Social Media Usage in E-Government: Mediating Role of Government Participation

When citizens are actively engaged in e-government processes as co-creators it leads to e-government development. Citizen participation in e-government is a recent phenomenon where government is seeking more involvement of citizens through different platforms. Whether citizens' participation through social media platforms leads to e-government development has been a debate in literature. In this research study, the authors investigate whether social media usage influences government's role in e-government development. Power distance between government and citizen also plays a role in deciding the extent of e-participation in e-government. In this study, the authors examine the relationship between social media, power distance, citizen engagement and e-government development. Using customer focus theory and agency theory, this study establishes that e-participation initiative by government acts as a mediator in the relation between social media usage by citizen as well as power distance to e-government development.