AUDIENCE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVOCACY ON GOOD GOVERNANCE
ABSTRACT
Social media offers opportunities for governments to address the challenges of good government. These issues are especially important and pressing for many local government organizations. Recent public management literature has provided evidence of antipathy and a lack of confidence towards government among the Nigerian population, and has highlighted the need for more collaborative and participative approaches in order to improve service delivery, strengthen the democratic process, and rebuild trust in public agencies.
This study was intended to study audience perception of social media advocacy good governance in Nigeria. This study was guided by three objectives and three research questions.
The study employed the descriptive design; questionnaires in addition to library research were applied in order to collect data. Primary and secondary data sources were used and data was analyzed using in frequency tables and percentage. The study findings audience perception of social media advocacy good governance in Nigeria is positive.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE 2
INTRODUCTION 2
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 2
1.2 Statement of the problem 4
1.3 Objectives of the study 5
Research Questions 6
1.5 Research Hypothesis 6
1.6 Significance of the Study 6
1.7 Scope of the Study 7
1.8 Limitation of the Study 7
CHAPTER TWO 7
LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1 INTRODUCTION 7
2.2 Why Social Media Matters in Guaranteeing Good Governance 10
2.3 The Social Media, Public Opinion and Good Governance 13
2.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 15
2.4.1 Governance 16
2.4.2 Good Governance and Its Relationship to Democracy, Corruption and Social Media 21
2.4.3 Measuring Good Governance 25
2.4. 4Framing Theory 26
2.4.5 Looking At Spiral of Silence Theory 27
2.5 Empirical review on Framing Theory 30
CHAPTER THREE 36
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 36
3.1 Introduction . 36
3.2 Research design 36
3.3 Population of the study 36
3.4 Sample size and sampling technique 36
3.5 Method of data collection 36
3.6 Research instrument 36
3.7 Validation of the Instrument 37
3.8 Reliability of the Instrument 37
3.9 Statistical methods 37
CHAPTER FOUR 38
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 38
DATA ANALYSIS 38
4.3 Testing Hypothesis 46
4.5 Discussion of Findings 49
CHAPTER FIVE 51
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 51
CONCLUSION 51
RECOMMENDATION 52
REFERENCES 52
Appendix 60
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Social media has caused revolutionary changes throughout society, becoming a dominant means of communication and transforming the ways in which organizations in both the private and public sectors need to interact with citizens.
The reach and significance of social media is difficult to overstate, particularly because it continues to grow exponentially in the number and types of tools introduced, levels of participation and its influence in many realms of activity (Banaji, 2008). Most importantly for local government organizations, research indicates that citizens who engage online with government agencies and utilize their website content demonstrate higher rates of civic engagement and interactive participation in community affairs, than do citizens who are not accessing government via online channels (Kang & Gearhart, 2010). Studies have also shown that the use of social media for civil engagement increases trust in institutions (Warren, Sulaiman, & Jaafar, 2014). These findings indicate a strong case for government agencies to create a social media presence that seeks to actively engage citizen participation and increase organizational transparency. Social media has also been used to increase government efficiencies in other areas, for example by helping to build communities and to encourage citizens to pursue civic improvements
Today the world encounters remarkable challenges in promoting governance, democracy, transparency, press freedom and economic development. Good governance is essential for a nation’s long-term and sustainable development. The media, as an important information source, play a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy and bolstering good governance. It is worth noting that there exists a dilemma in conceptualizing good governance. Actors involved such as scholars, government officials, and international development organizations confront such challenges by defining and analyzing governance within their interests and scope of work. For instance, Fukuyama (2013) refers to governance as a government’s ability to make and enforce rules, and to deliver public services, regardless of whether the government is authoritarian or democratic. From the viewpoint of the United Nations Development Programme, good governance, in conjunction with democracy and the rule of law, is essential for sustainable development including sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development, environmental protection and the eradication of poverty and hunger (UNDP, 2014). Given that the concept of governance means different things to different actors, it is useful to clarify how the media define and promote good governance. There has been little systematic effort to explore the empirical relationship between social media and governance. With the spread of modern communication technologies and the existence of an unfettered and independent press, the media are essential for democratization and guaranteeing good governance through freedom of expression, transparency, accountability, rule of law and providing a pluralist platform for political expression about controversial issues (Norris, 2010; Scholte, 2002). For instance, what are the roles that the media play in strengthening good governance, democracy and human development in contemporary societies? How do citizens evaluate governance based on media reports?
By contrast, the United States has traditionally had a weaker central state, compared with the other developed democracies, but it has established powerful legal and democratic institutions (Fukuyama, 2014). Some scholars advocate democracy as a necessary condition for better governance since democratic and participatory governance is considered as the preeminent model of political order. However, Fukuyama (2013, p. 351) contends, “an authoritarian regime can be well governed, just as a democracy can be mal-administered.” Definitions about both governance and good governance are varied. Governance is variously considered as an end in its own right. For instance, international assistance agencies state the goal of good governance is to protect and advance human rights. According to UNESCO (2005), good governance includes notions of greater participation by civil society in decision-making, instituting the rule of law, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, poverty reduction and human rights. As for political scientists or international relations scholars, good governance is often seen as a means to sustainable development and the reduction of poverty. For instance, rule of law is beneficial for economic growth (Reed, 2004); reducing corruption is considered an effective strategy for increasing the assets and therefore wealth of the poor (Gupta, S., Davoodi, & Alonso-Terme, 2002). The concept of governance is contested. In terms of the usage of good governance, scholars usually express approval not only for a type of government (often democracy) and its related political values (e.g. respect for human rights), but also for additional components (e.g. political policies in the economic sphere). In fact, good governance is not merely about government itself, but usually means government plus additional components. For instance, the United Nations (2012) defines good governance as policies for sustainable human development; government that is democratic, decentralized, empowering and accountable, which includes functioning legislatures, legal and judicial systems to protect the rule of law, the adoption of human rights and various electoral processes. In spite of the fact that there are conflicting views about defining governance, there is consensus among all actors on the importance of achieving and promoting good governance at the national and international levels. As a matter of fact, governance is not a new term, but its appearance in discussions about the links between the media and good governance is a comparatively recent phenomenon. This study will therefore examine, audience perception of social media advocacy on good governance.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Social media offers opportunities for governments to address the challenges of good government. These issues are especially important and pressing for many local government organizations. Recent public management literature has provided evidence of antipathy and a lack of confidence towards government among the Nigerian population, and has highlighted the need for more collaborative and participative approaches in order to improve service delivery, strengthen the democratic process, and rebuild trust in public agencies. Strategies for increasing citizen engagement in government and improving good governance and transparency of government activities and policymaking can be expected to have positive impacts on investment of citizens in the workings of government. By the same token, greater citizen participation in the operations of government may motivate government employees to feel more engaged in their work and contribute to a “performance-oriented dialogue” between public administrators and their communities that can improve services through informed feedback (Holzer & Kim, 2008, p. 21; also Schorr & Stevens, 2011; also Arnstein, 1969). Social media offers the potential to increase personal investment in government, and to improve levels of engagement between citizens and government bodies. Social media tools allow for a paradigm shift in the citizen-government relationship from a top down unidirectional approach to a more authentic two-way relationship that relies on the citizen’s input (Macnamara, Sakinofsky and Beattie, 2012). However, the successful adoption of social media by the Nigerian government requires understanding and awareness of how to use social media tools and strategies to achieve improved transparency and good governance (Mossberger, Wu, & Crawford, J2013). Though published evidence exists of many successful government social media initiatives, little has been done to investigate and document best practice in this area, or to identify the risks and challenges involved and how these can be overcome. This study seeks to examine audience perception of social media advocacy on good governance.
1.3 Objectives of the study
The purpose of this study is to examine audience perception of social media advocacy on good governance. Following objectives include;
1. To examine the roles social media influence citizens’ has been playing in promoting good governance in the country.
2. To explore the relationship between the social media and the advocacy of good governance in Nigeria.
3. To also examine the challenges faced by the media in the advocacy of good governance in Nigeria.
Research Questions
1. What are the roles social media influence citizens’ has been playing in promoting good governance in the country?
2. What is the relationship between the social media and good governance in Nigeria?
3. What are the challenges faced by the media in promoting good governance in Nigeria
1.5 Research Hypothesis
H1: There is no significant correlation between social media advocacy of good governance
H2: There is a significant correlation between social media challenges advocacy of good governance
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study has both practical and theoretical significance. The main objective is to provide evidence-based information for use by the government in the identification and implementation of best practice in the use of social media for the purpose of improving good governance, transparency and increasing citizen engagement. This has many potential benefits for governments, such as ensuring that planning and policy development have a more robust evidence base, providing the ability to build trust-based relationships with local citizens, and improving the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of public service delivery and resource utilization. The study is also significant in contributing to the theoretical understanding of how social media is changing societal relationships between organizations and individuals, and how these generate new forms of value, which are rapidly becoming important differentiators of organizational effectiveness and success.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study centers on audience perception of social media advocacy on good governance. Following objectives include.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
It is a tasking job to conduct research of this nature and thus a number of constraints are prevalent in the course of the investigation. Financial constraint is one major problem encountered by the research because of the depressed economy and limited fund/financial resource available to the researcher for the study.
This has retrained the researcher from conducting a detailed survey. Transportation to and fro, to various locations of the respondents possess a lot of problem during the process of obtaining information for the research work. The duration of time required for the research work is too short this constraining the liberty to search further for more information.
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