The impact of polices on government social media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations

Government agencies are increasingly using social media to connect with those they serve. These connections have the potential to extend government services, solicit new ideas, and improve decision-making and problem-solving. However, interacting via social media introduces new challenges related to privacy, security, data management, accessibility, social inclusion, governance, and other information policy issues. The rapid adoption of social media by the population and government agencies has outpaced the regulatory framework related to information, although the guiding principles behind many regulations are still relevant. This paper examines the existing regulatory framework and the ways in which it applies to social media use by the U.S. federal government, highlighting opportunities and challenges agencies face in implementing them, as well as possible approaches for addressing these challenges. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.