Factors affecting citizens' use of social media to communicate with the government: a proposed model

With the emergence of Web 2.0 technology, governments are able to deliver quality services and fully satisfy the needs of their citizens. Despite the importance of this emerging trend, identifying and attracting an audience for government-affiliated social media (SM) services has proved to be a significant challenge. The figures for public participation in government2.0 remain below expectations. This paper is one of the few attempts to identify those factors affecting citizens’ decisions to use SM platforms as a means for communication with their government. To develop a new model of SM adoption, this research study is based on a literature review, and will extend the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model by integrating cultural factors identified by the Hofstede model (masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and collectivism) and factors related to the trust and motivational model. This paper has created a comprehensive taxonomy of those factors that influence the adoption of SM among citizens, while providing a list of hypotheses for evaluating the significance of these factors.