This thesis puts forward practical social media implementation strategies for eParticipation that align with eParticipation goals; namely, to improve democratic governance, and encourage inclusion, transparency and participatory outcomes.
Alfatika Aunuriella Dini
PhD Candidate
Alfatika Aunuriella Dini of the Faculty of Social Sciences has submitted her thesis “Technology Affordance and Constraint Perspectives on Social Media Use in eParticipation : A Case Study in Indonesia”, and will defend the thesis for the PhD-degree Friday 12 June 2020.
She has followed the PhD-programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences with Specialisation in Information Sciences.
The doctoral studies have been funded through the In Search of Balance (ISB ) scheme between the University of Agder (UiA) and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia. Funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This doctoral thesis explains the role of social media within electronic participation (eParticipation) from the perspective of politicians in the Indonesian context using the Technology Affordance and Constraints Theory (TACT) as a lens.
Previous research findings into citizens’ perceptions of social media in eParticipation have been ambivalent; namely, social media can both encourage and discourage the democratic process depending on where, when, and how it is used.
Furthermore, there is little understanding of the role of social media in influencing decision-making in the democratic process from the politicians’ perspective.
Thus, this doctoral thesis is focused on gaining a more in-depth understanding of the role of social media in eParticipation from perspective of politicians through three main research questions:
(1) How do politicians use social media for eParticipation purposes?
(2) What are the constraints of social media use within eParticipation? And
(3) What are the conditions needed for social media affordance actualization to take place?
The doctoral thesis used a qualitative-interpretive case study approach, guided by TACT, to answer these research questions.
This approach was used to examine social media action potentials (affordances), constraints and facilitating conditions for social media use in eParticipation from the perspective of politicians at three level of Indonesian parliament:
This doctoral thesis offers theoretical and practical contributions.
From a theoretical perspective, a framework for the feedback loop affordance actualization process provides a conceptualization of unintentional affordance actualization and mindful actualization of new affordances.
Practical contributions include:
This thesis puts forward practical social media implementation strategies for eParticipation that align with eParticipation goals; namely, to improve democratic governance, and encourage inclusion, transparency and participatory outcomes.
Practical implications are categorized as managerial, policy or socio-cultural.
Therefore, context is an important factor when investigating the application and implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in a specific setting.
Several limitations are addressed in this thesis where they represent the direction that future research avenues could take on social media use within an eParticipation framework.
Keywords: Social media, eParticipation, politician, Technology Affordance and Constraint Theory, facilitating condition, Indonesia, Affordance actualization, unintentional actualization, mindful actualization, feedback loop affordance actualization.
The chair invites members of the public to pose questions ex auditorio in the introduction to the public defense, with deadlines. Questions can be submitted to the chair Anne Halvorsen on e-mail anne.halvorsen@uia.no
The Candidate: Alfatika Aunuriella Dini (1989, Yogyakarta-Indonesia), BA and MA: Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta-Indonesia.
Present position: Lecturer at the Faculty of law, Universitas Gadjah Mada
The trial lecture and the public defence will take place at internett, via the Zoom conferencing app (link below).
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Anne Halvorsen, will chair the disputation.
Given topic for trial lecture: “Comparing eGovernment Practices in Developing and Developed Countries”
Thesis Title: “Technology Affordance and Constraint Perspectives on Social Media Use in eParticipation: A Case Study in Indonesia”
Search for the thesis in AURA - Agder University Research Archive, a digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder..
First opponent: Professor Robert Davison, City University of Hong Kong
Second opponent: Senior Lecturer, PhD Annika Andersson, Örebro University School of Business, Sweden
Professor Devinder Thapa, Department of Information Systems, University of Agder, is appointed as the administrator for the assessment commitee.
Supervisors were Professor Øystein Sæbø, Department of Information Systems, University of Agder (main supervisor), Professor Fathul Wahid, Department of Informatics, Universitas Islam Indonesia and Professor Paripurna Sugarda, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia (co-supervisors)