Book description
Grounded in solid research, Social Media in the Public Sector
explores the myriad uses of social media in the public sector and
combines existing practices with theories of public administration,
networked governance, and information management. Comprehensive in
scope, the book includes best practices, the strategic, managerial,
administrative, and procedural aspects of using social media, and
explains the theoretical dimensions of how social behavior affects the
adoption of social media technologies.
Praise for
Social Media in the Public Sector
"Mergel has produced a foundational work that combines the best
kind of scholarship with shoe-leather reporting and anthropology that
highlights the debates that government agencies are struggling to
resolve and the fruits of their efforts as they embrace the social
media revolution. Social Media in the Public Sector is a first
and sets a high standard against which subsequent analysis will be measured."
Â-Lee Rainie, director, Pew Research Center's Internet &
American Life Project
"Mergel is an award-winning author who again wields her story
skills in this book. She excels in explaining in concrete, practical
terms how government managers can use social media to serve the
public. Her book puts years of research into one handy guide. It's
practical. It's readable. And it's an essential read."
Â-John M. Kamensky, senior fellow, IBM Center for The Business
of Government
"Mergel moves beyond the hype with detailed, comprehensive
research on social media technologies, use, management, and policies
in government. This book should be required reading for researchers
and public managers alike."
Â-Jane Fountain, professor and director, National Center for
Digital Government, University of Massachusetts Amherst
"Comprehensive and compelling, Social Media in the Public
Sector makes the case that to achieve Government 2. 0, agencies
must first adopt Web 2. 0 social technologies. Mergel explains both
how and why in this contemporary study of traditional institutions
adopting and adapting to new technologies."
Â-Beth Simone Noveck, United States Deputy Chief Technology
Officer (2009-2011)
Ines Mergel is assistant professor of public administration at the
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the School of
Information Studies (iSchool) at Syracuse University.
