Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG1: Local Government Author(s) Andrea Bajnok Ludovika University of Public Service Budapest Hungary Title Social Media Use at the Local Level: Challenges of the Adoption Process in Hungary File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Andrea Bajnok Abstract Communication has undergone explosive changes over the past 50 years, however most of the Hungarian local governments - in the absence of strategy and management - do not exploit the potential of new communication platforms. Local governments are facing with challenges to adopt social media as tools for service delivery, or as tools to communicate and to integrate citizens’ opinions. The new challenges require new kind of policy making. In my empirical research with interdisciplinary approach I conducted in-depht interviews with public officers from the local level to explore local governments’ communication strategy in Hungary from the perspective of communication professionals and public managers. The objective of my research is to generate empirical findings in how municipalities are adopting social media platforms. I argue that most of the local authority use social media as a tool for push information and self-presentation. I also found that most of the Hungarian municipalities have not yet gone beyond the first phase of the learning process, which is experimentation and chaos. In the absence of policies and communication professionals, most local governments cannot proactively communicate, only fire-fighting on social media platforms. In the first phase of the learning process, there is a high level of risk and insecurity, because the characteristic of social media is different from the current communication practices. I also argue that new organisational policy need to generate more democratic content and to adopt vider strategies. These new communicational chanells have their potential to push information, to increase transparency by sharing information, and to support the chance to integrate information and citizens’ opinions into the policy making process in new and creative ways Social media guidelines are naturally evolving during the adoption process. Similarly to the spread of e-government, there are a three-stage adoption process of social media use in local governments. (Mergel – Bretschneider 2013) The first two phases are characterized by experimentation and chaos, where local governments are familiar with technology, trying to fit in with organizational behavior. The third stage is the stage of institutionalization. After gaining experience with social media usage, organizations provide formal guidance for use. The development of the communication practice of the municipalities can be achieved through the strengthening of the strategic approach and consistency, the application of communication professionals, the further training and the exchange of experiences References: MERGEL, I., BRETSCHNEIDER, S.I. (2013): A Three-Stage Adoption Process for Social Media Use in Government. Public Administration Review, 73 (3), 390-400.
