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This is the authors’ version of the paper accepted for publication in Social Science Computer
review
Social Media Risks and Benefits: A Public Sector Perspective
GoharFeroz Khan1
Bobby Swar2
Kon Sang Lee1
1School of Industrial Management, Korea University of Technology & Education,
Cheonan, South Korea
2SolBridge International School of Business, Woosong Educational Foundation, Daejeon,
South Korea
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Abstract
Social mediaare becoming an important intermediary for interaction between
governments, governments& citizens, and governmental agencies & businesses.This is due to the
unique characteristics of social media: openness, participation, and sharing. However, despite
rapid adoption, a growing concern and skepticism regarding the use of social media exists in the
public sector. The purpose of this study is to investigateempiricallytherisks and benefits of social
media use by public agencies. For this purpose, a research modelwas developed and testedin
asurvey of 289 government sector employees from six South Korean government research
institutes (GRIs). We found that both risks (i.e., social risk, time, psychological risks, and
privacy concern) and benefits (i.e., social connectivity, social involvement,
informationattainment and entertainment) significantly affect public sector employees‘
satisfaction with and intention to use social media. However, the effect of the benefits on users‘
satisfaction was stronger compared to the risks. The results of the study have important
implications for researchers and policy makers.
Keywords: social media, Social Network Service (SNS), risks and benefits, public sector,
government research institutes (GRIs).
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Introduction
Because of its popularity and its unique characteristics (namelyopenness, participation,
and sharing), social mediaare becoming an important intermediary for interaction between
governments, governments& citizens, and governmental agencies & businesses (Sandoval-
Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2012).Social media use in the public sector is considereda technological
innovation and transforming agent(Chun & Reyes, 2012), and is believedto have opened-up
unprecedented new possibilities (Lee & Kwak, 2012). Social media has the potential toextend
governmentservices, increase civic participation, solicit innovative ideas from the masses, and
improve decision-making and problem-solving (Bertot, Jaeger, & Hansen, 2012; Rice, Moffett,
&Madupalli, 2013; Zhang, Johnson, Seltzer, & Bichard, 2010). Social media also provides
various opportunities for public relations practitioners to interact with the general public(Curtis
et al., 2010). For instance, the use of social media tools can provide information about citizen‘s
opinions, emotions, intentions, behaviors, and characteristics (Chun & Reyes, 2012). Because of
thedifferent inputs made possible by social media,public sector improvement is evident in
information sharing, public service provision, and decision making (Chun & Reyes, 2012; Khan,
2013).
Although there are many benefits of social media use in the public sector, it also
possesses some risks,which causeconcern and skepticism. For example, interacting via social
media introduces new challenges related to privacy, security, data management, accessibility,
social inclusion, and governance (Bertot, et al., 2012). Some scholars believe that social media
tools themselves are ineffective,do little to involve citizens in political discourse (Baumgartner &
Morris, 2010) and do much harm to democratization (Shirky, 2011). Other scholarsconsider
social media as unchartered territory and point to governments‘ lack of experience and
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knowledge regarding implementing social media.(Lee & Kwak, 2012). Furthermore, events such
as the WikiLeaks affair have complicated the social media landscape in government.
To make the most of social media use in the public sector, it is worth analyzing the
factors associated with the risks and benefits. In this study, the risks and benefits of social media
use by South Korean public agencies were empirically examined.
This paper is divided into the following sections. First, some background information on
social mediais provided. Next an overview of social media in the public sector is presented. Then
the research model and hypothesisare discussed. This is followed by the methodology employed
and results of the study. We conclude with a discussion.
Overview of Social Media and SNS
Social media refers to websites and online tools that facilitate interactions between users
by providing them with opportunities to share information, opinions, and interests. Social media
consist of a ―variety of tools and technologies that includescollaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia
and Wiki-spaces), blogs (e.g., WordPress) and microblogs (e.g., Twitter),content communities
(e.g., YouTube), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook and Cyworld), folksonomies or tagging
(e.g., delicious), virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft),virtual social worlds (e.g., Second
Life), andall other internet-based platforms that facilitate the creation & exchange of UGC.‖
(Khan, 2013). Social media includes a variety of social networking applications (Magro, 2012),
the most famous types beingsocial networking sites or services (SNS). SNS is a platform that is
used to build and maintain social relations among people who share interests, activities,
backgrounds, or real-life connections.
Broadly speaking, SNS can be categorized into two types: 1) internet-based, and 2)smart
phone-based. Internet-based SNSs are generally accessed through e-mail IDs. Facebook,
Cyworld, and Google+ are examples of Internet-based SNS. Whereas, smart phone-based SNSs
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are accessed through mobile phone numbers. That is, users can only login using mobile phone
numbers. KaKao Talk1 and and 1KM, two popular South Korean smart phone-based platforms,
are examples of phone-based social network services. It should be noted that internet-based SNS
can be accessed through any device connected to the internet (e.g., using a Smart phone or a
tablet to access Facebook); whereas, Phone-based SNS can only be accessed from a phone (e.g.,
in its current formone cannot use Kakao Talk or 1KM through a personal computer). Boyd and
Ellison (2007, p. 1-2) defined SNS as, ―web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct
a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with
whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made
by others within the system.‖ Boyd and Ellison‘s (2007) definition applies to the Internet-based
SNS (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). In this study, we define the smartphone-based SNS as, asmart
phone-based service platform that is used to build and maintain social relations among people
who share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. The objectives of both types
of SNS platforms are the same (i.e., tobuild and maintain social relations),however, the
functionalities they possessand the ways they are accessed are different.
Overview of Social Media in Public Sector
Public sectorsaround the world are using social media in their day-to-day activities for
different purposes, such as, to disseminate useful information, to foster mass collaboration and to
enforce laws and regulation(Khan &Swar, 2013; Osimo, 2008). In the literature, different labels
are used to describe the use of social media in the public sector,such as: Government 2.0
(Eggers, 2005), Do-it-yourself Government (Dunleavy & Margetts, 2010), Collaborative
Government (Chun, Luna-Reyes, & Sandoval-Almazán, 2012; McGuire, 2006), Government as
a Platform (O'Reilly, 2010), Open Government (Patrice, 2010), Social Government (Khan,
Yoon, & Park, 2012), andWe-Government (Linders, 2012). Whatever the label might be, the
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primary purpose of leveraging social media in the public sector is to make governments more
transparent, open, and accessible.
Social Media-based Government Models
Like e-government maturity models (Andersen & Henriksen, 2006; Khan, Moon, Park,
Swar, & Rho, 2011; Layne & Lee, 2001), social media-based government models are also
emerging(Khan, 2013; Khan &Swar, 2013; Lee & Kwak, 2012; Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013).
For example, Lee and Kwak (2012)have developed an opengovernment maturity model for
social media-based public engagementthat consists of five levels. The authors suggest there is a
logical sequence for increasing social media-based public engagement, and public agencies
should focus on achieving one maturity level at a time. While Lee and Kwak‘s (2012)study deals
withopen data capabilities from the government agency perspective, Khan and Swar (2013)
suggested a three stage model of social media utilization in the public sector from the citizen‘s
perspective.Similarly, Mergel and Bretschneider (2013), suggest a three-stage adoption process
for social media use in the public sector whereby government use of social media evolves
frominformal experimentation by a few entrepreneurs to an organized agency wide form of
communication medium involving clearly outlined strategy and policiesof social media
use.Recently, some contextual models for social media-based government have been proposed.
For example, Schwalji and Aradi (2013), suggest a three-stage model for social media-based
engagement from an Arab perspective: Table 1 provides a summary of the social media-based
government models.
<Insert Table 1 about here>
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Social Media Strategy in Public Sector
Though literature on social media strategy in the public sector is limited,it is growing.For
example, Khan (2013) argued that unlike e-government inside-out strategy (i.e.,utilizing ICTs to
transform and employinternalgovernment resources to provide services), social media–based
government is based on an outside-in approach where government agencies harness external
resourcing and expertise (e.g., social media tools and crowd sourcing phenomenon) to service
their customers. Similarly, Mergel (2010) suggest that social media strategies in the public
sector can be classified into push, pull, and networking strategies. Through the push strategythe
public sector pushes contents (e.g., news and information) to the citizens through social media
channels, and pull strategies are employed to funnel the social media users back to the public
websites.Through this networking strategythe public sector establishes two way communication
and collaboration with the citizens through social media channels. Literature on social media
strategies with respect to cultural values is also emerging. For example, in a recent comparative
study between the US and South Korean government agencies, Khan, Young, & Park
(forthcoming)found that social media strategies differ according to cultural values. The authors
arguethat governments in a collectivist culture (e.g., South Korea) use social media to promote
their collective public agenda (e.g.,re-tweeting common content to reinforce their collective
agendas regardless of their main administrative functions). Social media use in
governmentsofindividualistic cultures (e.g., the USA)arefound to be more individualistic (e.g.,
they only re-tweeted those messages that specifically fit the purpose of their department)
Literature shows that researchers have identified different benefits of social media use in
the public sector and have come up with different models and strategies to adopt social media in
the public sector(Bertot, et al., 2012; Chun, et al., 2012; Dunleavy & Margetts, 2010; Eggers,
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2005; Khan, et al., 2012; Lee & Kwak, 2012; Linders, 2012; McGuire, 2006; O'Reilly, 2010;
Patrice, 2010; Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2012). However, systematic research regarding
the assessment of the risks and benefits associated with social media in the public sector is
lacking. Thus, public sector practitioners may often refer to findings from the private sector,
which can be misleading due to the different nature of the private and the public
sector.Therefore, this study empirically examines the risk and benefit factors that affect the
satisfaction level of social media use in the public sector.
Social media Risks and Benefits in Public Sector
Because social media are a worldwide phenomenon with two-thirds of the global online
population visiting social sites(Kuzma, 2010),andbecausesocial media possess potential benefits
and risksfor the public sector, researchers recently began studying a variety of social media-
related issues and trends.For example, Curtis et al. (2010),throughthe Unified Theory of
Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, examined nonprofit public relations
practitioners‘ adoption of social media tools and its credibility. Curtis et al. found that social
media tools are becoming beneficial methods of communication for public relations practitioners
and further suggested that organizations with defined public relations departments are more
likely to adopt social media and use them to achieve organizational goals. Curtis et. al also
suggested practitioners are more likely to use social media if practitioners find them credible.
Kavanaugh et al. (2012), through an exploratory study,revealed that local governments
use social media while lacking knowledge of its costs and benefits, information about their
actualaudience, mechanismsfor monitoring activity, ways to handle responses, and assessment of
the effect of theirsocial media communication on the public.
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To improve transparency, openness, and public participation with the government,the
Obama administration in 2009 directed Executive agencies to issue the open government
initiative (Snead, 2013). In response to the initiative, many agencies have adopted social media
to increase public participation and to disseminate information. In this regard, Snead (2013)
conducted an exploratory study to examine the Executive agency use of social media. Snead
(2013) found that the public does interact and participate with the use of social media to stay
informed about government activities. Snead (2013) made further suggestions to improve user
participation,such as using fewer types of media, providing links to agency social media sites at
the top or near the top of an agency‘s website home page, providing feedback mechanisms for
internally-produced agency social media applications, posting statistics regarding media usage
and participant comments, and nominating a person from the agency who would be dedicated to
engaging with the public.Bertot et al. (2012) 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, with possible approaches for
addressing the challenges.Furthermore, Picazo-Vela, Gutierrez-Martinez, &Luna-Reyes (2012)
argued and empirically examined the perceptions of risks, benefits and strategic guidelines
involving social media applications in the public sector. The authors analyzed how the
government use of social media may result in improved communication and citizen participation,
more transparency, and transfer of best practices among government agencies.They further
suggested that goodsocial media implementing strategy is needed to realize its benefits and avoid
risks, and that social media implementation highlights the importance of updating laws and
regulations and of promoting changes in government culture and organizational practices.
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To maximize the benefits of social media use in the public sector it has become important
to assess the risks and benefits associated with it.In this regard this study empirically examines
the risks and benefits associated with social media use in the public sector.
Research Model and Hypotheses
To test social media risks and benefits in the public sector, we constructed a research
model as shown in Figure 1. Literature shows that a variety of risks and benefits factors have
been examined in different fields and contexts. In terms of online behavior, researchers have
gone to great lengths to examine the tradeoff between benefits and risks (Bhatnagar&Ghose,
2004). This studyexaminesthe risks and benefits factors that are more applicable to the public
sector domain. The risk factors adopted are based on the Featherman and Pavlou (2003) study
on e-services adoption and the perceived risk. Risks associated with social mediain the context of
the public sectorare measured with four constructs: time risk, psychological risks, social risks,
and privacy risk; which are the most common risks associated with social media. Benefits
associated in this study were adopted using various literature sources (e.g. Tsaoussi, 2011;
Wellman, Witte, & Hampton, 2001). This study measured four constructs of benefits: social
connectivity, social involvement, information attainment, and entertainment in the context of
public sector use of social media. The Independent constructs incorporated were satisfaction with
SNS and use intention.
Risks of Social Media
Risk is defined as a ―combination of uncertainty plus seriousness of
outcomeinvolved‖(Bauer, 1967,p. 23) and according to Featherman and Pavlou (2003) risk is
defined as a common thought of uncertainfeeling regarding the possible negative consequences
of using a product or service.Risk has been examined and defined across different field of studies.
With regard to social media, risk can be defined as the possiblethreat or damage or insecurity of
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using the social media services. For example, Webber, Li and Szymanski (2012, P.3) defines
social media risk as ―the likelihood that a negative social media event will happen (multiplied
by) the impact that negativeevent will have if it does happen‖. Goo et al. (2011) reveals that SNS
adoption is influenced by perceived riskwhich creates an uncertain feeling pertaining to negative
outcomes in using SNSs. It is more likely that risks associated with social media inversely affect
the satisfaction of social media usage. Many studies addressing risk associated with IT adoption
are found in the literature, but this study specifically focuses on the risks factors that are
applicable tosocial media use in the public sector. The risk factors considered were time,
psychological, social and privacy.
Time Risk.Social media possess a wide variety of addictive activitiestoward which
people tend to engage and devote considerable time. This is potentially a concern in workplaces
causing employees to be unproductive in their work. According to research released by Ipsos
(2013) social network users spend on average 3.6 hours per day socializing online(Ipsos, 2013).
Considering the standard eight working hours a day in the public sector, forty five percent of the
time is spent on social media. According to Qualman(2012), twenty three percent of Facebook
users check Facebook five times or more daily.Once addicted to social media, users tend to
spend more time browsing and socializing on social network sites. This affects the user‘s
productivity in the workplace.The use of social media that can causea lack of productivityin the
workplace can be considered a waste of time. This tends to influence negatively the satisfaction
level of social media usage. Generally, the public sector working environment is more relaxed
and as there is often no tough employee monitoring mechanism.Public employees seem to spend
more time on activities in which they are interested. It is more likely that employees who are
addictedto social media use can spend a lot of time using it. Based on this discussion the
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following hypothesisis proposed.
H1: Time Risks associated with social media will negatively affect social media
Satisfaction
Psychological risk.Featherman and Pavlou (2003, p.455) cite Mitchell‘s
(1992)psychologicalrisk as, ―the risk that the selection or performance of the producer will have
a negative effect on the consumer‘s peace of mind or self-perception‖. In the context of social
media, psychological risk can be defined as the concern or uncertainty by a user of social media
that the usage of social media results in loss of self-esteem contributing to a negative effect on
feelings and peace of mind. The reason people use social media is to connect, interact and share
information with other users. Therefore, social media work as a social lubricant to establish
social interactions with others(Forest & Wood, 2012). The information posted or shared in social
media becomes public, which exposes users to possibleattack through negative remarks from
other users. Such negative remarks lead to low self-esteem contributing toa negative effect on
feelings and peace of mind which in turn has a negative influence on the satisfaction level of
social media users.The use of social media services can causethe users to worry, be frustrated, or
feel incompetent (Go et al. 2011). In the public sector context also, once anorganization starts
sharing information and interacting with citizens through social media, the social media platform
becomes vulnerable to people posting negative remarks. Social media also becomes a platform
where citizens canraise their issues and complaints of government actions. This tends to affect
the satisfaction of social media usage in the public sector. This context leads to the proposal of
the following hypothesis.
H2: Psychological Risks associated with social media will negatively affect social
media Satisfaction
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Social risk.Social risk is defined as, ―a potential loss of one‘s social group as a result of
adopting or using service in social media, looking foolish or untrendy‖ (Featherman&Pavlou,
2003, p. 455). According to Go et al. (2011) social media users are viewed as having an
individualisticcharacter spending more time interacting online than meeting people face to face.
This kind of behavior by social media users might lead to them losing out socially.Friends and
colleagues of social media users who are not in favor of social media may perceive usersless
highly.When the public sector adopts social media and it becomes a platform to share
government information and interact with citizens some groups of people may not support the
adoption of social media.This can be mainly because people have different attitudes towards
social media and some simply do not favor social media.Other people may not have access to the
Internet and hence be unable to retrieve information shared through social media or may simply
not know how to use social media. This tends to have a negative impact on the satisfaction level
of social media users in the public sector. Due to this reasoning the following hypothesis is
proposed.
H3: Social Risks associated with social media will negatively affect social media
Satisfaction
Privacy risk.Privacy is defined as, ―the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to
determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about them is
communicated to others‖ (p. 7)(Westin 1967). Privacy risk can be defined as ―potential loss of
control over personal information, such as when information about youis used without your
knowledge or permission‖ (Featherman&Pavlou, 2003, p. 455). Privacy risk in the SNS contextis
associated with identity fraud and the disclosure of personal dataof users by SNS to third parties
(i.e.,information privacy) of the SNS users(Acquisti& Gross 2006; Young & Quan-Haase 2009).
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In SNSs the distinction between who is able to see, obtain, and use the user data becomes blurred
and the personal data may cause additional security problems like phishing, information leakage,
and stalking (Houghton & Joinson, 2010). The use of social media raises the issue of information
management such as personally identifiable information, security of government data and
information, and accuracy of publicly available data (Bertot, et al., 2012).
Due to privacy risks, organizations in the public sector which adopts social media tend to
be more concerned about their information being shared through social media. According to Shin
(2010) a lack of trust and security management led to privacy risks in the SNS context.
Furthermore, the authorclaims that the inability to control access to information posted without
adequate identification processes, and identity theft led to privacy risks. This might have a
negative effect on the satisfaction of social media use in the public sector. Therefore the
following hypothesisis formulated.
H4: Privacy Risks associated with social media will negatively affect social media
Satisfaction
Benefits of Social Media
Benefits in terms of social media are defined as the providing of advantages through
social media usage that promote and enhance well-being. Social media possesshuge benefits as
described in the introduction section. Due to the benefits of SNSs, executives, decision makers
and consultants are trying to identify different ways in which firms can make profitable use of
social media (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).Social media in the context of the public sector are
believedto provide various opportunities for public relations practitioners while interacting with
the general public in their everyday lives(Curtis, et al., 2010). The benefits associated with social
media positively affect the satisfaction of social media usage. This study through the literature
15
review considers benefits in terms of social connectivity, social involvement,
informationattainment and entertainment.
Social connectivity.The evolution of thesenew Internet media have become an important
means of maintaining work and social connections in everyday life, crossing the social worlds of
work, home, and geography (Haythornthwaite, 2005). SNSs support the maintenance of existing
social ties and the formation of new connections(Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007).According
to Tsaoussi (2011) SNSs have greatly increased the connectivity of the online space.Due to this
benefit people use SNSs as a medium to meet old friends, maintain relationship or even meet
new friends, strengthening overall social connectivity among social media users. Meeting new
friends online helps in obtaining emotional support that is not available offline and also helps
knowing existing friends better and maintain better relationships(Shu & Chuang, 2011).
In the case of the public sector, social media helps to connect government with citizens
and other organizations. Connecting with citizens helps to strengthen the government-citizens
relationship. This better relationship helps a government to create a better image of itself among
citizens. These features of social media are believed to have a positive influence on the use of
social media. On the pretext of this discussion the following hypothesisis proposed.
H5: Social connectivity due to social media will positively affect social media
Satisfaction
Social involvement.Social involvement also known as social engagement or social
participation is one‘s degree of participation in a community or society. The Internet increases
the social capital through social integration(Wellman, Q., Witte, & Hampton, 2001). Social
capital refers to the resources accumulated through the relationships among peoples(Coleman,
1988). SNSs help people with mutual interests to share knowledge and ideas (Koh & Kim,
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2004). Online platforms also enable participants to exchange advice, information and support
through interactions promoting social support(Drentea& Moren-Cross, 2005; Wellman & Frank,
2001). This participation and engagementis useful in collective social activities like helping
people to improve interpersonal relationships, get along with others more easily in real life,
avoids people being isolated, and helps to overcome loneliness. The use of social media by the
public sector is a recent trend. Due to the benefits of social media the public sector wants to
share and disseminate information to the public and also wants to interact with citizens on
various issues through social media. This approachis considered as a new means of social
involvement between governments and citizens. As more citizens get engaged with the public
sector through social media, governments can consider it a gainin social capital. These benefits
of social involvement in the public sector positively affect the satisfaction of social media use.
This phenomenon leads to the formulation of the following hypothesis.
H6: Social involvement due to social media will positively affect social media
Satisfaction
Information attainment.Information attainment in the social media contextis defined as
the act of attaining and finding interesting and unique information easily on SNSs. This
interesting and unique information can also be shared among the SNS users. Information
attainment helps to build multiple weak ties which reduces social costs and extends the pool of
information searching, and enhances trust among people(Shu & Chuang, 2011).
SNSs are helpful in finding variouswork related information easily. According to Kelly
(2008), one of the factors that motivate people to engage in SNSs is to seek information about
their subjects of interest. Literature reveals that information and knowledge sharing is an
essential motivation for the usage of SNSs. In the public sector social media acts as a medium to
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receive vital information on various contexts from citizens, which otherwise can be difficult to
obtain. Social media for example can be a goodmedium to receive feedback, concerns and
complaints from citizens regarding government actions. This can be very useful information for
governments, provided it is usedpositively to improve government services. These benefits of
information attainment positively affect the satisfaction of social media usage in the public
sector. Based on this observationthe following hypothesisis proposed.
H7: Information attainment due to social media will positively affect social
media Satisfaction
Entertainment.Entertainment is defined as the act of providing amusement, enjoyment,
fun and relaxation. Entertainment in the virtual community can be derived through playing or
interacting with others (Dholakia, Bagozzi, &Pearo, 2004). Whitty and McLaughlin (2007)
reveal three forms of online entertainment using the internet (a) computer-based entertainment,
(b) to facilitate offline entertainment, and (c) to obtain information about the entertainment
world(Whitty & McLaughlin, 2007). All these forms of entertainment are well supported by
SNSs.
Due to these benefits people often use social media to entertain themselves. Public sector
use of social media can be exciting due to the entertainment features it supports. Work related to
social media in the public sector such as posting and gathering information,and interacting with
citizens can possibly be viewed as entertaining work by public sector employees. The
entertaining nature of the job can influence the satisfaction level of social media use in the public
sector. This leads us to propose the following hypothesis.
H8: Entertainment due to social media will positively affect social media
Satisfaction
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Satisfaction and Use Intention of Social Media
Legris et al. (2003, p. 192) describes satisfaction ―as the sum of one‘s feelings or attitudes
toward a variety of factors affecting the situation‖(Legris, Ingham, &Collerette, 2003).
Accordingly in terms of social media satisfaction this can be defined as the fulfillment of one‘s
wishes, and expectations, or the pleasure derived from the use of SNSs. User satisfaction is a
frequently measured construct for Information System Success (Rai, Lang, & Welker, 2002).
According to Bhattacherjee (2001) satisfied users form a use intention, while dissatisfied users
discontinue the use(Bhattacherjee, 2001).
Understanding the SNSs‘ use intention is an important matter in both academia and
industry (Chang & Zhu, 2012). The proposed model assumes that the public sector assesses the
risks and benefits of social media usages, which affect the SNSs‘ satisfaction level. The
satisfaction level affects the intention of social media use in the public sector. Based on this
understanding thefollowing hypothesis is proposed.
H9: Satisfaction with social media will positively affect social media use intention
Methodology
A survey instrument consisting of 43 items was developed. Where appropriate, the items
were adopted from previous research(Carter &Bélanger, 2005; Ellison, et al., 2007;
Featherman&Pavlou, 2003; Gefen & Straub, 2000; Shu & Chuang, 2011; Wixom & Todd, 2005)
and were reworded to fit-into the context of the current study. Given the lack of reliable items to
measure social media benefits, the items were developed to assess four definitional properties of
social media benefits: entertainment,social involvement, information attainment, and social
connectivity(Ellison, et al., 2007; Featherman&Pavlou, 2003; Shu & Chuang, 2011). Part of the
items to measure entertainment, social involvement, and information attainmentwere adopted
from Shu & Chuang (2011). Items to measure social connectivity were constructedbased on the
19
study by Ellison et al., (2007). Items for measuring social media risks (i.e., social risk, time, and
psychological risks)were adopted fromFeatherman and Pavlou (2003). And items to measure
privacy concerns were adopted from Tsoi& Chen (2011).Items to measure user‘s satisfaction
were adoptedfrom Wixom and Todd (2005). The items to measure service use intentions were
adopted from Gefen& Straub (2000) and Carter &Bélanger(2005).
Procedure
The original English version of the instrumentwas translated into the Korean
languagewith the help of a research assistant. To remove ambiguity and to prevent
misinterpretations, threeManagement Information system (MIS) Professors, who are proficient in
both English and Korean, were asked to give their judgments on the questionnaire. Based on
their recommendation, the questionnaire was reworded (mostly grammatical errors were
corrected)and a final version of the questionnaire was constructed. Later, an online version of the
questionnaire was distributedto the target sample for a full study on April 24, 2013.
Subjects
The subjects of the study were 289 government sector employees who were working in
six government-funded research and planning institutes (GRIs) namely, Korea Institute of
Industrial Technology, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Korea Forest
Research Institute, Korea Research Council for Industrial and Technology, Korea Institute of
Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, Korea Institute of Science and Technology
Evaluation and Planning. GRIs refers to institutions that are funded by the Government, but
legally independent, whose primary purpose is research and study. Especially in developing
countries with limited resources in science and technology, GRIs are recognized as the last resort
to advance science and technology development (Yim& Kim, 2005). In South Korea (hereafter
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‗Korea‘), since 1960s, the GRIs have played a pivotal role in both technological development
and human capital formation (Lee et al., 1991; Seong, 2012). After the1980s, even when private
R&D counterparts were at the center of industrial development, the GRIs continued to make
contributions to rapid technological upgrading in Korea (Kim & Yi, 1997). Currently, two
research councils, Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology (KRCF)
and the Korea Research Council for Industrial Science and Technology (ISTK), overarch 26
GRIs under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP). The
KRCF supports 13 GRIs in basic research while the ISTK oversees the other 13 GRIs in applied
research for industries. As of 2012, the two research councils have over 10,000 employees on
their payrolls and their R&D budget totals 6 billion US dollar - 40.4 % of the total government
R&D budget (KISTEP, 2013).
The respondents were selected through a non-probability convenient sampling method
and were asked to click on a web link embedded in an invitational email message, which linked
to an online survey created withGoogle DOCS. To complete the survey, respondents were
offered incentives in the form of an electronic coffee-coupon worth 6 dollars.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
In our sample, 54.7 % respondents were female and 45.3% were male. Almost half of
respondents, 49.5%, were between the ages of 31 and 40, 13.9% were 40 years of age or above
and 36.6% of the respondents were 30 years of age or below. Naturally, GRI employees are well
educated, with almost 98% having completed undergraduate studies, 51% having completed
master studies, and 20% having earned a doctorate. In terms of area of expertise, one third were
from engineering fields, one third were from social science disciplines, 18% came from the
natural sciences,and 12.8% came from a humanities background. In terms of rank or position,the
21
majority of the respondents were general office workers, followed by 33.4% from Assistant
Manager level. Six percent hadthe position of manager and 3.1% had the position of General
Manager. Out of the respondents, 37.4% were using three SNS and 21.1% were using two SNS.
The most frequently used SNS identified was Kakao-talk used by 81% of the respondents
followed by Facebook used by 15% of the respondents. Almost all respondents, 95.1%, reported
that using SNS mainly via Smartphones.In terms of the SNS access locations, 46.4% reported
that they access SNS while on the move, 27% said they access SNS athome, and 24.2% reported
SNS access at the office. The usage frequency of SNS (i.e., times logging-in)was as follows: 11
times per day (38.4%), 2-5 times per day (35.6%), and 6-10 times per day (18.7%). When asked
if their organization had any policy related to the SNS usage, 62% said there was no SNS policy,
28.4% said it was allowed, and 6.6% said SNS access was not allowed inside their organization.
Assessment of Measurement model
We performedstructural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to test the reliability and
validity of the measurement items. Specifically, due to the latent nature of the constructs used, a
Smart PLS (partial least square method) software package (Ringle, 2005) was used for data
analysis. PLS is a structured equation modeling technique that can analyze structural equation
models (SEMs) involving multiple-item constructs. PLS analysis was performed in two steps: (1)
a test of the measurement model: an estimation of internal consistency (composite reliability),
and determination of the convergent and discriminant validity of the instrument items; and (2)
assessment of the structural model through SEM.
Test of Measurement Model (Reliability and Validity Test)
Composite reliability measures, as indicated in Table 2, were robust and well above the
recommended level of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978). The average variance extracted (AVE) is also
22
depicted in Table 2. All AVE values were well above the accepted level of 0.50 (Fornell, 1981).
AVE indicates the reliability of the construct and allows the evaluation of discriminant validity.
To indicate satisfactory discriminant validity, the AVE of the construct should be greater than
the variance shared between the construct and other constructs in the model. The discriminant
validity of the measurement scales is depicted in Table 3; the square roots of the AVEs were
greater than the off-diagonal elements in their corresponding row and column in all cases,
supporting the discriminant validity of ourscales. Convergent validity is demonstrated when
items load highly (loading> 0.50) on their associated factors. Convergent validity was also fully
demonstrated as all item loaded highly (Loading> 0.50) on their associated factors.Furthermore,
the factor loading of each item on its respective construct was highly significant, as the values of
t-statistics were between 3.35 and 88.18.
<Table 2about here>
<Table 3about here>
Assessment of the Structural Model
Results of the structural model carried out through SEM are shown in Table 4 and Figure
2, where the independent variables were Risks (i.e., social risk, time, psychological risks, and
privacy concern) and Benefits (i.e., entertainment, social involvement, information attainment,
and social connectivity)associated with SNSand the dependent variable were the SNSsatisfaction
and use intention. Out of eight independent variables used in the model,six hada significant
effect on User satisfaction (See Figure A). Physiological Risk had a moderately significant
negative effect on SNS satisfaction (β =-0.180, p < 0.05), thus supporting H2. In simple words, it
means that as Physiological Risk associated with SNS increase, the satisfactionwith SNS
decreases proportionally. Interestingly, Social Risk associated with SNS had a weak significant
23
positive effect on SNS satisfaction (β =0.172, p < 0.05), thus rejecting hypothesis 3. In other
words, the positive effect of Social Riskon SNS satisfaction shows that the more users are
concerned about the social risks associated with SNS the morethey are satisfied with its use. As
expected, Privacy Risk had a moderately significant negative effect on SNS satisfaction (β =-
0.120, p < 0.01); supporting hypothesis 4. To put it simply, this means that as the Privacy Risk
associated with SNS increases, the satisfaction with SNS decreases proportionally. Time Risk
associated with SNS was not significant; rejecting hypothesis 1.
<Table 4 about here>
Social Connectivity had a moderately significant positive effect on SNS satisfaction (β
=0.199, p < 0.001), thus supporting H5. In simple words, it means that the more people feel
socially connected through an SNS, the more they are satisfied with the SNS. Information
Attainment had a moderately significant positive effect on SNS satisfaction (β =0.285, p <
0.001), thus supporting H6. Meaning that the more people attained information due to SNS usage
the more they are satisfied with it. As expected, Entertainmenthad a moderately significant
positive effect on SNS satisfaction (β =0.335, p < 0.001); supporting hypothesis 7. To put it
simply, this means that as people feel more entertained through SNS usage, the satisfaction with
SNS increases proportionally. Social Involvement was not significant. Overall, the Risks and
Benefits accounted for 56% of variance in SNS satisfaction (see Table 4). Finally, SNS
satisfaction had a moderate positive effect on SNS Use Intention (β =0.380, p < 0.001);
supporting H9. SNS satisfaction accounted for 14% variance in SNS Use Intention.
Overall, the Risks and Benefits accounted for 56% of variance in SNS satisfaction (see
Table 4). Finally, SNS satisfaction had a moderately positive effect on SNS Use Intention (β
24
=0.380, p < 0.001); supporting H9. In addition,SNS satisfaction accounted for 14% variance in
SNS Use Intention.
Discussion
The purpose of this empirical study was to investigatethe risks and benefits of social
media use by public agencies. Findings of the study will help public sector agencies identify and
handlesocial media risk and benefits. For example, we found that both risks—social risk, time,
psychological risks, and privacy concern—and benefits—social connectivity, social
involvement, information attainment and entertainment— associated with social media
significantly affect public sector employees‘ satisfaction and intention to use social media.
However, and interestingly, when it comes to comparing risksand benefits of social media in the
public sector, we found that the effect of the benefitson users‘ satisfaction was strongerthan the
effect of the risks. In other words, public sector employees aremore satisfied with the benefits
provided by social media when compared to thedissatisfaction caused by theassociated risks.
Another interesting findingis that, in some instances, risks associated with social media
increase satisfaction associated with it. For example, social risk had a positive effect on SNS
satisfaction. This means that the more users are concerned about the social risks associated with
SNS, the more they are satisfied with its use. This may be due to public sector employees being
well aware of the social risks associated with social media use and havingproper personal risk
mitigation strategies in place. Another possible explanation is that in Korea, a collectivist and
uncertainty avoiding society, communication through social media tools (e.g., Kakao Talk)
happens mostly with close associates,mitigating the feelings of social risk.
While benefits associated with social media are attractive, the risks associated with it are
distractive. Most organizationsusuallyfocus on the benefits of social media and, while they may
be aware of the risks associated with it,do not take concrete steps to mitigate risks(Webber, et al.,
25
2012). Social media risks need to be properly managed. For example, Webber et al., (2012)
suggested a four-step approach to the social media risk management process: a) identifying
social media risks, b) assessing and prioritizing those risks against limited resources, c)
mitigating and managing those risks to reduce the impact on the organization, and d) evaluating
emerging risks against mitigation efforts.The public sector can also use this four-step approach to
manage the social media risks identified in this study. For example, to manage the social media
risks, public sector organization might do the following: have a sound social media strategy, train
employees on legal issues, and limit access to selected social media tools (eGovernment
Resources Centre, 2010).
Apart from the risks and benefits associated with social media, one of the important
aspects of social media in any organization is the enactment of a sound social media policy and
strategy. While SNS use was pervasive in the institutions we surveyed, a majority of the
respondents (62%)reported that their organization had no SNS policy.This finding is consistent
with previous research that exposed a lack of sound social media policy and strategy.For
example, Kiron, Palmer, Phillips, &Berkman(2013) conducted a survey of 2,545 business
executives from 99 countries and 25 industries, and found that one of the major barriers to using
social media tools is the lack of an overall strategy related to social media.Even though, in our
study, we did not look specifically into the policy and strategyissues related to social media in
the public sector, we believe that an important issue has been identified that needs to be
thoroughly addressed in the future research.
This study develops and tests a risk-benefit model, partially validating past research on
social media in the public sector(Picazo-Vela et al., 2012; Linders, 2012; Mergel and
26
Bretschneider, 2013). Policymakersand practitioners might look to our study as a guide to gauge
the risks-benefits of social media in the public sector.
The study has some limitation toacknowledge. Because we surveyed social media use in
only a handful of government-funded agencies in Korea, the generalization of the results may be
limited. Also, we focused on the risks and benefits of SNS services, not all social media.Social
mediaincludes a variety of different tools and applications (e.g., blogs, wikis, and content
communities) and the risks and benefits associated with these may be perceived differently.
Future research is needed to look into a broader range of social media applications.
Another limitation stems from the quantitative nature of the findings. For example, the
study does not provide in-depth qualitative information to understand the perception of the
employees towards SNS use. Future studies grounded in a qualitative approach may investigate
the relation between the existence of a formal SNS policy and employees‘ satisfaction. We found
that risks associated with social media increase satisfaction. Even though the finding is
interestingandthe ―social risk‖ construct was statistically robust (with a composite reliability of
0.89 and Cronbachs Alpha of 0.83), some researchers and policymakers may find these results
perplexing. Thus, a future studyis neededto further explore this finding.
A final limitation involves the choice of constructs. We have adopted the risks and
benefits constructs on the basis of experts‘ opinions on suitability and relevance to the public
sector setting. For this reason, some of the constructs might have been missing from this study.
Social media use in the public sector is in an early stage and more relevant constructs might
appear with the advancement of social media usage. Future research can examine other risk and
benefit constructs to measure social media satisfaction.
27
Conclusion
In this study, we empirically investigated the risks and benefits of social media use by
public agencies. We found that both risks and benefits associated with social media significantly
affect public sector employees‘ satisfaction and intention to use social media. Overall, public
sector employees were more satisfied with the benefits provided by social media when compared
to the dissatisfaction caused by the risks associated with it. We also found that a formal social
media strategy has not yet found its way into the organizations we investigated. Even though, the
study has several limitations, we believe that findings of the study will help practitioners identify
and handle social media risk and benefits related issues in the public sector
28
GoharFeroz Khan ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor at Korea University
of Technology & Education (KoreaTECH). He earned his PhD in Information &
Telecommunication Technology Management from KAIST. Dr. Khan‘s research has been
published in Online Information Review (OIR), Government Information Quarterly, and Journal
of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), Scientometrics,
Information Development, and Asia Pacific Journal of Information System (APJIS).
Bobby Swar ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor at SolBridge International
School of Business, South Korea. He received his PhD in Information and Telecommunication
Technology Management from KAIST. He has published papers in journals like Information
Systems Frontier, Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, Scientometrics, Information
Development, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
(JASIST), and Int. J. Services Technology and Management.
Kon Sang Lee ([email protected])
29
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Risks
Benefits
Appendix
Figure 1 Proposed Research Model
Time
Risk
SNS
Satisfaction
Social
Involvement
Inform
ation
Attainment
Enterta
inment
Social
Connectivity
Privac
y Risk
Social
Risk
Psych
ological Risk
SNS
UseIntention
Control
Variables:
Age& Gender
40
(β =--0.180,
p>0.05) (β =0.172,
p>0.05) (β =--0.120,
p>0.01)
(β =0.199,
p>0.001) (β =0.285,
p>0.001) (β =0.355,
p>0.001)
(β =0.380,
p>0.001)
R2
=0.56
R2
=0.14
Figure 2 Updated Model
SNS
Satisfaction
Infor
mation
Attainment Entert
ainment
Social
Connectivity
Privac
y Risk
Social
Risk
Psych
ological Risk
SNS
UseIntentio
n
41
Table 1: Summary of social media based government models
Social Media based
government model
Description Source(s)
Open Government
Maturity Model
Consist of five levels of social media maturity,
suggesting practioners to achieve one level at a
time.
Lee and Kwak
(2012)
Social Media Utilization
Model
Consist of three stages of utilization for citizen‘s
engagement in social media starting from stage 1
(information socialization) and moving to stage 3
(social transaction).
Khan (2013)
Adoption process for
social media
Consist of three stages social media adoption
process, evolving from informally experimentation
to wide form of communication medium involving
strategy and policies for social media use.
Mergel and
Bretschneider
(2013)
Social media based
engagement
Consist of three stages for social media engagement,
moving from one way communication stage to
service delivery and accessibility stage.
Schwalji and
Aradi (2013)
42
Table 2 Latent Construct Reliability
AVE Composite Reliability Cronbachs Alpha
Entertainment (ET) 0.62 0.87 0.79
InformationAttainment (IA) 0.60 0.90 0.87
Privacy Risk (PR) 0.70 0.87 0.78
Psychological Risk (PSYR) 0.79 0.88 0.81
Satisfaction (SAT) 0.80 0.94 0.92
Social Connectivity (SC) 0.45 0.83 0.76
Social Involvement (SI) 0.62 0.92 0.90
Social Risk (SR) 0.80 0.89 0.83
Time Risk (TR) 0.72 0.89 0.81
Use Intention (UI) 0.92 0.97 0.96
43
Table 3 Latent Variable Correlations
ET IA PR PSYR SAT SC SI SR TR
Entertainment (ET) 0.79
Information Attainment (IA) 0.50 0.78
Privacy Risk (PR) -0.17 0.01 0.84
Psychological Risk (PSYR) -0.04 -0.08 0.14 0.89
Satisfaction (SAT) 0.63 0.56 -0.22 -0.15 0.90
Social Connectivity (SC) 0.49 0.50 -0.09 -0.06 0.54 0.67
Social Involvement (SI) 0.59 0.49 -0.10 -0.04 0.51 0.66 0.79
Social Risk (SR) 0.12 -0.04 0.01 0.53 0.13 0.09 0.10 0.90
Time Risk (TR) -0.11 -0.12 0.22 0.59 -0.11 -0.05 -0.09 0.61 0.85
Use Intention (UI) 0.34 0.44 -0.02 -0.25 0.38 0.29 0.30 -0.25 -0.34
44
Table 4 Assessment of the Structural Model
Independent Variable Dependent
Variable
Beta t-
statistics
Std.
Errors
Sign.
Level
R2
Risks
SNS Satisfaction
0.56
Time Risk 0.006 0.089 0.0623 ns H1 not supported
Physiological Risk -0.180 2.286 0.0652 0.05 H2 supported
Social Risk 0.172 2.274 0.0753 0.05 H3 not supported
Privacy Risk -0.120 2.745 0.0439 0.01 H4 supported
Benefits
Social Connectivity 0.199 3.867 0.0516 0.001 H5 supported
Social Involvement 0.002 0.033 0.0648 ns H6 not supported
Information Attainment 0.285 5.593 0.0509 0.001 H7 supported
Entertainment 0.335 5.422 0.0341 0.001 H8 supported
SNS Satisfaction Use Intention 0.380 7.681 0.0495 0.001 0.14 H9 supported
Control Variables
Age -0.041 1.190 0.0341 ns
Gender -0.040 0.988 0.0403 ns
45
Research Instrument
Social Connectivity
Connecting Old Friends & Colleagues
I use SNS to keep in touch with my old friends &Colleagues
SNS can help me contact distant friends &Colleagues
Making New Connections
I use SNS to meet new people
I use SNS to make new friends and colleagues
SNS can help me find friends &Colleagues sharing the same interests as mine
Maintaining relationship
SNS can help me maintain ties with friends &Colleagues
SNS can help me stay connected with friends &Colleagues whom I usually do not have time to contact
Social Involvement
SNS can help me improve my interpersonal relationships
SNS can help me participate in more social activities
SNS can help me get along with people more easily in real life
SNS can help me avoid being isolated
SNS can help me escape loneliness
SNS can help me increase my social involvement
SNS can help me know more people in real life
Information Attainment
Acquisition
SNS can help me find interesting and unique information
SNS makes it easier for me to get information
SNS helps me find information about things of interest (e.g. school related, work related, family related, and community events)
Sharing
SNS helps me share information easily
SNS helps me share interesting and unique information
SNS helps me share information about things of interest (e.g. school related, work related, festivals, and community events) (added)
46
Entertainment
SNS are interesting websites
SNS can entertain me
SNS make me happy
SNS can bring me out of a depression
Perceived Risks
Psychological Risk
PSYR1: SNS will not fit in well with my self-image or self-concept.
PSYR2: The usage of SNS would lead to a psychological loss for me because it would not fit in well with my self-image or self-
concept.
Social Risk
SR1: Using SNS will negatively affect the way others think of me
SR2: My signing up and using an SNS would lead to a social loss for me because my friends &Colleagues would think less highly of
me
Time Risk
SNS are time-consuming
Using SNS is a waste of time
It is risky to consider the investment of my time involved to set up and use SNS.
It is risky to have the possible time loss from having to set-up and learn to use SNS.
Privacy Risk
I am concern about my privacy while I am using the SNS
I do not feel comfortable with the privacy setting of my profile in SNS
I am not comfortable with giving personal information on SNS.
I feel that the privacy of my personal information is not protected by SNS.
Satisfaction
Overall, the information I get from SNS is very satisfying
I am very satisfied with the information I receive from SNS
All things considered, I am very satisfied with SNS
47
Overall, my interaction with SNS is very satisfying
Behavioral Intention to use Social Media
I intend to use SNS in the next twelve months.
I predict to use SNS in the next twelve months.
I plan to use SNS in the next twelve months.
1Research suggests (Jung, 2012) that Kakao Talk started as a free smart phone-based messenger service, but with time it evolved into a SNS platform by
adding a variety of services, such as photo based Kakao story, marketing platform for mobile games, and an app market.Kakao Talk,therefore in its current form,
can be regarded as a kind of smart phone-based closed SNS.
