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The Role of Social Media in Engaging Citizens in Urban Development and Growth

Gohar Feroz Khan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Korea University of Technology & Education (KoreaTech)Consultant to UN-APCICT on Social MediaResearch: Center for Social Media Technologies I blog hereTwitter: @gfkhan

Presented at the 3rd WeGO General Assembly, Workshop Session 3, "Partnering for Smart and Sharing Cities“  3-6, November 2014, Chengdu, China.

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Table of Contents

Introduction to UN-APCICT Social Media for engaging citizens

What is social media? What is social media-based urban engagement? How do cities/governments use social media? Social media for development: UN-APCICT module

Dimensions of Urban Engagement Case 1: Sharing cities (how to share? UN-APCICT

guidelines) Case 2: Participatory cities Case 3: Collaborative cities (crowd sourcing and co-

creation) Case 4: Open cities

Concluding Remarks

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A Hub for ICT Capacity Development

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Training AdvisoryServices

Build ICT human / institutional Build ICT human / institutional capacity of ESCAP member capacity of ESCAP member

StatesStates

Use of ICT for socio-economic development

Use of ICT for socio-economic development

APCICT MissionAPCICT Mission

Research &Knowledge-

Sharing

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Developing government official and policymaker Developing government official and policymaker

capacity to leverage ICT for socio-economic capacity to leverage ICT for socio-economic

development development

Academy of ICT Essentials Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leadersfor Government Leaders

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Academy ModulesAcademy Modules

M1- The Linkage between ICT Applications and Meaningful Development

M2- ICT for Development Policy, Process and Governance

M3- e-Government Applications

M4- ICT Trends for Government Leaders

M5- Internet Governance

M6- Network and Information Security and Privacy

M7- ICT Project Management in Theory and Practice

M8- Options for Funding ICT for Development

M9 - ICT for Disaster Risk Management

M10 – ICT, Climate Change and Green Growth

M11 – Social Media for Development

Additional Publications: Handbook on Instructional Design; M&E Toolkit

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Modules available in print and online (14 languages): Modules available in print and online (14 languages):

Collection of local case studies and customization Collection of local case studies and customization

English, Armenian, Russian, Indonesia, Vietnamese Myanmar, Turkmen, Azeri, Pashto (Afghanistan), Tajik Khmer (Cambodia), Spanish, Mongolian, Chinese

English, Armenian, Russian, Indonesia, Vietnamese Myanmar, Turkmen, Azeri, Pashto (Afghanistan), Tajik Khmer (Cambodia), Spanish, Mongolian, Chinese

Localization and CustomizationLocalization and Customization

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Rolled-out (29 countries)In pipeline (6 countries)

MongoliaKazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Uzbekistan

Tajikistan

Afghanistan

IndiaBhutanBangladesh

Myanmar Laos

Vietnam

CambodiaPhilippines

IndonesiaSri Lanka

Maldives

Pakistan

SamoaKiribati

Tonga

Cook Islands

Tuvalu

Academy in Asia and the PacificAcademy in Asia and the Pacific

Timor-Leste

Solomon Islands

Palau

Niue

Micronesia

Nauru

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Turkmenistan

Nepal

(as of Oct. 2014)

China

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Academy Module 11: Social Media for Development

Introduce the concept of social media and various applications in a developmental context;

Raise awareness among policymakers and government officials about the application of social media for socio-economic development;

Provide an understanding of the implications for national policy and programme formulation emerging from the role of social media in promoting development; and

Produce a capacity development resource that can help bridge the knowledge gap on the effective use of social media in development initiatives.

Link: http://www.unapcict.org/academy/academy/academy-modules/english-version

Module Objectives

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Technical Guidelines on Social Media

Understand and configure popular social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogs) to share government information,

Understand and configure collaborative social media tools (e.g., wikis) to establish mass collaboration, and

Understand and configure analytical tools to monitor and measure social media activities.

Link: http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/getting-started-with-social-media-tools-in-government

ObjectivesObjectives

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What is social media?

Any online tools that enables us to: Participate, collaborate, create, or share content in a

many-to-many context can be called social media. Examples:

Collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia and wikispaces), Blogs (e.g., WordPress) and microblogs (e.g., Twitter), Content communities (e.g., YouTube), Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), Virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft), Virtual social worlds (e.g., Second Life), etc.

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Social Media-Based Urban Engagement?

Is a urban/city culture of transparency, openness, sharing, and collaboration facilitated [or fostered] by social media.

City= institutions + citizens

Is a urban/city culture of transparency, openness, sharing, and collaboration facilitated [or fostered] by social media.

City= institutions + citizens

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Urban Engagement?

In other words, without a culture of transparency, openness, sharing, and collaboration in place…..

In other words, without a culture of transparency, openness, sharing, and collaboration in place…..

Social media-based urban

engagement is fruitless

Social media-based urban

engagement is fruitless

And your efforts may not move beyond hopeless tweets and likes

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Urban Engagement

Citizens

Institutions

Yin and Yang Philosophy

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How does your city use social media?

A Quick Survey

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Key Findings

Current Social Media Use

Posts, Likes, Tweets, & Shares

Posts, Likes, Tweets, & Shares

Mass collaborations, citizen sourcing, co-creation, etc.

Mass collaborations, citizen sourcing, co-creation, etc.

Social transactionSocial transaction

Technology optimism Technology optimism

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The Reality/Potential

Posts, Likes, Tweets, & Shares

Posts, Likes, Tweets, & Shares

Mass collaborations, citizen sourcing, co-creation, etc.

Mass collaborations, citizen sourcing, co-creation, etc.

Social transactionSocial transaction

Cultural focus Cultural focus

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Urban Engagement Through Social Media

Assumption: Social media engaged city (citizens and institutions) will lead to some type of urban development.

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Dimensions of Engagement

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What to Share?

Sharing—refers to the use of social media channels (such as, Twitter, Facebook, wikis, YouTube, and blogs) to disseminate and share useful information (news, alerts, and updates) to public in variety of formats including, text, video, audio, and graphics.

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Ways to Share?

Through An official Twitter account An official Facebook Fan

page An official YouTube Channel An official Blog

Link: http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/getting-started-with-social-media-tools-in-government

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Sharing Example 1

Municipal governments use Facebook fan pages to provide residents with information about government services and projects, local events, rules and regulations, and other relevant topics.

Municipal governments use Facebook fan pages to provide residents with information about government services and projects, local events, rules and regulations, and other relevant topics.

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Participatory cities

Participation—refers to providing opportunities to citizens to participate in service delivery, reporting, and policy and decision making through social media channels.

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Example 1: I paid a bribe

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Example 2: Reporting

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Collaborative cities

Mass Collaboration—refers to working together in a many-to-many context to achieve certain shared goals carried through social media channels.

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Crowd Sourcing (citizens-2-cities)

Adopt a Fire hydrant (city of Boston) Where ordinary people take responsibility for digging out a fire

hydrant after it snows.

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Co-creation (citizens-2-citizens)

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Open Cities

Openness—refers to free unrestricted access to government structured data and information opened through social media and Web 2.0 channels.

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Open Data Example

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Final Note…remember that…

It is more than just “likes” and “tweets” It is a culture

Once social media presence is established:

Sustain it Monitor it (e.g., social analytics) Be responsive Built trust

Otherwise, your city will lose face

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Final Note…remember

Plan a head Establish a sound social media strategy

and policy.

Assign dedicated resources Time, technical, financial, and human

resources

Social media does not replace traditional means of communication, but complements.

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