcomers, further solidifying established patterns of use and application. In Chen et al. (2016), and Criado and Villodre (2022), the scholars established that demonstration of technology maturity and social media institutionalisation goes hand in hand with success factors such as social media policy guidelines or benefits from effective transformational leadership, among others. Criado and Villodre (2022) identified the following social media institutionalisation barriers: organisational culture, absence of resources for maintenance, absence of resources for control and maintenance, and security. So, Mergel and Bretschneider (2013) say that the right environment is needed to make sure that the process of institutionalisation ends with a culture of acceptance, without any resistance or opposition.

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4.4   Social Media Adoption Strategies in the Public Sector Much of the literature on innovation involves strategic action that consists of developing strategies to experiment with new ideas and integrating them into organisational processes (Bloch  and Bugge, 2013; Dodgson et al., 2008). March (1991) notes, from a broader perspective on organisational action, that adaptation involves both exploitation and exploration to achieve permanent success. Exploitation refers to capitalising on certainties by the use of existing information and replication of activities, greater application and refinement of procedures. Exploration on the other hand deals with uncovering new possibilities through experimentation.  Organisations in the public sector would be wise to investigate how they can incorporate social media into their existing communication strategy. While the public sector in developed countries has come to expect social media’s presence and activity across a variety of platforms, this is not yet the case in most developing economies. Government agencies try to become citizen-centric and social media represents a powerful tool to enhance public engagement (Hidayat et al., 2018). In the public sector, the adoption of innovation in general, and social media in particular, is commonly defined as a stepped process progressing from exploration to exploitation (Coursey and Norris, 2008; Mergel and Bretschneider, 2013). Individuals use social media to trigger community concerns; they use such a medium to gain mileage and sympathy from the general public and other members of the community. Therefore, social media can be used to engage community members on issues of interest to the community in real-time. Social media can also be used to highlight the progress of community projects of interest. Social media can be used to track issues of concern to the community. The community can be engaged on trending topics in the community in real-time. So, social media is and will continue to be an excellent way to push for openness and accountability in government. Another strategy that has promoted the interest of citizens to participate and contribute to societal progress is crowd-sourcing. According to Liu (2017), adequately designed crowd-sourcing platforms can empower citizens, create legitimacy for the government with the people, and

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enhance the effectiveness of public service delivery. Effective crowd-­ sourcing initiatives can reduce administrative costs, improve service efficiency, and enhance the government-citizen relationship (Liu, 2021). Again, crowd-sourcing in the public sector is driven by both governments and citizens. For governments, public expectations have increased in complexity because stakeholders are diverse with diverse needs and power. Meanwhile, information and ideas can be generated more efficiently and cost-effectively by actors outside the government through the advancement of social media and online platforms. Government technology innovations, their diffusion, related adoption decisions, and implementation approaches have received much attention in the literature. Social media practises in the public sector include the use of online social networking services, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, or other digital media sharing sites to support the organisation’s mission, service delivery, as well as issue and relationship management with the public (Bretschneider & Mergel, 2011). Within the context of public sector adoption, among the highly patronised social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter have become the most significant and fastest-growing social media platforms. Strategies facilitating the adoption of social media include digital marketing, security services sharing security intelligence with citizens, and public hospitals using social media to run public health campaigns. For example, in Ghana, there is a sleep under mosquito net malaria campaign. During the COVID-19 outbreak, health authorities made extensive use of social media, and this triggered traffic  on social media sites where such information is mostly shared (Thelwall & Thelwall, 2020). Public educational institutions have taken advantage of restrictions in movement to engage students through social media platforms. In addition, local government institutions have extensively used social media in public education in areas such as sanitation, elections, and national identification exercises, among others. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are widely used by politicians to disseminate and interact with citizens. In their article ‘Facebook and Politics in Africa’, Mutsvairo and Rønning (2020) analysed the Facebook pages of prominent politicians. Most of these politicians have become visible and are able to reach out to a large population at no cost. The social media revolution in most developing countries has taken on a new dimension as a significant contributor to democratic governance.

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Oginni and Moitui (2015) reported Ghana as the 22nd top African country with an E-government development index. In Ghana, social media usage is high with regard to citizens’ engagement in governance. According to Siddiqui and Singh (2016), social media applications allow public-sector organisations to improve their brand image, increase market insight, and encourage staff responsiveness. Social media resources are touted to connect citizens in most African countries and empower them accordingly. Imurana et al. (2014) says that it is very important for citizens to help shape policy to address the most important problems in the receiving community.

4.5  Conclusions Physical location is no longer a challenge, thanks to the rise of social media. Governments can be toppled and nations healed thanks to the mass mobilisation potential of social media and real-time communication. This chapter has shown the catalysts for social media adoption in the public sector. The TOE framework has been used to examine the technological, organisational, and environmental context of social media adoption. The chapter also examined frameworks that explain social media adoption as stages. Such staged models offer the opportunity to assess public sector performance in each stage and critical success factors to advance and sustain the adoption process. Finally, some practical strategies for social media adoption were presented. Also, while public organisations face problems in introducing, embedding and sustaining the use of social media technologies within their institutional structure, staged-models that show social media adoption as a process have the potential to overcome the challenges in the enactment and institutionalisation stages. Besides, social media has many advantages that outweigh the cost, and these include social connectivity, social inclusion, and information exchange. Other benefits that are only available to public service organisations are a better brand image, better communication, and faster service delivery. As individuals are constantly searching for the most efficient, effective, and speedy ways to access current content and information, interactive social media platforms can address those needs. Social media has had a profound impact on the way businesses around the world conduct their operations. Furthermore, public sector organisations that seek to interact with stakeholders and influence people may use social media. Social media tools are vital for public sector communications as they enable users to 

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post, like, remark, and follow others in order to get the most up-to-date information. There is a sense that social media has gone beyond its primary function of connecting people; it has become the gateway to the globe. To keep building virtual bridges around the world, social media will keep changing into a more flexible and effective way to talk to people.  Public sector organisations must take advantage of the enormous opportunities presented by social media in achieving communication objectives.

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CHAPTER 5

Democracy and Use of Social Media by Public Sector Organisations in Africa

Abstract  The adoption and use of social media is influenced in part by the prevailing political environment. The use of social media in Africa is fraught with some challenges due to the lack of political will, and sometimes opposition from some government institutions. The chapter provides the reasons why social media is viewed as anti-democratic within the African socioeconomic context. Some of the toxic factors have been found to include the promotion of misinformation, fake news, hate speech, and voter manipulation. The chapter also provides some examples of social media ban in Africa supervised by governments that perceive the technology as destructive. This chapter as well advocates for the promotion of social media because of its democracy-deepening function and concludes that social media must be promoted to develop democracy on the African continent. Keywords  Social media • Misinformation • Disinformation • Fake news • Democracy • Public sector • Africa

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_5

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5.1   Introduction Participatory politics is defined as “interactive, peer-based acts through which individuals and groups seek to exert both voice and influence on issues of public concern” (Cohen & Kahne, 2011, p. 8). These scholars also contend that the relationship between social media, youth, and politics extends beyond America, as illustrated by developments in Egypt, Tunisia, and other Middle Eastern nations. Several other African countries have also tasted the potency of social media, including its role in democracy and participatory governance. Africa stands to benefit from the use of social media in deepening it political engagements with its citizens. Kamau (2017) contends that the impact on voter behaviour and political decision of social networking sites is still a hotly debated topic. However, some studies appear to support suggestions that social networking sites give people who have previously shied away from politics a new way to get involved in the political process. This is principally because social media eliminates or lowers some conventional obstacles to participation in politics by providing low-cost platforms which allows a lot more people to get involved in political discussions (Kamau (2017). Bosch et al. (2020) argue that the use of social media platforms in our daily lives has resulted in the expansion of the public sphere by giving more citizens a new forum for information sharing and encouraging them to use creative communication techniques with both elected and unelected officials. These scholars contend that studies suggest that social media platforms have made it possible for social movements and activists to mobilize their supporters over long distances through online advocacy and hashtag campaigns. They posit that digital platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter have also given users the ability to engage in a range of political activities such as posting, retweeting, quoting, or replying to tweets about politics, engaging politicians and political parties, and participating in political debate in both democratic and autocratic contexts. These digital media platforms run counter to conventional media by affording citizens the opportunity to circumvent barriers erected by traditional gatekeepers. These platforms also transfer political power to common people, providing them a voice and the potential for influence. This is facilitated by the ability to swiftly and easily reach big audiences, even geographically dispersed publics (Kamau, 2017).

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Kaplan and Haenlein (2010: 61) define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content”. This means that, social media is powered by the Internet and allows users to create their own content to suite their specification. Although social media can be described as a novelty with changing and improved application every now and then, it is now an essential part of modern societies. It utilizes web-based technology and allows for deeper interactions and engagements in ways similar to two-way symmetrical communication. In this way, it is significantly different from traditional media which is typically a monologue that operates based on the press agentry and public information models. At best, it is driven by worldviews that align with the two-way asymmetrical model. Social media also allows for the exchange of ideas and supports the human innate desire for social connection and interaction, thus its success among people of all generations and socioeconomic statuses. Apart from social media, the Internet has also been used in political campaigns as a communication tool to disseminate messages and help inform and engage voters. This allows for a smooth transition of social media users into social and political activist without the usual physical heckling. However, most politicians, government employees, and voters perceive that, the use of digital network technology to shape public policy is skeptical. Political disaffection can make people less interested in politics, and they may view the Internet as a place to pass the time and have fun (Pătrut ̧ & Pătruţ, 2014). Social media users also complain about cyberbullying, which can be as bad as a physical attack. In some instances, cyberbullying is taken to the streets, sometimes resulting in injuries and fatalities. This notwithstanding, laws that deal with such activities in most African countries are either weak or non-existent (Pătruţ & Pătrut ̧, 2014). For Kruse and co-workers (2018), the widespread usage, acceptability and adoption of social media raises concerns about how it will affect social phenomena like political discourse. Adding that, online political conversation has a greater chance of being constructive when certain qualities, such as free access and the capacity for everyone to contribute information, are present. Thus, the potential for social media to host constructive political dialogue is intriguing, given that politics is a contentious and polarizing subject.

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It is also worth mentioning that besides the controversial and divisive nature of politics, a number of obstacles discourage governments from using social media. Some of these barriers relate to records management, privacy and security, accuracy, administrative needs and lack of Internet and technological infrastructure (Bertot et al., 2012). However, social media’s ability to allow for political dialogue cannot be overlooked. The overall design of social media platforms seems to offer unrestricted access to information. They also support free, frank, fair and protected engagement because information can basically be distributed by anyone on the Internet and is very easily obtained. Thus, both participation and knowledge acquisition are free from outside interference (Kruse et al., 2018). It must be explained that politics can exist outside social media and social media can also function, devoid of political discussions. However, human beings by nature thrive on the ability to socialize and engage with each other, and politics is also about massing people with a common worldview or philosophical ideology, be it socialist or capitalist. This makes the interpenetration of politics and social media inevitable in many settings. The effect of politics on social media use is seen in the availability or otherwise of social media. As noted by Van Gyampo (2017), restricted Internet connections and insufficient power supplies prevent many people from accessing and using social media. In developing societies in particular, crippling poverty, ignorance, erratic power supplies, and a lack of advanced information of the usage of social media devices like smartphones impede the efficiency and efficacy of social media even in places where there is Internet connectivity. Additionally, it should be noted that the usage of social media can undermine representative governance and result in patterns of depoliticization in the sense that people can group together to conduct activities without consulting their elected officials or other official representatives. Also, regardless of how vocal they may be on social media, such people may always be reluctant to cast a ballot during elections.

5.2   Social Media and Anti-Democracy Individuals and governments are against social media as a means of enhancing democracy. In Africa, Ndlela (2020) provides evidence of using fake news and social media manipulations to misinform voters in Kenya. The presidential elections in Kenya witnessed fake letters indicating efforts to

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rig the elections for Raila Odinga. Also, anonymous websites like “TheRealRaila” and “Uhuru for Us” were used to spread fake news during the 2020 elections in Kenya. Another example is the role of Cambridge Analytics technology in advertising and marketing services in Kenya and in Nigeria (Ndlela, 2020). Firms whose core business involves political campaigns used social media to convey religious and ethnocentric messages, which contributed to polarization in these African countries. Margetts (2018) posits the following as reasons why social media may be seen as producing anti-democratic effects: (a) Fake News Social media has contributed to the spread of fake news in many spheres of life. Di Domenico et al. (2021) acknowledge that social media in recent years has witnessed an increased spate of misinformation. The creation of false information has always been associated with communications throughout human history. Creators of fake news usually rely on fabricated legitimacy by strategically presenting fake content such as using websites and recalling headlines of legitimate sources of news (Di Domenico et al., 2021). In general elections, fake news has been promoted using social media, which has a different structure as compared to other traditional media. Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) assert that unlike other media which can control the kind of information consumed by the general public, social media platforms such as Facebook is fond of promoting fake news. Fake news related to elections even in advanced economies cannot be filtered or fact-checked, thus creating favour for candidates and for advertising revenue (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). Citizens use social media to form “echo chambers” or “filter bubbles” where individuals could be protected from contrary perspectives. The spread of fake news is a threat to democracy since misinformation influences citizens voting decisions. (b) Capitalising on Personal Data Unlike traditional media campaigns, social media campaigns can be personally targeted. Social media tools are used for highly targeted political advertising to the extent that it is personalised, based on personal data (Margetts, 2018). Aral and Eckles (2019) observe that democratic elections are prone to social media manipulations.

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In the era of availability of data about voters, political campaigns are able to target individual voters with manipulative messages. The manipulation of voters on social media is possible because the tools enable the collection of enormous data about users on issues relating to interests, locations, and media consumption (Ndlela, 2020). (c) Computational Propaganda Social media accounts facilitate the use of clever algorithms to deploy very sophisticated messages and for creating and sharing media content. In the view of Ndlela (2020), these algorithms make use of software and codes to target users with content by making them visible. Also, social media bots can be used to mimic real people, and disseminate information or fake news across many platforms. The intention of these social media algorithms is to manipulate users to influence their election decisions. In major elections in the US, social media algorithms have been used to manipulate voters. (d) Hate Speech Hate speech is one of the negative aspects of social media that hinder democratic culture. Hate speech is a form of online abuse or threat that may involve negative comments and communication about individuals using their race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, and religion, or some other social identity marker. In the political arena, hate speech usually take the form of lies, mischiefs, falsehood, verbal attacks, bullying of political aspirants and electorates (Apuke & Tunca, 2018). In Nigeria, it has been found that presidential campaigns involve significant doses of hate speech, where vindictive videos were circulated on social media, putting the political ambitions of candidates in jeopardy (Apuke & Tunca, 2018). Key risks of social media to democracy: A report by the European Parliament (2021), indicates that there are five (5) key risks that social media poses to democracy. These key issues include surveillance, personification, disinformation, moderation, and microtargeting. (a) Surveillance: Social media can be used to monitor citizens to identify their political action and opinions. Through this process, citizens may loss privacy and autonomy.

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(b) Personalisation: The personal content on social media platforms places citizens in information bubbles, which affects their ability to have discerning opinions. Social media has the propensity to produce ­one-­sided content, thereby limiting the opportunity for balanced political dialogue. (c) Disinformation: social media platforms first of all can lead to distortion of views and preferences. Also, social media can undermine the integrity of elections and results of elections. The disinformation on social media is enhanced by automated accounts that can make situation an effective tool. (d) Moderation: The political censorship serves as a moderation of content on social media and undermines the freedom of expression and control of public opinion. The use of automated tools increases errors, increase bias, and reduces transparency. (e) Microtargeting: Social media platforms encourage political manipulation. The technology enables content creators to target a particular user, thus reducing the capability to make informed political decisions. The usual electoral process is consequently distorted, challenging existing rules and alters electoral outcome.

5.3   Selected Cases of Social Media Ban in Africa The culture of cancelling or banning a product or service has been with most developed countries for years. However, the same cannot be said about Africa as a result of weak consumerism. That notwithstanding, the tussle for power between political leaders and their citizens, and in some instances, with organisations have led to the ban of some social media platforms in some African countries (Apuke & Tunca, 2018). These bans have either been imposed by governments to restore sanity on social media platforms or the organizations who own specific social media platform. Either way, there are downturns associated with banning social media platforms, as it does not speak highly of countries that engage in such media controls and the repression of civil liberties. Mostly, such countries are seen as repressive and autocratic by not allowing for free speech and the expression of divergent opinions. Some of the African countries that have had to carry out such unpopular measures in recent years include Uganda, Zimbabwe, Togo, Burundi, Chad, Mali, Guinea and Nigeria.

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According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the number of African governments blocking Internet access is on the rise. The most affected platforms are Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. In addition, governments have occasionally shut down or limited Internet access and access to social media sites for security reasons. According to the report, Uganda is the most recent addition to the growing league of infamous countries. In the instance of Uganda, social media was shut down before the country’s presidential election on January 14, 2021. While digital rights campaigners claim it constitutes censorship, governments claim it is necessary for national security. Online users first complained about difficulties in accessing some apps and websites. The government subsequently directed service providers to ban social media sites, and then instructed them to restrict all Internet access on the eve of election day, January 14, 2021 (BBC.com, 2021). During the October 2020 elections, Tanzania limited access to the Internet and social media applications. Ethiopia also implemented an Internet outage that lasted over a month after the gunning down of popular musician and activist Hachalu Hundessa in June 2021. Zimbabwe, Togo, Burundi, Chad, Mali, and Guinea similarly limited access to the Internet or social media apps in 2020. According to Access Now, an independent monitoring group, there were 25 verified incidents of partial or total Internet shutdowns in 2019, compared to 20 in 2018 and 12 in 2017. Access Now further reports that seven (namely, Benin, Gabon, Eritrea, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania and Zimbabwe) of the 14 nations that barred Internet and/or social media access in 2019 had not done so in the previous 2 years. This is part of a global trend in which more and more countries limit Internet access. The online portal accessnow.org further explained that most lockdowns in Africa affect whole nations rather than specific regions or groups of people. In 2019, 21 of the 25 shutdowns documented by the organisation affected whole nations or the majority of countries. Only Sudan and Ethiopia have shutdowns planned (accessnow. org, 2022). Anyim (2021) recounts events leading to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country ban of Twitter. The author narrates a series of events that led to the ban and how it was received by the citizenry and civil society: On Tuesday, 1 June 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari delivered a warning on Twitter that was considered war inciting when he promised to treat

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Nigerians “misbehaving in the language they understand.” As a result, Twitter removed the post from the President’s official handle, @MBuhari. According to The Guardian Newspaper of Thursday, June 3, 2021, President Buhari cited the Nigerian Civil War experience, which was fought between 1967 and 1970, in a tweet shared on Tuesday, 1 June, 2021, and noted that most of those “Misbehaving” by burning electoral offices were too young to understand the gravity of war.

The post sparked worldwide outrage, with millions of people condemning and criticizing it. As a result, numerous Nigerians demanded that Twitter suspends the President’s account, stating that the post “expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide,” as defined by Twitter’s use rules. Following the incident,  The Guardian (2021)  reported that Twitter removed the post and replaced it with the following statement: “This Tweet violates the Twitter Rules, Learn More”. In response, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, accused Twitter of displaying double standard, stating that other persons and organisations also send incendiary messages but are disregarded by Twitter (Eze et al., 2021). Ogubanjo (2021) also reacted by saying: I regard his (Buhari’s) choice of words as disrespectful to the younger generation, and it is definitely a danger since his remarks were too open-ended and forthcoming.” I believe he should calm down and consider what Twitter is saying: you cannot use their platform to threaten a country’s whole generation. These folks he is threatening are supposed to be the ones in charge. (Ogubanjo, 2021). Matingwina (2018) opined that, in the case of Zimbabwe, many commentators predicted an: “Arab Spring”-style upheaval, owing to perceived similarities in political and socioeconomic situations to those in the afflicted nations. Some of the parallels included an established political party, in Zimbabwe’s case the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which has been in power since the country’s independence in 1980, high unemployment rates, and growing criticism of the government for failing to meet Western countries’ definitions of the triad of democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Most recently, beginning in July 2016, Zimbabwe has seen a series of political rallies in what has been described as “a season of discontent,” a phrase similar of the phrases used to describe the 2011 upheavals, subsequently dubbed the Arab Spring. Arrests of accused protest organizers and participants in violent incidents were undertaken as part of the government’s efforts to restore “law and order” (Matingwina, 2018).

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A ban on social media by any government may largely be seen as self-­ seeking as it only benefits the established system and dominant groups, rather than the citizenry. This is because social media not only acts as a means of virtual social engagement but is also a source of livelihood for most of Africa’s teaming youthful population. Several influencers have emerged from social media. Individuals build a following that is large enough to attract organizations that may use them as brand influencers, a move that provides social media influencers with financial stability, especially when the governments are not creating enough jobs for the citizenry. Any sort of disruption on social media, be it technical or deliberate, can lead to financial loses to individual and some organisations who pay direct taxes to government. In the case of Nigeria, Nwokoma (2021) identified several implications that a ban on social media could have on the national economy. These include negative impacts on foreign direct investments, national income tax, influencers, small start-ups and so on. The author explained that the Internet revolution has resulted in a considerable growth in the number of people who make a career from it, particularly social media. Thousands of Nigerians have made professions out of these networks, ranging from social media administrators to content creators and product photographers. Nigerians are increasingly utilizing Twitter to find employment, investors, and to fill open positions. Nwokoma (2021) observed that these are only a few of the negative outcomes of a Twitter ban on the Nigerian economy and society. The author further opined that, it was also discovered that the number of startups in Nigeria has grown rapidly, with $377.4 million raised in 2019, although that amount is expected to shrink in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. This burgeoning number of startups has provided employment for a large number of individuals as well as government tax revenue. Political stability is one of the criteria considered by investors when making investment decisions (Nwokoma, 2021). Thus, the Twitter ban threatens to jeopardize all of those efforts. Most startup companies rely on social media to a considerable extent. Businesses would suffer if they did not have access to social media to launch marketing campaigns or create relationships with their consumers. Applications created using Twitter APIs are also impacted.

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5.4  Democratisation and Social Media Use by Public Sector Organisations Democratization involves the deepening of democracy a country. It is a process that aims at getting all marginalised and uninvolved groups to get onboard and be part of the democratic process. Democracy allows for divergent opinions and by democratization the process of democracy is entrenched allowing people to express their thoughts either on traditional media or social media without fear of intimidation and harassment. According to Dryzek (1996) deepened democracy should be an even better thing, granted that democracy is a good thing. This author notes that politicians at least share the view that democracy is currently an unfinished enterprise, not just in terms of the expansion of liberal democratic institutions around the globe, but also in terms of the development of democratic characteristics in all societies. Dryzek (1996) opined that democratization refers to the gradual inclusion of numerous groups and categories of people in political life. Thus, social media aids in democratization by allowing hitherto marginalized citizens to get involved in political activities. Social media affects the democratic process the same way it affects any other aspect of our lives. As a two-way communication medium social media allows citizens to engage with their political leaders through the various platforms available. Facebook and Twitter have been the widely used social media platforms for political engagements. In Africa, until the Arab Spring, not much was thought of social media as a catalyst for political change although some citizens across the continent had used the medium to speak up about certain unfair practices and injustices being carried out by the ruling class. Twitter was an integral part of the protests in Tunisia and Egypt, and it demonstrates its significance as a kind of social media that helped to bring about political change (Chatora, 2012). It is not always the case that social media has been used to topple a government in Africa. Social media has also been used for national and health gain. According to Asongu and Odhiambo (2021), World Bank research report suggests that social media may be used to reduce perceived social conflicts by clarifying rumours and fabrications. For example, in El Kul (For Everyone), Libya is a Facebook-only service that tries to bring people together. Persons who can be trusted and are unbiased in a political atmosphere where journalism is practiced driven and significantly polarised.

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Also, in Sierra Leone during the fight to stop the spread of the Ebola virus, The social media platform WhatsApp was used to track and address spreading rumours regarding the transmission of the Ebola virus. In other developing countries such as Bangladesh, social media is being utilized to spark dialogues and exchanges among urban audiences to push the development agenda and help alleviate poverty and improve standard of living (BBC, 2017). Clapham (1993) also explains that ethnic groupings may have put a strain on Africa’s democratic process with several blocks and factions. However, countries such as Ghana and Botswana have shown promise unlike others like Mozambique. Clapham (1993) notes that Somalia has failed to develop the level of shared ideals required to uphold any sort of democratic order. Another country with a strong sense of identity and political history is Liberia, but it has not been able to mobilize these forces in a way that would enable it to back a recognized government, thus sparking years of painful civil war. Social media takes the anger off the streets onto the Internet, allowing more people to be vocal and even gain popularity as political activists. But theses persons may have never even joined a political party before or thought of being part of one. However, social media can help in the democratization process if political leaders avail themselves to scrutiny by civil society and users of social media as well. A democracy must have a robust media system in order to be successful. Freedom of the press and political plurality are two of the essential requirements listed by Morlino (1998) for a government to qualify as democratic. Therefore, during the democratic transition period, media liberalization can be regarded to be the media-related process that matters the most for creating and strengthening democracy. This procedure is capable of displaying various combinations, as Voltmer (2013) illustrates. However, after a regime change and the establishment of democracy, the focus shifts to strengthening democratic institutions, preserving their workings, and promoting their values. The actions of political, institutional, and media actors during this phase are likely to be focused on enhancing the level of that democracy’s quality (Ciaglia, 2016). Thus, the use of social media by political actors can strength the democratization process by making the political elite look good in the eyes of the international community as well find favour with the citizenry.

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Political instability has always been associated with the continent of Africa. The Internet offers a huge opportunity to deepen democracy in sub-Saharan African countries by providing a forum for public conversation and involvement. Since gaining independence in the mid-twentieth century, the majority of African states have struggled with a variety of issues, such as governmental corruption and breaches of human rights. Political regimes have not paid enough attention to legitimate group demands for political and social rights, ethnic fears of domination by the majority, or elite abuse. As a result of a lack of effective communication routes, ethnic minorities have frequently been largely excluded from political processes (Janse van Rensburg, 2012). However, with the advent of social media, minority ethnic groups can also have their say in the governance process. For Ferdinand (2013), the Internet and social media as a means of communication have the capabilities to transform political activity more than the telephone or television ever could, as these technological and media channels allow for direct two-way connection between citizens and politicians. As established authoritarian governments find it impossible to endure, predictions have been made that it will fundamentally alter government and democracy, even resulting in a new wave of democratization globally. Democracies undergo change. For instance, according to Grossman, a third great period of electronic democracy, like the earlier ones of ancient Greek and representative democracy, is about to dawn. This statement cannot be far from the truth as events from the Arab Spring give credence to it. According to Mickoleit (2014), most governments no longer have a choice in terms of social media presence and engagement, since these new platforms empower citizens and non-established interest groups. Politicians were the first to respond to these developments by rallying support on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Government organizations are gradually catching up and experimenting with social media. The goal and benefits of institutional social media use are not as evident as they are for political figures. As a result, government institutions are unsure about how to best exploit social media and the consequences for strategic goals and day-to-day operations. Social media has the ability to make policy implementation processes more inclusive, restoring trust between governments and citizens. However, there are no “one size fits all” approaches, and government

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programs must take context and demand variables into account in order to be effective. Social media drives innovation in government operations and public service delivery at all levels of the economy. They enhance some of the Internet’s “democratization” impacts on public information and services, and they enable chances to meet expectations that typical online government services cannot meet. However, institutions must be cognizant of potential hazards, such as privacy protection which has been a major concern for the digital age, information quality that is eliminating fake news, and public perception that is, making government look good in the eyes of the citizenry. Government organizations must grasp the effects that social media might have in order to prioritize goals and create successful policies. Policies that would endure to the benefit of all and not just the ruling few. They must adapt to, learn from, and ideally shape how social media transforms public value generation (Mickoleit, 2014). Democratization will be very much advanced with the aid of social media. Every area of national life especially governmental actions and policies aimed at building a strong nation will be achieved if as many people with an opinion are allowed to share their thought and are considered for national development. Social media platforms can make this process easy by allowing smooth flow of communication and the elimination of bottles necks when trying to reach public officials. Contrary to research about social media as anti-democracy, research by Meta in 2022 provide some key takeaways on the importance of social media on democracy. The report indicates that: (a) the academic research on social media is nuanced; (b) research indicates that mainstream media plays a crucial role in misinformation that popularly accepted since polarization is decreasing in parts of the world where social media use is higher, and (c) more research has discredited that social media platforms create echo chambers that lead to polarization. The Meta (2022) report indicates that the social media is not the primary cause of polarization of societies across the world. The research indicates that studies from 40 countries around the world found that polarization existed before Facebook even came into been. On other hand, there is an indication that there is a decrease in polarisation when Facebook was introduced. The societies that have not embraced social

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media and the Internet are seen as polarised. The report also indicates that most of the misinformation agenda has been set by the mainstream media. The powerful cable news networks have been involved in polarizing societies through propaganda, lies, and hate. We contend that social media has rather been associated with increased democratizing of societies across the world. Meta (2022) reports that social media is a voice to billions of people around the world. Social media technology has served as a disruptive system taking away much power from mainstream media to empower individuals. Social media enables many people to have access to varying content on many issues. In this vein, a study by Salzman (2019) presents three (3) hypotheses on the effect of social media use on democratic attitudes: (a) Individuals who use social media for political purposes are more tolerant than those who do not use the technology for political purposes. The effect is that people who use social media are presented with views contrary to their positions. Social media users are also likely to appreciate the views of other. As time goes on, people who continuously use social media will be more tolerant to competing views. (b) Individuals who use social media for political purposes are more likely to support political participation more than individuals who do not use social media. There are more content of social media on different political conservations creating satisfaction for users. The engagement of people on political issues helps to build the democratic tendencies in people. Political participation is likely to grow over time as social media is used to increasingly discuss political issues. (c) Individuals who use social media are likely to support democracy than individuals who do not use social media. The use of social media for political purposes build democratic attitudes. These individuals are likely to accept the term democracy even if they do not really understand what constitutes the attitudes behaviours of democracy.

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5.5  Conclusion The effect of politics on social media use on the continent of Africa cannot be over emphasised. Several African countries have lost and gained international credibility and support by using social media in politics. A number of international non-governmental organisations have granted aids and support to several African countries simply because they see them as transparent and open in their dealings with their citizens. While this can be said to deepen the democratisation process on the continent, it must be stated that African leaders sometimes chose to shift the goal post in their favour every now and then. When the issues are in their favour, they tend to be objective and liberal but when the citizens begin to agitate for better conditions then they choose to be repressive. Social media use by public sector organisations has also been seen as yielding positives for both county and citizens. Apart from saving time and reducing long queues it also eliminates some artificial bottles necks and helps to reduce corruption. This means that a lot more revenue would be raised by the state for developmental purposes. It would also help reduce the agitations and discontent felt towards the political class. The ban of social media by some African countries have not only given a bad name to the leaders and the countries, but it has also cost some financial challenges to the citizenry and the state at large. Recommendations While Africa seeks to be seen as a major player in the world, it must be seen in terms of how its citizens are treated when it comes to access to accurate and timely information. The continent of Africa must stand up and be counted as tolerant of divergent opinions and the leaders also as open to criticism and approach. In the end, we all seek a better continent and even better individual countries which are not just sovereign on paper, but its citizens are truly free to go about their duties and have a voice which is devoid of intimidation and repressiveness. African governments must take steps to sanitise the content created on social media by using regulations and policies that ensure proper use of the technology. This approach is effective over the outright ban of the technology. This is important because social media is not just for political purposes but presents to citizens an opportunity to have access to information on every aspect of their lives.

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References Accessnow.org. (2022, April 28). Internet shutdowns in 2021 report: Resistance in the face of blackouts in Africa. https://www.accessnow.org/ Internet-­shutdowns-­africa-­keepiton-­2021/ Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211–236. Anyim, W. O. (2021). Twitter ban in Nigeria: Implications on economy, freedom of speech and information sharing. Library Philosophy and Practice, 0, 1–13. Apuke, O. D., & Tunca, E. A. (2018). Social media and crisis management: A review and analysis of existing studies. LAÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 9(2), 199–215. Aral, S., & Eckles, D. (2019). Protecting elections from social media manipulation. Science, 365(6456), 858–861. Asongu, S. A., & Odhiambo, N. M. (2021). Social media and inclusive human development in Africa. Information Development, 37(2), 307–325. BBC (2017). Strengthening accountability through media in Bangladesh. Retrieved from: https://dataportal.bbcmediaaction.org/site/assets/uploads/ 2016/09/Bangladesh-Country-Report-2017.pdf. BBC.com. (2021, January 14). Africa Internet: Where and how are governments blocking it? Retrieved July 19, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/ world-­africa-­47734843 Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Hansen, D. (2012). The impact of polices on government social media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations. Government Information Quarterly, 29, 30–40. Bosch, T. E., Admire, M., & Ncube, M. (2020). Facebook and politics in Africa: Zimbabwe and Kenya. Media, Culture & Society, 42(3), 349–364. Chatora, A. (2012). Encouraging political participation in Africa the potential of social media platforms (pp. 1–12). Institute for Security Studies. Ciaglia, A. (2016). Democratising public service broadcasting: The South African Broadcasting Corporation–between politicisation and commercialisation. African Journalism Studies, 37(2), 95–115. Clapham, C. (1993). Democratisation in Africa: Obstacles and prospects. Third World Quarterly, 14(3), 423–438. Cohen, C.  J., & Kahne, J. (2011). Participatory politics. New media and youth political action. YPP Research Network. Di Domenico, G., Sit, J., Ishizaka, A., & Nunan, D. (2021). Fake news, social media and marketing: A systematic review. Journal of Business Research, 124, 329–341. Dryzek, J.  S. (1996). Political inclusion and the dynamics of democratization. American Political Science Review, 90(3), 475–487. European Parliament. (2021). Key social media risks to democracy. https://www. europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_IDA(2021)698845. Eze, M.; Taiwo, J.; Obi, O. O. & Nweje, C. (2021, June 3). FG fumes as twitter pulls down Buhari’s civil war tweet. Daily Sun, 17 (4723), 6. https://www. sunnewsonline.com/fg-­fumes-­as-­twitter-­pulls-­down-­buharis-­civil-­war-­tweet/.

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Ferdinand, P. (2013). The Internet, democracy and democratization. Routledge. Guardian (2021). Fireworks, anger trail Buhari’s ‘shock threat’ to secessionists. Retrieved from: https://guardian.ng/news/fireworks-anger-trail-buharisshock-threat-to-secessionists Janse van Rensburg, A. H. (2012). Using the Internet for democracy: A study of South Africa, Kenya and Zambia. Global Media Journal-African Edition, 6(1), 93–117. Kamau, S.  C. (2017). Democratic engagement in the digital age: Youth, social media and participatory politics in Kenya. Communicatio, 43(2), 128–146. Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. Kruse, L. M., Norris, D. R., & Flinchum, J. R. (2018). Social media as a public sphere? Politics on social media. The Sociological Quarterly, 59(1), 62–84. Margetts, H. (2018). Rethinking democracy with social media. The Political Quarterly, 90(S1). Matingwina, S. (2018). Social media communicative action and the interplay with national security: The case of Facebook and political participation in Zimbabwe. African Journalism Studies, 39(1), 48–68. Meta. (2022). What the research on social media’s impact on Democracy and Daily Life says (and doesn’t say). https://about.fb.com/news/2022/04/ what-­the-­research-­on-­social-­medias-­impact-­on-­democracy-­and-­daily-­life-­says-­ and-­doesnt-­say/. Mickoleit, A. (2014). Social media use by governments: A policy primer to discuss trends, identify policy opportunities and guide decision makers. OECD working papers on public governance, 26, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.178 7/5jxrcmghmk0s-­en. Morlino, L. (1998). Democracy between consolidation and crisis: Parties, groups, and citizens in Southern Europe. OUP. Ndlela, M. N. (2020). Social media algorithms, bots and elections in Africa. In Social media and elections in Africa (Vol. 1, pp. 13–37). Palgrave Macmillan. Nwokoma, C. (2021). 4 ways Nigeria’s twitter ban could affect businesses. https://techpoint.africa/2021/06/05/nigeria-­twitter-­ban/ Ogubanjo, A. (2021, June 3). FG fumes as twitter pulls down Buhari’s civil war tweet. Daily Sun, 17(4723). Retrieved July 20,2022 from https://www.sunnewsonline.com/fg-­fumes-­as-­twitter-­pulls-­down-­buharis-­civil-­war-­tweet/. Pătruţ, B., & Pătruţ, M. (Eds.). (2014). Social media in politics: Case studies on the political power of social media (Vol. 13). Springer. Salzman, R. (2019). Going deeper: Social media use and the development of democratic attitudes in Latin America. Global Media and Communication, 15(1), 85–101. Van Gyampo, R. E. (2017). Social media, traditional media and party politics in Ghana. Africa Review, 9(2), 125–139. Voltmer, K. (2013). The media in transitional democracies. John Wiley & Sons.

CHAPTER 6

Social Media and E-Government Services in Africa

Abstract  Social media has been described as having the potential to enhance the delivery of e-government services. The chapter relies on examples of social media use in providing e-government services in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda and Nigeria. From the literature, the chapter found that social media provides a convenient and effective ways for governments to communicate with citizens on e-government services. Social media enables citizens to gain access to e-government sites and facilitates engagement with users of e-government services. The use of government portals to provide e-government services can be augmented with social media accounts providing communications about the services and serving as an avenue to engage the public about e-government services. This chapter makes a strong case for integrating e-government portals with social media accounts in the African public sector. Keywords  Social media • E-government • Public sector management • Digitalisation • Africa

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_6

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6.1   Introduction: E Government Services and The Role of Social Media Twizeyimana and Andersson (2019) assert that e-government is typically seen as the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by governments along with organizational transformation to enhance government structures and functions. E-government deployment is anticipated to improve government service delivery and alter interactions with residents, companies, and other facets of the government. Almarabeh and AbuAli (2010) also defined e-government as “government use of information and communication technolog tools to offer citizens and businesses the opportunity to interact and conduct business with government through different electronic media such as telephone touch pad, fax, smart cards, self-service kiosks, e-mail/Internet, and EDI” (p. 30). E-government services have come to stay on the African continent, but what is yet to be uncovered is the mode of implementation to benefit the citizenry. The deployment of social media in delivering e-government services has also become part of the growing information technology discussions on the continent, with each country trying to deepen Internet access in order to take full advantage of the benefits associated with the use of social media for the purposes of governance. This chapter sets out to explain how social media is utilized to deliver government services. The first part of this chapter will examine the role of social media in e-government service provision. The chapter will use the description provided by scholars on using social media to direct citizens to e-government sites. To determine the applicability of the use of social media in providing e-government services in Africa, the chapter will examine government agency social media platforms and how e-government services are accessed through them. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for public sector organisations in Africa. Usually, when social media is mentioned, the first name that comes to mind is Facebook. This is not surprising because the Facebook social media application has the greatest number of daily users. Practitioners have however identified seven different types of social media in addition to Facebook. These include Twitter, and LinkedIn. These platforms enable users to communicate with companies, friends, and family. They promote information exchange and prioritize one-on-one, interpersonal communication.

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A social networking site can do many different tasks. Users may participate in vibrant debates, curate information, upload images and videos, and establish groups based on interests. They are designed with the user in mind, along with the things that are significant to them and their social networks. Generally, e-government services help to reduce bureaucracy and also foster better relationship and engagements between government agencies and their stakeholders and constituents. The role of social media in the delivery of e-government services cannot be over emphasized on the African continent. While e-government services are far advanced in most developed countries largely due to the advancement in ICT infrastructure, Africa is yet to make such giant strides. To fully appreciate the role of social media in e-government services, one needs to understand the trajectory of governments from the pre-social media times to the contemporary social media era. In the past, traditional media and face-to-face engagements or townhall meetings were the main means by which government officials could engage with the citizenry. However, a major problem was a lack of trust. Especially during radio phone-in sessions, a lot of citizens usually believe that callers are paid to sing the praises of politicians, while most townhall meetings end up in heated arguments and in some cases, fisticuffs leading to intimidation and lack of trust and interest in interacting with government officials. However, in recent times, governments have largely relied on the most popular social media platforms to promote their political agenda. Alguliyev and Yusifov (2018) opined that there is tested evidence to suggest that social media is a useful tool for government to increase individuals’ perceptions of government transparency and hence increase their faith in the government. Song and Lee (2016) investigated how citizens’ use of social media in government may increase their confidence in government. The study found that perceived government openness in relation to the usage of e-government services engenders trust in government. Alguliyev et al. (2018) also alluded to the fact that the effectiveness of governments is significantly impacted by social media. For instance, a survey finding has demonstrated that social media’s influence on citizens’ political engagement and involvement is becoming more significant. As explained by Park et al. (2016), a government’s ability to build trust with its constituents is directly correlated with the qualities of their communication channels. It is crucial for the government to gain the trust of its citizens by leveraging user oriented social networking services because these media channels make it relatively simple for individuals to develop

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relationships with each other. Social networking services are two-way and real-time services, and Twitter is cited as a typical illustration of direct communication between public figures and the public. Grubmüller et al. (2013) also note that political actors and governmental organizations use social media platforms in a variety of ways and for diverse objectives. While the intentions, tools, and objectives may differ, government organizations are active on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to promote their policies, campaigns, or popularity. According to Kamiloglu and Erdogan (2014), one of the ways social media usages contribute to the political participation of individuals is through building of social capital which is defined as “elements of social life as networks, norms, and trust that provide the means for citizens to resolve collective action problems” (Scheufele & Shah, 2000, p.  113). Social capital is very relevant in forming strong social activist groups. According to Grubmüller et al. (2013), social media facilitates transparency in governance. This can be achieved through provision of better services, easy access to information, and empowerment of citizens. Bertot et al. (2010) also assert that, social media affords nations a new approach to be transparent and promote anti-corruption. These scholars added that, several countries that have anti-corruption laws have linked their implementation to the deployment of ICT-based infrastructure through e-­government services. With the growth in technological advancement and in keeping in touch with the rest of the world, it is important for every nation to take advantage of social media to advance its cause. The advent of new media, and more specifically social media, have given rise to the use of technology in the daily lives of individuals and governments have found social media as a useful tool to engage with their citizens. Government operations and performance have been significantly impacted by social media Through improved communication and easy accessibility. Additionally, social media represents a strategic opportunity that needs to be carefully handled in order to effectively involve people, businesses, and government agencies (Landsbergen, 2010). On the continent of Africa, a study by Abdelsalam et al. (2013) indicated that e-government portals make use of limited social media interactions. It is, therefore, important to have a current view of the use of social media in providing e-government services in Africa.

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6.2   Social Media and Provision of E-Government The new public service initiative across the world has necessitated some changes in how governments deliver services and interact with citizens. According to Abdelsalam et al. (2013), the new public service framework has led to the following information management practices: (a) the new public service entails the use of e-government for greater access for citizens. Social media technologies have enhanced democracy. The involvement of citizens in governance is viewed as important for democracy. (b) Initiatives are in place to foster collaboration between government and citizens. Citizens initiate policy changes which takes a bottom­up approach. (c) Government officials are responsible for the needs of citizens. Therefore, change can only happen when there is collaboration with parties to be involved in governance. The main difference between the new public service practices and the old new public management is the extensive application of information technology. Also, the new public service practice is more interested in engaging and collaborating with citizens. Social media sites serve as avenues for governments to empower citizens to use technology in transformation the delivery of government services. The use of social media in e-government has been studied by some scholars such as Dwivedi et al. (2017), Park and Lee (2018). These scholars agree that social media can be useful to providing e-government services by serving as a way of directing social media users to e-government portals, using social media platforms to communication the services and activities of the government, and engaging citizens. Therefore, social media can be helpful in promoting e-government in the following ways: (a) social media provides a convenient and effective ways for government to communicate with citizens on e-government services. Social media applications in government enables the adoption of e-government systems since they promote social networking (e.g., Facebook), microblogging (e.g., Twitter), and multimedia sharing (e.g., YouTube). The e-government portals make use of social

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media platforms to provide information. Usually, the communications on the e-­government websites are also placed on various social media platforms. The uniqueness of the social media platforms is exploited. (b) social media enables citizens to get access to e-government sites. The increasing use of social presents an opportunity for governments to advertise the e-government services. Apart from using the mass media and other government communication avenues, social media platforms are used to announce e-government services to the populace. (c) engagement with users of e-government services. The public sector organisations responsible for managing e-government services make use of social media platforms to engage with users of the service. The social media platforms enable agencies to respond to queries from users of e-government services. On the various social media pages of agencies managing e-government services in Africa, one feature is the opportunity users have to seek ask questions and get response.

6.3  The Importance of Social Media in Delivering E-Government Services From the cases of e-government identified in Africa, the role of social media cannot be underestimated. There is enough evidence to suggest that the e-government portals rely on social media to disseminate information about e-government services and also engage citizens. In developing economies, Mutimukwe et al. (2017) assert that the increasing use of smart phones and social media have enabled the adoption of e-­government services since citizens are more comfortable with digital platforms. Social media has become so integral a part of our everyday lives that, to think of an institution or government agency that is not in sync with the current times would be an anomaly, to say the least. Social media has permeated into every fabric of our society and remains critical to our very survival. For Bertot et al. (2010) the use of ICTs in governance can reduce corruption by promoting good governance, strengthening reform-­ oriented initiatives, reducing the potential for corrupt behaviours, enhancing relationships between government employees and citizens, allowing

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for citizen tracking of activities, and by monitoring and controlling the behaviours of government employees. Shim and Eom (2008) explain that e-government is claimed “to bring a higher quality of government service with reduced cost, increase transparency, anticorruption and accountability, and improve the decision-­ making process by increasing government capacity” (p.  299). For Ho (2002), e-government is used to lessen arbitrary human interference and to keep track of how government employees offer services. This view is based on scientific management and the traditional bureaucratic paradigm that generally, human beings are likely to grant favours to family members and friends. However, with the deployment of e-­government services, some of these bureaucratic bottlenecks and red-­ tapeism can be done away with. This will help hasten management processes within the government setup. E-government services are also important in the enhancement of relationships with external partners and the citizenry at large. Social media allows people to connect even when they have never met before. It is now more possible to build relationships and bridge gaps between external partners in the delivery of government services. A major significance of the adoption and implementation of e-­government services is that it makes it easier for citizens to access information online and take part in decision-making. With better access to the Internet and opportunity for feedback, government entities can increase information flow and allow Internet users to comment on the activities of government employees and lookout for dishonest behaviour via social media. Twitter handles and Facebook pages of state agencies have become the place of meeting and discussion for most citizens these days. Access to timely information is critical and with the advent of social media, a lot of these information can be put out before the newspapers go to press. To successfully reduce corruption, however, ICT-enabled initiatives generally must move from increasing information access to ensuring that rules are transparent and applied to building public capacity to track the decisions and actions of government employees (Bhatnagar, 2003). Many governments envision the use of ICTs to promote efficiency and transparency. This is another major importance of the use of social media in delivering e-government services to always ensure transparency. The interactions on social media between government officials and members of the general public can be perceived as government’s effort at being transparent and open with citizens. Questions can be asked on social media and

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responses offered on same. There will be no need for ‘back-doors’ or underhand dealings. All members of the general public with a social media account and data can join and participate without fear. Another significance of social media usage in delivering governance is by providing community updates. This is arguably the biggest and most evident function of governmental social media pages. This covers everything, from occasions and closures of roads to impending policy adjustments and breaking news. Government representatives can converse with people on social media in a way that is similar to a public forum. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram make public officials more reachable than ever, offering a timelier substitute for email, phone conversations, or in-person meetings. One can also direct someone to a person who can help when they approach with a problem that is outside the scope of their expertise. The New Zealand Police Initiative is an example of such an experience, implementing a wiki where citizens can leave comments and suggestions for drafting a new police law. Social media usage in government also allows for collaboration between government officials and the citizenry on a variety of issues. Through social media, government officials can collaborate to embark on a social course. Citizens can exert pressure on issues, and government officials can add their voices to such initiatives to attain the desired results. Additionally, the use of social media platforms to engage with citizens can bring governments and citizens closer together. So much so that reaching out to a government organization will be incredibly easy. In fact, the locations of citizen service centers would have moved closer to the populace using social media.

6.4   Examples of Social Media Use in Providing E-Government Services in Selected African Countries Several African countries now use social media in providing e-government services. The use of Twitter and Facebook have become commonplace in most African countries as tools of government, especially for the dissemination of information and interaction between state officials and the citizenry.

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South Africa In November 2017, the government of South Africa gazetted the e-­government strategic policy. The online version of the strategic policy (https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201711/ 41241gen886.pdf) explicitly states that the national e-government portal will exploit the benefits of social media platforms to create awareness about the services and to generate feedback. This will help to achieve the objectives on making sure the portal provides opportunity for citizens to make suggestions and provide feedback. In Fig. 6.1 below, the national e-government policy encourages the use of mobile devices and social media to ensure citizens participate in governance. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African government launched the Staysafe Campaign (see https://www.gov.za/sites/ default/files/staysafe.pdf) to provide guidelines for safe behaviours during the pandemic. The safety campaign promotes proven health behaviours in public transport, households, retail shops, workplace, and religious centres. The contribution of social media to this campaign can be seen in the use of platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter. The

Fig. 6.1  The South African E-Government Model. Source: https://www.gov. za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201711/41241gen886.pdf

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government of South Africa dedicated a Whatsapp number that citizens can join to access services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Whatsapp platform was managed by government officials who are dedicated to providing assistance to citizens. The Facebook and Twitter platforms for the Stay Home and Save South Africa campaign were used to spread information about the safety measures that citizens must take. Another example of the use of social media in providing e-government services is the effort the Home Affairs Department is making to ensure that citizens can easily access services. As part of the Staysafe campaign, the department promoted the use of mobile registration centres to provide documents for citizens. Social media is used to create awareness of the availability of these mobile registration centres. In a Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/HomeAffairsZA) on August 18th, 2022, the department indicated that it is providing services at Elias Mogale Local Municipality Hall in Matlerekeng in Limpopo. On the same day, a Facebook post by the department that Minister Motsoaledi is visiting the Elias Mogale Local Municipality to deliver birth certificate attracted complains from citizens about the services provided by the departments. On the Twitter page of the department (https://twitter. com/HomeAffairsSA), there is communication there about recruiting citizens for the digitalization of 360 million records. Ghana The e-government project of Ghana is a priority to ensure that essential government services are provided using a digital platform. The government digital platform found on https://www.ghana.gov.gh/, seeks to provide digital services and payment platform for individuals and businesses. As at August, 2022, the service provided on the e-government platform included that of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Passport Office, Ghana Immigration Service, Business Registration and Permits, Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Health and Food Services, Social Services and Welfare, Health and Food Services, and Energy and Petroleum. An important feature of the e-government portal is the existence of three social media platforms—Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. The Ghana Passport Office has moved the entire passport application process online to ensure better service and speedy delivery. Through the development of an e-service portal citizens can safely go through the

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process to acquire a new passport or renew an expired one. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is in charge of the issuance of passports in Ghana has given clear guidelines to follow on its website for this process. Its social medial handles are also very active in disseminating similar information to prospective applicants (see https://mfa.gov.gh/). The social media accounts used by the Ministry include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Facebook and Twitter handles were the hotbed for information for people wanting to visit Ghana. Kenya The eCitizen services by the government of Kenya are geared towards providing an electronic account for citizens to enable them access some e-government services. On the eCitizen platform, the services that are currently provided include customs services, tax filling, business registration, compliant and information centre, vehicle and driver license, marriage registration, land rent and registration, passport registration and visa services (see https://www.ecitizen.go.ke/ecitizen-­services.html). Social media platforms have been used to play an important role in information dissemination about the e-government services in Kenya. The following social media platform are used: Facebook (see https://www.facebook.com/ecitizenkenya)—the Facebook page is managed by the e-citizen team to provide information about the e-government services. The page has 42,000 followers. The page provides a link to all the e-government services provided by the Kenyan government. Twitter (see https://twitter.com/eCitizenKenya)—the Twitter page is used to provide updates about e-government services. On the page, there is a hotline available for citizens to contact employees of the e-government portal for assistance. Morocco The government of Morocco has developed an e-government platform to provide access to government services. The platform also allows citizens to comment on the effectiveness of ongoing government programmes using surveys. On the official e-government website (see http://www.egov.ma/ en/website-­presentation), the e-government seeks to create a collaborative

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platform between government and stakeholders to communicate about the services delivered by the government. The services that are currently been offered include biometric passport, electronic national identification card, management of pensions, and job market intermediation. The e-government portal has links to Facebook and Twitter. These social media platforms are used to communicate with users about the government digital agenda. On Facebook (see https://www.facebook.com/ egovmaroc) though is limited post, the government provides some details about the various e-government initiatives and services available to citizens. The Twitter account (see https://twitter.com/maroc_egov) is used to inform citizens about the e-government initiative. The platform is used to provide a link of the main e-government portal. Rwanda The e-government offered by Rwanda is touted as one of the best in Africa (Mukamurenzi et al., 2019). On the official website of the Rwandan government (see https://www.gov.rw/services) the services provide by the government online include agricultural and livestock registration, business registration, child adoption, COVID-19 vaccination, e-learning, higher education licensing, passport service, student loan, scholarships, tax payment, and visa applications. The role of social media platforms is an integral part of the communications about the e-government services. On the official website of the government, social media platforms that are used to communicate to citizens include Facebook (see https://www.facebook.com/RwandaGov), Twitter (see https://twitter.com/RwandaGov), Youtube (see https://www.youtube.com/user/RwandaGov), Instagram (see https://www.instagram. com/rwandagovt/), Flickr (see https://www.flickr.com/photos/govrw). Also, there are social media platforms for specific e-government services. In the case of business registration services, the e-government initiatives are handled by the Rwanda Development Board. On the official e-government portal of the Rwanda Development Board, the social media accounts used are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and Youtube.

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Nigeria The digital transformation of governance in Nigeria was initiated in 2017. The e-government Development and Regulation (e-GDR) is managed by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The agency is mandated to manage the master plan for e-government adoption. According to the NITDA (2022), the e-government initiative is to provide access to digital services provided by various public sector organisations. The agency is also responsible for regulating the use of e-government services by setting standards through policies and guidelines. The services that are delivered through the e-government portal in Nigeria include domain registration, registration of contractors and service providers, and registration of equipment manufacturers. The use of social media platforms to engagement the public on the services provided digitally. On the website of the NITDA, there is an official Twitter account that provides important information on the e-­government services. The NITDA also has an active WhatsApp page to engagement with stakeholders. The WhatsApp platform enables users to send instant messages to the agency. The use of social media platforms to engage and communicate with users on the e-government portal underscores the benefits of social media for instant messaging.

6.5  Conclusion The continent of Africa stands to benefit greatly from the use of social media in governance. In the absence of reliable data, infrastructures are more likely to be overstretched, leading to poor and bad decision-making. Without a proper framework and sufficient scientific data, social media could be a big avenue to reach the masses. In order to broaden the reach of government services to the general public, e-governance and the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) especially social media in government operations are required. E-governance is without a doubt gaining substantial attention, particularly in industry, government, and other service organizations. In conclusion, the implementation of an e-governance system will give the public sector a way to cut costs while enhancing effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, e-governance will lessen the ongoing stifling administrative and regulatory burdens on residents and businesses if it is implemented.

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Social media has also come to stay, and several applications will continue to come up from time to time. What remains is for governments to know the place of social media in delivering e-government services to the citizenry. Additionally, social media will stimulate more public-private partnerships, improve public services, and support an open government ecosystem. Citizens’ opinions toward government will inevitably shift with effective implementation and openness since a greater feeling of trust and public value will be attained. Even though e-government requires significant upfront expenditures in technology, software, and expertise, it eventually yields enormous benefits that much outweigh those of traditional bureaucracy. Recommendations for Policy Based on the assessment of the application of social media in providing e-government services in Africa, there must be calls to address some critical issues. One of the major concerns is to ensure that all e-government initiatives incorporate social media. Most e-government initiatives rely extensively on government websites. Even though using websites is the norm in providing e-government services, social media platforms are needed to make them popular and accessible. Therefore, social media platforms must be present on e-government portals. This must be matter of policy as seen in some African countries where the e-government policy clearly states the role of social media platforms. Another important approach that can enhance e-government services delivery is ensuring the effectiveness of social media communications on e-government services. In some cases, e-government portals may have social media platforms but these tools are not utilized effectively. All the communications that exist on the e-government services must be present on the social media platforms. Apart from repeating the communications on social media, other contents can be generated on social media by considering the strength each media presents. Finally, the social media platforms that accompany e-government portals must be engaging. There must be effort to ensure that government agencies will continuously engage the general public using social media platforms. There must be regular communications that keeps users on track of what is been offered by the government. Government agencies must be active in generating ideas from social media users. Also, the queries of social media users must be addressed.

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References Abdelsalam, H.  M., Reddick, C.  G., Gamal, S., & Al-shaar, A. (2013). Social media in Egyptian government websites: Presence, usage, and effectiveness. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), 406–416. Alguliyev, R., Aliguliyev, R., & Yusifov, F. (2018). Role of social networks in e-government: Risks and security threats. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 8(4), 363–376. Alguliyev, R. M., & Yusifov, F. F. (2018). The role and impact of social media in e-government. In Optimizing E-participation initiatives through social media (pp. 28–53). IGI Global. Almarabeh, T., & AbuAli, A. (2010). A general framework for e-government: Definition maturity challenges, opportunities, and success. European Journal of Scientific Research, 39(1), 29–42. Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2010). Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-­ corruption tools for societies. Government Information Quarterly, 27(3), 264–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.03.001 Bhatnagar, S. (2003). Transparency and corruption: Does e-government help. DRAFT Paper prepared for the compilation of CHRI (pp. 1–9). Dwivedi, Y. K., Rana, N. P., Tajvidi, M., Lal, B., Sahu, G. P., & Gupta, A. (2017, March). Exploring the role of social media in e-government: An analysis of emerging literature. In Proceedings of the 10th international conference on theory and practice of electronic governance (pp. 97–106). Grubmüller, V., Götsch, K., & Krieger, B. (2013). Social media analytics for future oriented policy making. European Journal Futures Research, 1(20), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40309-­013-­0020-­7 Ho, A. T. (2002). Reinventing local government and the e-government initiative. Public Administration Review, 62(4), 434–444. Kamiloglu, F., & Erdogan, E. (2014). Effects of social media on civil and political participation and a field of survey over on Facebook. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 4(3), 47–77. Landsbergen, D. (2010). Government as part of the revolution: Using social media to achieve public goals. Electronic Journal of e-Government, 8(2), 135–147. Mukamurenzi, S., Grönlund, Å., & Islam, S. M. (2019). Improving qualities of e‐government services in Rwanda: A service provider perspective. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 85(5), e12089. Mutimukwe, C., Kolkowska, E., & Grönlund, Å. (2017). Trusting and adopting e-government services in developing countries? Privacy concerns and practices in rwanda. In International conference on electronic government (pp. 324–335). Springer.

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NITDA. (2022). E-government regulation and development. https://nitda. gov.ng/. Park, M. J., Kang, D., Rho, J. J., & Lee, D. H. (2016). Policy role of social media in developing public trust: Twitter communication with government leaders. Public Management Review, 18(9), 1265–1288. https://doi.org/10.108 0/14719037.2015.1066418 Park, H., & Lee, T. (2018). Adoption of e-government applications for public health risk communication: Government trust and social media competence as primary drivers. Journal of Health Communication, 23(8), 712–723. Scheufele, D. A., & Shah, D. V. (2000). Personality strength and social capital: The role of dispositional and informational variables in the production of civic participation. Communication Research, 27(2), 107–131. Shim, D. C., & Eom, T. H. (2008). E-government and anti-corruption: Empirical analysis of international data. International Journal of Public Administration, 31(3), 298–316. Song, C., & Lee, J. (2016). Citizens’ use of social media in government, perceived transparency, and trust in government. Public Performance & Management Review, 39(2), 430–453. Twizeyimana, J. D., & Andersson, A. (2019). The public value of e-government– A literature review. Government Information Quarterly, 36(2), 167–178.

CHAPTER 7

The Way Forward for the Use of Social Media in the Public Sector in Africa

Abstract  This chapter offers some reflections on the use of social media public sector organisations in Africa. The first part proposes some social media use strategies that can guide the use of the technologies to achieve intended objectives. The chapter recommends that governments must develop a social media policy for public sector organisations to use as a guide. The use of social media to attain communication objectives and enhance political participation are also proposed. The chapter recommends that social media platforms can be used to promote the delivery of e-government services in Africa. The last part of the chapter provides some tips for using social media proposed by Kaplan to enhance the effectiveness of using the technology by public sector organisations in Africa. Keywords  Social media • Public sector governance • Social media strategies • Social media policies • Democracy and political participation • Africa

7.1   Introduction This concluding chapter seeks to provide some insights, based on lessons learnt from the African continent on the use of social media. The chapter begins with the strategies and social media tools used by public sector © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7_7

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organisations in Africa. The chapter addresses some issues concerning formulating a social media policy to motivate and guide public sector organisations. The chapter also highlights some of the objectives that public sector organisations stand to achieve from the use of social media. The concluding section of the chapter provides some insights into the use of social media in providing government services. This is important because the era of social media provides enormous opportunities for e-government service provision.

7.2   Social Media Strategies and Tools for African Public Sector Organisations Developing Social Media Policy to Promote Social Media Use in Africa There are a number of social media platforms available for public sector organisations to utilize. There is evidence on the African continent that most public sector organisations use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Facebook is the most popular social media platform utilized by public sector organisations in Africa (Habes et al., 2018). A reason for this may be that it is the widely used social media platform in Africa. Therefore, a typical social media tool every public sector organization must consider is Facebook. It is also clear that, almost all the public sector organisations examined in the chapters of this book have more than three (3) social media accounts. In this regard, apart from strategizing to realise all the benefits of each social media account, that there must be integration of the platforms to ensure each achieves its expected effectiveness. Public sector organisations must carefully align social media platforms to achieve their communication goals. In instances where public sector organisations want the citizens to participate in conversations to generate some feedback, social media tools and approaches that enable fluent public engagement must be pursued. For organisations seeking to achieve a pull strategy of sending information to target audience for awareness creation, the social media tools that have a higher usage rate must be utilised. A pull strategy will mean that public sector organisations must use social media platforms that are more engaging and participatory.

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From the evidensce so far, we strongly consider the implementation of social media policy for government agencies in Africa as a catalyst to ensuring the adoption of social media by public sector organisations. It is however, surprising that some countries in Africa do not a have an explicit social media policy to guide public sector organisations. Social media policies have been suggested to spell out the specific guidelines and standards that must be followed by public sector organisations (Nurmandi et  al., 2018). Such policies can be sanctioned by the government to be the policy document that organisations in the public sector must follow with regards to public engagements on social media. To develop a social media policy, governments must ensure that issues of the access, account management, acceptable use, employee social media conduct, content creation, security, citizen conduct, and legal issues are well addressed. A conscious effort must be made to enforce these issues in the policy for all public sector organisations in order to achieve the expected benefits from the use of the technologies. Governments in Africa must assist public sector organisations by providing a detailed guide on social media applications to use, content creation, management of account, ensuring security and privacy, managing citizen conduct, and monitoring and evaluation. Refining the Objective for Using Social Media by Public Sector Organisations Social media information are usually one-way communications and do not extensively pursue a more engaging approach. This makes interactions on social media limited. The empirical evidence suggests that even in OECD countries, most public sector organisations use social media for informational purposes (Kim et al., 2022). There is a temptation that public sector organisations would use social media as an alternative to traditional media to enhance communications with the general public. What appears missing from the African public sector is using social media to enhance customer engagement. Also, there is a strong need to move towards participation and collaboration due to the open government concept. Citizens must be able use social media sites to seek, make enquiries and get feedback from public sector organisations that providing essential services.

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Using Social Media to Promote E-Government Services The role of social media in providing e-government services cannot be underestimated. The literature is replete with evidence that social media platform can be used to promote e-government services. First is the use of social media as a way of creating awareness of government services. Services and products delivered by public sector organisations can be marketed using social media platforms. Also, other service delivery activities such as booking of appointments, enquiries and customer service can be performed using social media platforms. Since some services can be delivered without citizens physical presence, social media can be of great use, just as using websites and telephones to contact government agency employees. Public sector organisations can use social media platforms to host the links to government agency websites where transactions can be made.

7.3   What Public Sector Organisations Can Do to Enhance Social Media Use Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) identified six types of social media which the authors listed to include collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds and explained that firms can use these applications for their benefit. The authors also provided a set of 10 tips that organisations should heed while thinking about creating their own social media strategy, whether it relates to the aforementioned applications or others that may come into existence in the future. Based on the argument that social media is made up of two components, the authors grouped the tips for social media strategy formulation into two; media and social. These recommendations include: Choose Carefully Explaining that, there are several social media applications available, and more are constantly being developed. One simply cannot sign up to all of them and successfully manage the firm as well. Especially given that “being active” on social media is one of the most important success factors associated with using it. The target audience to be reached and the message to

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be conveyed must both be considered when selecting the best media for a specific goal. On the one hand, each social media platform often draws a specific demographic, and businesses should be present wherever their target audience are. For instance, if your primary target market is book enthusiasts, a content community where individuals share their own novels or poems is probably more appropriate for your goals than a virtual world which is mostly for gaming. However, in instances where a particular application offers the feature that the firm requires for effective communication then there will be on other option to than to use it even if a different application can equally do the same but doesn’t have that feature. Taylor (2013) also alludes to this statement by stating that the shift in how consumers consume traditional media has been well-documented, and if companies want their messages to be heard by their audiences, they must leverage cutting-edge strategies and new platforms. The digital and mobile revolution heavily relies on social media channels, which is why businesses are rightfully embracing them and that to ensure the long-term success of any social media strategy, it is imperative to understand what social channels the brand’s audiences are using. Pick the Application or Make Your Own Once you have decided on the type of social media that is best for your firm. In some circumstances, it can be advisable to just integrate with an existing social media platform to take advantage of its user base and popularity. After all, why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done it? This is especially true given that social media exhibits positive network externalities, making it more desirable to join the more users there are. But occasionally, the ideal application may simply not be out there, yet which would require the firm developing its own. Currently in Ghana, there is a synchronization of the Ghana Card and the bank accounts. The various banks have all developed different apps specifically to enable their customers do the synchronization from the comfort of their home which was not the case during the initial role out.

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Ensure Activity Alignment Like traditional media, social media can be deployed on different platforms by the same firm. The challenge with that is different platforms operate differently. Example, Instagram is mostly photos and short videos, Twitter allows only a limited number of words, Facebook on the other hand incorporates both words and photos. As a result, the message being communicated may fail to align. In order to reach as many people as possible, you may occasionally choose to rely on a variety of social media or a collection of distinct applications within the same group. In this situation, it is imperative to make sure that all of your social media operations are coordinated. Several television and radio stations in Ghana apart from having presence on Facebook and Twitter have also developed applications and blogs that also provide coordinated information to their audience. Using several channels can be a beneficial and successful tactic. But keep in mind that one purpose of communication is the resolution of ambiguity and decrease of uncertainty, and conflicting messages sent through several channels are the worst kind of confusion. Nijssen and Ordanini (2020) talks about aligning social media and firms research and development marketing needs. Media Plan Integration The relationship between social media and traditional media is consistent with what is true for various forms of social media: Integrating is crucial! Although you might see these two areas as being quite different, in the perspective of your clients, they are both a part of the same thing: your company image. So, a media plan integration is very important to the growth of the business. Abuhashesh (2014) opined on the relevance of integrating the core marketing and advertising functions of the firm with social media while Killian and McManus (2015) set out managerial guidelines for integration social media into business. Access for All Although it may seem simple, it is important to confirm that all employees may use social media programs after the company has agreed to use them. Businesses frequently restrict access to several social media application

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including Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life on company computers out of concern that employees would spend too much time socializing rather than working. While this is undoubtedly a factor, it cannot suggest that employees need to have a specific authorization to read the company blog. At the same time, it’s important to prevent the company from wasting all of its time making amusing videos and submitting them to YouTube. Identifying staff groups whose main job is the management of corporate social media is one viable strategy. For being social Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) identified the following five points as deliberate actions that firms seeking to engage their customers on social media should consider. These pointers include: Be Active Being proactive and taking the initiative is always advised if you want to build a relationship with someone. Social media is all about sharing and interacting, so make sure your content is constantly new and that you communicate with your audience. Be mindful when planning your social media campaigns. Company involvement must go beyond answering criticism and defending product offerings. Social media is more about engaging people in direct and active conversation than it is about defending why your baking mix, detergent, or shampoo is superior to everyone else’s on the market. On social media, consumers are information producers and consumers at the same time. This is referred to as “prosumers,” (Toffler, 1980). As a firm, you need to be mindful of this new type of consumers and act accordingly. The level of activeness and engagement with customers on social media will go a long way to ensure the success of the brand to the different generational groupings especially if you want to attract new and younger consumers. Orca Deco Ghana has an Instagram account where they constantly post photos and videos of new items and promotional events. They also allow for customers to make comments about their products and service in their stores. Being active also helps to maintain relevance, considering that social media is a fast pace environment and the attention span of consumers have been shortened with new trends every now and then.

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Be Interesting Truthfully, nobody wants to talk to a person who is boring. As a result, if you want your customers to interact with you, you need to provide them a cause to do so that goes beyond simply bragging that you operate the best airline in town or make the strongest kitchen blender. Listening to your customers should be your first move. Find out what people want to talk about, what they want to hear, and what they could find important, fascinating, or pleasurable. Create content that meets these requirements, and then post it. To constantly keep in touch with their listeners Citi FM a private radio station in Ghana not only provide news content but from time to time share interesting posts about social issues which resonate with listeners and also share their thoughts. Additionally, MTN Ghana also use their Instagram post to also share interesting moments captured form their sponsored programs like the MTN FA Cup. Several other firms also try to share very interesting comments on their Twitter handles as well as on other social media platforms. Be Humble Never forget that social media existed before you chose to use it; in many cases, it existed even before you were aware of it. In light of this, don’t assume that you are more adept at using them than those who, for instance, have spent countless hours on Facebook or Second Life. Spend some time learning about any application before you use it, including its background and fundamental guidelines. Start participating only once you have acquired the relevant knowledge. If there is one surefire way to fail, it is to believe that social media consists solely of posting pre-made press releases on company websites and uploading old TV commercials to YouTube. Ghana’s local movie industry didn’t have a social media presence including several of the actors and actresses, however most of them have learned to use social media applications to reach their fans. This also created new sources of revenue for most of them who would have missed out if they had not been humble enough to learn about social media.

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Be Unprofessional Have you ever observed that the awkward, pleasant guy frequently wins the girl in Hollywood blockbuster movies instead of the handsome one? The same holds true for social media, and businesses would be advised to refrain from providing overly professional content. Spending $100,000 on the ideal MySpace design or hiring a freelancer to run your business blog are not necessary. Instead, make an effort to blend in with other users and don’t be shy about making mistakes. Users of social media are people like you who are aware that life is not always easy. They might even provide you free guidance on how to do it more effectively the next time if you’re kind to them. Being unprofessional is not about throwing away formal professional standards its just about being flexible in delivering content on social media. As the name suggests its an environment where people come to socialize and engage with like minds so making it a bit different form the usual formal setting would be very helpful. Be Honest Respect the rules of the game and be sincere about the information that the firm puts out. Do not try to force your way in because some social media platforms, like Wikipedia, might not allow businesses to participate. Given that you are dealing with some of the most technologically advanced people on the globe, you should never assume that other participants won’t figure out who is behind a user account that is supposed to be anonymous. Being honest speaks to the very genuineness of the information being put out. Firms must not hide behind pseudo names to either tarnish the image of competing brands on social media platforms or publish untrue and overly embellished facts about their brand to beat the competition. Honesty is a hallmark that all businesses must strive to attain and being on social media should not take that away. A firm’s credibility is as important while engaging through traditional media as it is on social media.

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References Abuhashesh, M. Y. (2014). Integration of social media in businesses. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(8), 202–209. Habes, M., Alghizzawi, M., Khalaf, R., Salloum, S. A., & Ghani, M. A. (2018). The relationship between social media and academic performance: Facebook perspective. International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies, 2(1), 12–18. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. Killian, G., & McManus, K. (2015). A marketing communications approach for the digital era: Managerial guidelines for social media integration. Business Horizons, 58(5), 539–549. Kim, J., Pak, S., & Cho, Y. H. (2022). The role of teachers’ social networks in ICT-based instruction. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 31(2), 165–174. Nurmandi, A., Almarez, D., Roengtam, S., Salahudin, S., Jovita, H.  D., Dewi, D. S. K., & Efendi, D. (2018). To what extent is social media used in city government policy making? Case studies in three asean cities. Public Policy and Administration, 17(4), 600–618. Nijssen, E. J., & Ordanini, A. (2020). How important is alignment of social media use and R&D–Marketing cooperation for innovation success? Journal of Business Research, 116, 1–12. Taylor, N. (2013). Choosing between social media platforms and understanding the markets they reach. Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 1(3), 283–291. Toffler, A. (1980). The Third Wave. New York: William Morrow.

Index

A Acceptable use, 121 Access Now, 92 Activity alignment, 124 Adoption process for social media, 28, 30, 31, 32 Africa, 2–16, 22–42, 46–63, 66–80, 86–100, 104–116, 119–127 African public sector, 9, 14, 15, 120–122 Aggregation of Data, 32 Anti-democracy, 88–91, 98 Arab Spring, 93, 95, 97 Australia, 50 Awareness and dissemination, 74–75 B Benin, 92 Bias, 59, 91 Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), 15 Brisbane, 50

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 4, 92 Buhari, Muhammadu (President), 58, 92, 93 Burundi, 8, 91, 92 C Catalysts, 8, 10, 13, 66–80, 95, 121 Chad, 91, 92 Citizen conduct, 121 Citizen participation, 3 Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa (CIVETS), 15 Communication strategy, 23, 34, 53, 77 Computational propaganda, 90 Content, 2, 3, 25, 27, 52, 54, 56, 63, 67, 72, 79, 87, 89–91, 94, 99, 100, 116, 121–123, 125–127 Continent of Africa, 5, 7, 13, 22, 97, 100, 106, 115

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. K. Adae et al., Social Media and Africa’s Public Sector, Palgrave Studies of Public Sector Management in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22642-7

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INDEX

Corporate culture, 56 Covax facility, 7 COVID-19, 7, 50, 51, 53, 54, 78, 94, 111–114 Crises/crisis, 7, 13, 46, 49–55 Crowdsourcing, 27, 77 D Data Compatibility with Mobile Devices, 32, 34 Data transparency (Level 2), 28 Democracy, 13, 14, 58, 62, 86–100, 107 Democratic governance, 78 Democratisation, 95–100 Digitalisation, 15, 112 Disinformation, 90, 91 E EAGLE, 15 Ebola, 51, 53, 96 Effective communication, 73, 97, 123 E-government, services, 13, 14, 62, 104–116, 120, 122 Egypt, 5, 7, 86, 95 Emergencies, 13, 49–55, 69 Emerging Markets & Developing Economies (EMDEs), 7 Employee conduct, 121 Engagement, 3, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 22, 23, 27–29, 41, 47, 59–62, 67, 68, 77, 79, 86–88, 94, 95, 97, 99, 105, 108, 115, 120, 121, 125 Environmental context, 68, 69, 72–74, 79 Eritrea, 92 Ethiopia, 92 Exploitation, 77

F Facebook, 2, 4–8, 13, 24, 26, 30, 33, 37, 41, 47, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 58, 60, 67, 78, 86, 89, 92, 95, 97, 98, 104, 106, 107, 109–114, 120, 124–126 Fake news, 14, 88–90, 98 Flikr, 3 G Gabon, 92 Ghana, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 51, 53, 54, 58, 67, 70, 73, 78, 79, 96, 112–113, 123, 124, 126 Ghana Health Service, 51 Governance, 5–7, 9, 10, 13, 22, 26, 30, 34, 46, 47, 59, 62, 79, 86, 88, 97, 104, 106–108, 110, 111, 115 Government agencies, 3, 6–8, 13, 23, 24, 26–30, 32–34, 37–41, 46–50, 52–54, 68, 77, 104–106, 108, 116, 121, 122 Government communications, 13, 26, 34, 41, 47–49, 59, 108 Government of Ghana, 51 Government service delivery, 6, 33, 60–61, 104 Government social media strategies, 26–27 Government stakeholder communication, 59–60 Guinea, 51, 91, 92 H Hate speech, 14, 90–91 Healthcare system, 51

 INDEX 

I Information-dissemination methods, 57 Information exchange, 56, 79, 104 Information socialisation (Stage 1), 29–30 Initial condition (Level-1), 28 Instagram, 3, 13, 37, 41, 78, 110, 113, 114, 120, 124–126 Institutionalisation, 32, 73, 76, 79 Institutionalisation of social media, 34, 76 Integrated Literature Review (ILR), 10–12 Integration of Government and Non-Government Formal Data, 32, 33 Integration of government data, 32 Integration of Government Data with Non-Government Formal and Social Data, 32, 33 Interactive, 25, 59, 61, 62, 79, 86 Internal communications, 7, 55–57, 70 Internal social networks, 56 Internet access, 92, 104 Internet-based, 25, 87 Intrapreneurship and experimentation, 31 Involvement, 3, 48, 56, 58, 61, 97, 105, 107, 125 Ivory Coast, 7 K Kenya, 5, 7, 14, 47, 88, 89, 113 L Legacy media, 2, 24, 46 Legal issues, 121 Liberia, 51, 92, 96 LinkedIn, 3, 13, 56, 60, 104

131

M Malawi, 92 Mali, 91, 92 Mass collaboration (Stage 2), 2, 29, 30 Mauritania, 92 Media ecosystem, 6, 9, 22 Media plan integration, 124 Meta, 98, 99 Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (MINT), 15 Microtargeting, 90, 91 Ministry of Health, 51, 53, 54 Misinformation, 3, 14, 49, 89, 98, 99 Moderation, 90, 91 Morocco, 5, 14, 113–114 N Networking strategy, 13, 26, 27 New public management (NPM), 66, 107 Nigeria, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 22, 34, 47, 58, 89–92, 94, 115 O Obama, Barack, 57 Objectives, 3, 9, 12–14, 29, 30, 32, 34, 41, 46–63, 100, 106, 111, 120, 121 OECD, 7, 46, 48, 121 Open collaboration (Level 4), 28, 29 Open Government Data (OGD) model, 32 Open government maturity model, 27–29 Open participation (Level 3), 28, 29 Order from chaos, 31–32, 76 Organisational adaptation, 75 Organisational context, 68, 70–72 Oxford, vaccine, 7

132 

INDEX

P Pandemic, 50, 51, 53, 55, 94, 111–113 Participation, 3, 5, 13, 25–27, 29, 34, 37, 47, 57, 66, 67, 86, 88, 121 Participatory channels, 25 Perceived interactivity, 25 Personal data, 75, 89–90 Personalisation, 91 Political participation, 13, 14, 57–59, 99, 106 Political party, 58, 86, 93, 96 Political process, 58, 59, 86, 97 Press agentry, 87 Project management tools, 56 Public information, 47, 87, 98 Public sector, 2–16, 22–42, 46–63, 66–80, 86–100, 104, 108, 115, 119–127 Public sector perspective, 9, 26 Pull strategy, 13, 27, 120 Push strategy, 13, 26 R Recommendations, 24, 41–42, 47, 62–63, 100, 104, 116, 122 Rwanda, 14, 114 S Security, 50, 56, 75, 76, 78, 88, 92, 121 Semi-systematic review, 11 Sierra Leone, 51, 96 Social media, 2–16, 22–42, 46–63, 66–80, 86–100, 104–116, 119–127 account management, 121 adoption, 9, 10, 13, 15, 24, 28, 30, 32, 66 ban, 91–94

channels, 3, 30, 41, 123 concept, 25 models, 24 platforms, 2–4, 6–9, 12–14, 22–24, 26–34, 37–42, 46–50, 52–54, 58–60, 62, 63, 66, 70, 72, 78, 79, 86, 88, 89, 91, 95, 96, 98, 104–108, 110–116, 120, 122, 123, 126, 127 policy, 6, 32, 34, 41, 70, 76, 120–121 use, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 27–30, 37, 41, 47–55, 62, 63, 68, 75, 88, 95–100, 110–115, 120–127 Social transaction (Stage 3), 29, 30 South Africa, 4–6, 8, 14, 23, 47, 51, 53, 111–112 South African Police, 51 Statistics, 22, 32, 50, 51 Surveillance, 90 Systematic approach, 9 Systematic literature review (SLR), 10, 11, 13 T Technological context, 68–70 Technological maturity, 76 Technology Organisation Environment (TOE), 13, 69, 70, 79 Textual analysis, 12 Togo, 91, 92 Traditional media, 6, 22, 47, 58, 87, 89, 95, 105, 121, 123, 124, 127 Tunisia, 7, 86, 95 Twitter, 2, 4–8, 13, 24, 26, 30, 33, 37, 41, 51, 58, 67, 78, 86, 92–95, 97, 104, 106, 107, 109–115, 120, 124, 126 Two-way communication, 41, 49–51, 61, 95

 INDEX 

U Ubiquitous engagement (Level 5), 28, 29, 34 United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 2 User-generated value, 25 W Web 2.0, 25, 30, 67, 87 West Africa, 51 Whatsapp/WhatsApp, 5, 78, 86, 92, 96, 111, 112, 115

133

X Xenophobia, 53 Y Youtube/ YouTube, 3, 5, 6, 13, 24, 37, 41, 58, 78, 107, 112–114, 120, 125, 126 Z Zambia, 7 Zimbabwe, 91–93 Zimbabwe African National Union-­ Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), 93