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Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt
This research examines the extent to which the use of social media by the Egyptian government in its communication with the public enhances online civic engagement. Its importance lies in the fact that several studies highlighted the benefits of the utilization of social media by governments in enga...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613408228016128 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Elsherbiny, Ayman H. |
| author_browse | Elsherbiny, Ayman H. |
| author_facet | Elsherbiny, Ayman H. |
| author_sort | Elsherbiny, Ayman H. |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. |
| description | This research examines the extent to which the use of social media by the Egyptian government in its communication with the public enhances online civic engagement. Its importance lies in the fact that several studies highlighted the benefits of the utilization of social media by governments in engaging with the public. This thesis defines civic engagement as the involvement of citizens in online activities that seek to address public issues through the social media platforms of the Egyptian government. It focuses on the five types of online civic engagement behavior as described by Denning (2001), i.e. collection of information, publication of information, dialogue, coordination of action, and lobbying decision makers. This study employs content analysis. Over a period of 15 months, a probability, simple random sample of 491 posts by three Facebook pages of Egyptian ministries and 2287 comments by the public on these Pages was analyzed. It reached four main conclusions. First, the Egyptian ministries use of social media contributes poorly to the strengthening of online civic engagement. Second, a linear, one-way model characterizes the type of communication conducted by the Egyptian ministries. Third, the content of the interaction of the public with the government provides evidence that citizens are active in exploiting the ministries’ social media to voice their opinions, lobby decision makers, and raise questions. Finally, though there is marginal interaction between the ministries and the public, citizens are more engaged into dialogue amongst themselves. Thus, this research concludes that social media is an untapped communication resource in the context of its utilization by the Egyptian government. Consequently, this study fills a gap in the literature and could encourage other researchers to tackle that topic from its different aspects. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1185 |
| institution | American University in Cairo (Egypt) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:39.635Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| publisherStr | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| spelling | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1185 Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt Elsherbiny, Ayman H. This research examines the extent to which the use of social media by the Egyptian government in its communication with the public enhances online civic engagement. Its importance lies in the fact that several studies highlighted the benefits of the utilization of social media by governments in engaging with the public. This thesis defines civic engagement as the involvement of citizens in online activities that seek to address public issues through the social media platforms of the Egyptian government. It focuses on the five types of online civic engagement behavior as described by Denning (2001), i.e. collection of information, publication of information, dialogue, coordination of action, and lobbying decision makers. This study employs content analysis. Over a period of 15 months, a probability, simple random sample of 491 posts by three Facebook pages of Egyptian ministries and 2287 comments by the public on these Pages was analyzed. It reached four main conclusions. First, the Egyptian ministries use of social media contributes poorly to the strengthening of online civic engagement. Second, a linear, one-way model characterizes the type of communication conducted by the Egyptian ministries. Third, the content of the interaction of the public with the government provides evidence that citizens are active in exploiting the ministries’ social media to voice their opinions, lobby decision makers, and raise questions. Finally, though there is marginal interaction between the ministries and the public, citizens are more engaged into dialogue amongst themselves. Thus, this research concludes that social media is an untapped communication resource in the context of its utilization by the Egyptian government. Consequently, this study fills a gap in the literature and could encourage other researchers to tackle that topic from its different aspects. 2015-02-01T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/186 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1185/viewcontent/FINAL_20PPAD_20Thesis_2c_20Ayman_20Elsherbiny.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Social media Government |
| spellingShingle | Social media Government Elsherbiny, Ayman H. Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title | Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title_full | Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title_short | Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt |
| title_sort | use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement the case of egypt |
| topic | Social media Government |
| url | https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/186 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1185/viewcontent/FINAL_20PPAD_20Thesis_2c_20Ayman_20Elsherbiny.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elsherbinyaymanh useofsocialmediabygovernmentstoenhanceonlinecivicengagementthecaseofegypt |