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Reseach Article

Expanding Communication Channels between Government and the Citizenry: Role of Social Media

by Nestory Maro, Deo Shao
International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 105 - Number 17
Year of Publication: 2014
Authors: Nestory Maro, Deo Shao
10.5120/18472-9904

Nestory Maro, Deo Shao . Expanding Communication Channels between Government and the Citizenry: Role of Social Media. International Journal of Computer Applications. 105, 17 ( November 2014), 32-35. DOI=10.5120/18472-9904

@article{ 10.5120/18472-9904,
author = { Nestory Maro, Deo Shao },
title = { Expanding Communication Channels between Government and the Citizenry: Role of Social Media },
journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
issue_date = { November 2014 },
volume = { 105 },
number = { 17 },
month = { November },
year = { 2014 },
issn = { 0975-8887 },
pages = { 32-35 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://ijcaonline.org/archives/volume105/number17/18472-9904/ },
doi = { 10.5120/18472-9904 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2024-02-06T22:38:00.113582+05:30
%A Nestory Maro
%A Deo Shao
%T Expanding Communication Channels between Government and the Citizenry: Role of Social Media
%J International Journal of Computer Applications
%@ 0975-8887
%V 105
%N 17
%P 32-35
%D 2014
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

Social media are not just a great avenue for finding old friends or read gossips trending in the streets but also an incredible tool for expanding communication channel between citizen and government. The use of social media has brought revolutionary changes to our society irrespective of age, race and geographic boundary. The use of social media has provided room for marginalized voices to be heard by their government. However, there has been a delay by the government to deal with cases reported in social media. This paper explores the use of social media as a forum for promoting citizen engagement in different matters around their societies. The results show citizens interact positively with the posts published in social media. Politics, Government budget, Constitution and social issues are main agendas discussed in social media. The study also reports two cases, which triggered government action after appearing on the social media. In general the use of social media is promising for improved government accountability and transparency in Tanzania.

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Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

Social media Social networks Web 2. 0 NodeXL Social Network Analysis web mining.