Ines Mergel, D.B.A. |
Assistant Professor
The Department of Public
Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University|
Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public
Affairs
(T) @inesmergel | (Blog)
Social Media in the Public Sector
Three related courses are offered as part of the Master of Public Administration program:
Spring semester
PPA 730 - Government 2.0
PPA 730 - Networked Governance
Fall semester
PPA730 - New Media Management
Syllabus
Government 2.0: The Interactive Web
in the Public Sector
Course outline
Week 1: Government 2.0: How'd we get
here?
• Government 2.0: A new mandate in the public sector
• Course schedule, readings, expectations
Suggested readings:
• Bretschneider, S. I., Mergel, I. (2010):
Technology and Public Management Information Systems: Where have we been and
where are we going, in: Menzel, D.C., White, H. J.: The State of Public
Administration: Issues, Problems and Challenges, M.E. Sharpe Inc., New York,
pp. 187-203.
• Carr, N. G. (2008): Is Google Making us Stoopid?, in: The Atlantic
Monthly, July/August 2008.
• Coleman, C. (2009): Managing technology - Commentary: The Web 2.0
revolution published online
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=4245791 on August 24,
2009.
• Mergel, I. Web 2.0 in the Public Sector,
with Schweik, C., in: Public Service, and Web 2.0 Technologies: Future
Trends in Social Media (accepted for publications)
• O’Reilly, T. (2009): Gov 2.0: A Promise of Innovation, in: State of the
eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B.,
AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, pp. 29-32.
• O'Reilly, T. (2005): What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models
for the Next Generation of Software, published online: 09/30/2005
http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html
• Thomson, C. (2008): Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, in: The New York
Times, 09/07/2008.
Week 2: Introduction to social media applications
=> Guest speaker: Kara Capelli, USGS:
Twitter business case
at USGS <=
1. Blogging & RSS feeds
2. Microblogging
3. Online social networks: Facebook,
LinkedIn, GovLoop
4. Content sharing: Photo sharing sites, YouTube
5. Student presentations: International practices
Required readings:
• David C. Wyld (2007): "The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of
Web 2.0”,
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/publications/grant_reports/details/index.asp?GID=291
• Netherland, W., and McCroskey (2010): Case Study: Tweet Congress, in:
Lathrop, D. & Ruma, L. (Eds). Open Government – Collaboration, Transparency,
and Participation in Practice, O’Reilly Media Inc., Sebastopol, pp. 177-182.
• Twitter.com: Science for a Changing World,
USGS Twitter business case
Twitter agreggator: “GovTwit: Twitter &
microblogging in the public sector”
(previous guest speaker: Guest speaker: Steve Lunceford, founder of GovTwit)
Required readings:
• Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition,
history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1),
article 11.
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html
• Samuel, A. (2009): Waiting for Government 2.0: Why Do Public Agenices Take
so long to Embrace Social media?, in: State of the eUnion: Government 2.0
and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B., AuthorHouse, Bloomington,
IN, pp. 111-124.
Week 3: Transparency 2.0
=> Guest speaker: David Fletcher, CIO, State of Utah <=
Required readings:
• GSA newsletter (2008): Transparency, available online:
http://www.usaservices.gov/events_news/documents/Transparency.pdf
• Suzanne J. Piotrowski and Gregg G. Van Ryzin (2007): Citizen Attitudes
Toward Transparency in Local Government, in: The American Review of Public
Administration, pp. 306-323.
• President Obama (2009): Transparency and Open Government:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
Tools:
- Data.gov
Week 4: “It’s no longer the campaign”
• Social media use in grassroots organizations
• … and beyond
Required readings:
• Peter Wallsten (2009): Retooling Obama's campaign machine for the long
haul, in: LA Times, January 14, 2009,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/14/nation/na-obama-army14
• Andy Barr (2008): 2008 turnout shatters all records, in: Politico,
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15306.html , November 5, 2008
• Jennifer Senior (2009): The Message Is the Message: Barack Obama’s
ubiquitous appearances as professor-in-chief, preacher-in-chief,
father-in-chief, may turn out to be the most salient feature of his
presidency, in: New York Magazine, August 2, 2009,
http://nymag.com/news/politics/58199/
• Sifry, M. (2010): “You can be the eyes and ears”: Barack Obama and the
Wisdom of the Crowds, in: Lathrop, D. & Ruma, L. (Eds). Open Government –
Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice, O’Reilly Media
Inc., Sebastopol, pp. 115-122
• Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Laura Winig (2009): Barack Obama: Organizing for
America 2.0, HBS case study
Week 5: Participation 2.0
=> Guest speaker:
Dustin Haisler,
Spigit.com, former CIO Manor (TX) <=
Required readings:
• Nabatchi, T. & Mergel, I. (2010).
Participation 2.0: Using Internet and Social Media Technologies to Promote
Distributed Democracy and Create Digital Neighborhoods. In: James H.
Svara and Janet V. Denhardt (eds.), White Paper: Promoting Citizen
Engagement and Community Building. Phoenix, AZ: Alliance for Innovation, pp.
80-87.
• Noveck, B. (2010): Single Point of Failure,
in: Lathrop, D. & Ruma, L. (Eds). Open Government – Collaboration,
Transparency, and Participation in Practice, O’Reilly Media Inc.,
Sebastopol, pp. 49-69.
• Luehrs, R., Feil, B., Rathmann, H. (2009): e-Participatory Planning:
Necessity and Advantage, in: State of the eUnion: Government 2.0 and
Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B., AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN,
pp. 223-237.
• Bryant, L. (2009): People Power can Reboot the Nation, in: State of the
eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B.,
AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, pp. 247-256.
Max Chafkin (2010): Why the High-Tech
Industry Loves Manor, Texas, Available online:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100901/why-the-high-tech-industry-loves-manor-texas.html
Week 6: Distributed Democracy 2.0
=> Guest speaker Ben Berkowitz, SeeClickFix.com <=
Required readings:
• Stephen F. King and Paul Brown (2007): Fix My Street or Else: Using the
Internet to Voice Local Public Service Concerns, CEGOV2007, December 10-13,
2007, Macao
• Friis, M. (2009): Democracy 2.0, ?, in: State of the eUnion: Government
2.0 and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B., AuthorHouse,
Bloomington, IN, pp. 203-209.
• Caddy, J. (2009): Focusing on Citizens, in: State of the eUnion:
Government 2.0 and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B., AuthorHouse,
Bloomington, IN, pp. 213-222.
• Bovaird, T., Loeffler, E., Downe, J. (2009): Co-Production of Public
Services and Policies: The Role of Emerging Technologies, in: State of the
eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards, by Goetze, J. and Pedersen, C. B.,
AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, pp. 263-280.
Week 7: Wiki-Government
=> Guest speaker: Nick Charney, Government of Canada (GCPedia) <=
Required readings:
• Mergel, I. (forthcoming 2011):
Collaboration 2.0 – How managers can use and maintain wikis in the public
sector, IBM – The Center for the Business of Government, report.
• Carafano, J. J. (2011): Mastering the art of wiki, in: JFQ, Issue 60, 1st
quarter 2011, pp. 73-78, available online:
http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/images/jfq-60/JFQ60_73-78_Carafano.pdf
• McAffee, A. (2005): Will web services really transform collaboration?, in:
MIT Sloan Management Review, pp.78-84.
Week 8: Diplomacy 2.0: Diplopedia
=> Guest speaker:
Tiffany Smith
Licciardi, U.S. Department of State
<=
• Intraorganizational wikis
• Collaboration
• Social sharing
Required readings:
• Bronk, C. & T. Smith (2010): Diplopedia Imagined: Building State’s
Diplomacy Wiki
• Bronk, C. (2007, Aug) "May a Thousand Wikis Bloom: The Politics of
Ubiquitous Web Publishing in the U.S. Federal Bureaucracy", Paper presented
at the annual meeting of the APSA, Chicago. Online Retrieved 2008-05-20
http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/1/1/7/2/pages211728/p211728-1.php
• Shirky, C. (2011): The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the
Public Sphere, and Political Change, in: Foreign Affairs, January/February
2011, available online:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media
• Lord, K. M. and Fontaine, R. (2010): Managing 21st-Century Diplomacy:
Lessons from Gloabal Corporations, Center for a New American Security,
available online:
http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_Managing%2021st-Century%20Diplomacy_LordFontaine.pdf
Week 9: Civil Society 2.0
=> Guest speaker Noel Dickover, U.S. Department of State: Civil Society 2.0 project <=
Required readings:
• U.S. Department of State (2009): Secretary Clinton Announces Civil Society
2.0 Initiative to Build Capacity of Grassroots Organizations: available
online
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/nov/131234.htm
• Tech@State (2010): What is Civil Society 2.0?,
http://tech.state.gov/profiles/blogs/what-is-civil-society-20
• Civil Society 2.0 (2010):
http://www.state.gov/statecraft/cs20/index.htm &
http://tech.state.gov/profiles/blogs/what-is-civil-society-20-white
• Hamel, Michael P., and Charles M. Schweik. 2009. Open source
collaboration: Two cases in the U.S. public sector. First Monday 14, no. 1
(January 5, 2009),
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2313/2065
Week 10: Collaboration 2.0
=> Guest speaker Bill Greeves, Co-founder
MuniGov2.0: Second life: “Virtual
Worlds in the Public Sector” <=
Required readings:
• Bruce Damer (2008): Meeting in the Ether: A brief history of virtual
worlds as a medium for user-created events, in: Journal of Virtual Worlds
Research, Vol.1. No. 1, “Virtual Worlds Research: Past, Present & Future”
July 2008.
• Mergel, I.
(2010): The use of social media to dissolve knowledge silos in government,
in: O'Leary, R., Kim, S. and Van Slyke, D. M. (Editors):
The Future of Public Administration, Public Management and Public Service
Around the World: The Minnowbrook Perspective, Georgetown University
Press, pp. 177-187.
Instructions:
• Familiarize yourself with MuniGov2.0:
https://sites.google.com/site/munigov20/ .
• Download Second Life desktop application, create and dress your avatar and
familiarize yourself with islands on Second Life. Bring your favorite
destinations to class.
Week 11: Information security
Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS)
Online censorship vs. transparency and openness
Required readings:
• Shirky, C. (2008): Forethought Security: Next online Cons, in: HBR:
Reprint F0806D.
• Davis, J. (2008): Secret Geek A-Team Hacks Back, Defends Worldwide Web,
WIRED MAGAZINE: 16.12.
• David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer (2010):
A new approach to China, Google Public Policy Blog:
http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GooglePublicPolicyBlog+%28Google+Public+Policy+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
, accessed Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 6:53 PM ET
CASE: Mueller, P. (2008): Security 2.0: The Estonian-Russian Cyber war of
2007, Erfurt School of Public Policy (free).
Week 12: Access, digital divide, new media literacy
Required readings:
• Thompson, Clive (2008): Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, NYT,
September 5, 2008:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?_r=1
• Sipior J. and Ward B. (2005) Bridging the Digital Divide for e-Government
inclusion: A United States Case Study. The Electronic Journal of
e-Government, 3(3): 137-146.
• Pew Foundation: “The Ever-Shifting Internet Population”:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2003/The-EverShifting-Internet-Population-A-new-look-at-Internet-access-and-the-digital-divide.aspx
• Gillmor, D. (2008): Principles for New Media Literacy, available online:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Principles
for a New Media Literacy_MR.pdf
• Anderson, J. & Rainie, L. (2010): Millenials will make online sharing in
networks a lifelong habit, published July 9, 2010, Available online:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Future-of-Millennials.aspx
• Familiarize yourself with the 508 compliance website:
http://www.section508.gov
Week 13: Bringing it all togher: Social media policies and strategies in the public sector
Required readings:
• Mergel, I.: Measuring the effectiveness of
social media tools in the public sector, in: Public Service, and Web 2.0
Technologies: Future Trends in Social Media (accepted for publication)
• Mergel, I. (2010): Government 2.0 Revisited: Social Media Strategies in
the Public Sector, in: PA Times, American Society for Public Administration,
Vol. 33, No. 3, p. 7 & 10, available online:
http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/iamergel/files/Summer2010LR.pdf
• Brian, J. Dunn (2010): How I did it: Best Buy’s CEO on Learning to Love
Social Media, in: Harvard Business Review, available online:
http://hbr.org/2010/12/how-i-did-it-best-buys-ceo-on-learning-to-love-social-media/ar/1df
• Harvard Business Review Analytic Service Report: The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action, HBR, available online: http://www.sas.com/events/pbls/2010/las-vegas/documents/TheNewConversation.p
Week 14: Looking beyond Government: What can the public sector learn from successful social media practices in the corporate and non-profit sector?
Week 15: Student presentations of
Government 2.0 implementation projects