Social media and networks have received a lot of attention in the last decade. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide a mechanism for individuals to come together based on a variety of factors such as existing friendships, common interests, work or political interests. People have discovered how the use of social networks can facilitate communication and interaction. As a result, new ways of communication procedures have been established in society. Social media increase the opportunities for individual users to share digitally created content and ideas. YouTube, Blogs, and Flickr are platforms that are easy to use and provide interfaces for other social media and networks. Consequently, digital resources become interconnected by users who view, provide and share web content; related legal issues are still part of an ongoing discussion. Recently, the role of the Internet for social movements, in particular Middle Eastern affairs and the Arab Spring, has been discussed, where activists and bloggers use interactive media and social networks to influence events on the ground.

Governments have also discovered the potential of social media sites for sharing governmental information and outreach. New means of communication can facilitate increased participation and collaboration within society. Social media unite several communication channels and enhance opportunities for citizens to provide feedback for officers and representatives. Guidelines for the use of social media and social networks are relatively new in governmental agencies. What might be suitable for one agency might not be adequate for another one. Many citizens already appreciate the comfort of the Internet communication and the demand for easy and fast web services is growing. At the same time, issues related to privacy, information leakage, blurred boundaries and online addiction must be addressed when discussing social media.

This minitrack is open to papers that cover all aspects of social networking, especially in the context of electronic government.

Topics and research areas include, but are not limited to:

1. •Case studies of the use of Social Media and Networks by any level of government
   

2. •Usage of social media and networks for participation and collaboration
   

3. •Implementation challenges
   

4. •Maintaining privacy in social media and networks
   

5. •Patterns and trends in social networking
   

6. •Social media and networks for information sharing
   

7. •Leakage of organizational information through social networks
   

8. •Trust and information credibility in social networks
   

9. •Social networks and ‘information overload’
   

10. •Mobile social networking
    

11. •Guidelines and policies for social media and networks
    

12. •Legal concerns when providing and sharing content via social media
    

13. •Web identities of civil servants
    

14. •Potentials of social media and networks
    

15. •Forecasting and prognosis by social media and networks
    

More co-chair information

Suha AlAwadhi, PhD, is an assistant professor, Department of Library and Information Science in College of Social Sciences at Kuwait University in Kuwait. She is a member of DGSNA and a member of IFIP E-government Conference (EGOV) 2011. Dr. AlAwadhi has participated in many conferences such as HICSS, EGOV, IFLA, and CeDEM12. Her research areas of interest include e-government, knowledge management, social inclusion, knowledge sharing and social networking.

Peter Parycek, PhD,  MSc, is Head of the Center for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems and Chairman of the ministerial working groups “E-Democracy & E-participation” and “E-Government Training” at the Austrian Federal Chancellery. As a lawyer and graduate of the Master's program Telematics, his work is at the intersection of legal policy, social and technological developments. His research and project priorities include eGovernance, eDemocracy and eGovernment.

Jay P. Kesan, PhD, iis Professor & Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Faculty Scholar and Director of the Program in Intellectual Property & Technology Law at the University of Illinois.  His academic interests and writings are in the areas of digital government, cyberlaw, patent law, entrepreneurship, and law and technology.  He is Group Leader of the Business, Economics & Law of Genomic Biology (BioBEL) research theme at the Institute of Genomic Biology.  He is a registered patent attorney and received his J.D. summa cum laude from Georgetown University.  He also has a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and worked for several years as a research scientist at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in New York.  For a more complete bio, please see http://www.jaykesan.com