ABSTRACT

The growing use of social media in the field of public administration is one of the most interesting developments of the 21st century. Today, over half of Canadian adults (58%) report using social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, including 86% of Internet users under the age of 35 years (Statistics Canada 2011). Although governments may not have been early adopters, the proliferation of social media tools is now singlehandedly reshaping the nature of interaction between governments and citizens. Not only has social media provided a number of new routes for public involvement in decision making, but also it has accelerated the speed at which citizens can provide input into the process. In that sense, social media can be transformative, increasing the breadth of actors involved in policy and the range of ideas on which policy is built.