Exploring Social Media Adoption in Australian Local Government Organizations

Local government organizations have recently been attracted to social media applications to improve services to their communities. Yet, limited scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding social media adoption across local government. This study addresses this shortcoming by exploring the factors that drive the adoption of social media within Australian local government. The findings draw on qualitative evidence from interviews conducted with twenty-one local government organizations. The role of technological, organizational and environmental factors in social media adoption is investigated. This includes factors such as relative advantage, perceived security, management drive, social media policies, community demand and bandwagon effects. The findings can have important managerial implications in helping local government to better understand social media adoption in their organizations.