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Do social networking groups support online petitions?

Do social networking groups support online petitions? Purpose – EPetitioning has been emerging as arguably the most important eParticipation institutional activity. This paper aims to provide some insights into how ePetitions are perceived and supported by social networking sites. Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigated the connection between the UK Government's ePetitioning system and social networking groups linking to governmental petitions. Online data from Facebook were collected and analysed with respect to numbers of supporters compared to official signatures. Findings – The results indicate that although the process of signing an official petition is not more complex than joining a Facebook group, the membership of respective Facebook groups can be much higher. In particular, certain topics experienced very high support on Facebook which did not convert to signatures. Originality/value – The paper's added value lies in the questions raised about the potential uptake of citizen‐government interactions in policy‐making mechanisms. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Transforming Government People Process and Policy Emerald Publishing

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References (27)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1750-6166
DOI
10.1108/17506161111114626
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – EPetitioning has been emerging as arguably the most important eParticipation institutional activity. This paper aims to provide some insights into how ePetitions are perceived and supported by social networking sites. Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigated the connection between the UK Government's ePetitioning system and social networking groups linking to governmental petitions. Online data from Facebook were collected and analysed with respect to numbers of supporters compared to official signatures. Findings – The results indicate that although the process of signing an official petition is not more complex than joining a Facebook group, the membership of respective Facebook groups can be much higher. In particular, certain topics experienced very high support on Facebook which did not convert to signatures. Originality/value – The paper's added value lies in the questions raised about the potential uptake of citizen‐government interactions in policy‐making mechanisms.

Journal

Transforming Government People Process and PolicyEmerald Publishing

Published: Mar 22, 2011

Keywords: Social networks; Communication technologies; Democracy; Citizen participation; United Kingdom

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