Digital government: Social media as a mediator in technology acceptance with political knowledge, interest, and participation

Tin Tin Ting 1 * , Mei Yuen Lee 2, Shu Xuan Chok 2, Yun Hung Huang 2, Xian Ni Choy 2, Kuok Tiung Lee 3 * , Omolayo M. Ikumapayi 4, Temitope Olumide Olugbade 5
More Detail
1 INTI International University, Nilai, MALAYSIA
2 Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Technology and Management, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
3 Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MALAYSIA
4 University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA
5 University of Dundee, Dundee, SCOTLAND
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: e202454. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/15145
OPEN ACCESS   970 Views   408 Downloads   Published online: 10 Sep 2024
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Social media is an essential tool for governments to spread political information in the digital era. However, the influence of social media on political participation is significant but not well recognised in developing countries such as Malaysia. The main problem is the lack of clarity surrounding the factors that influence citizen adoption of political social networks and how this influences political interest, knowledge, and participation. The purpose of this study is to explore factors and social media as mediator in political dynamics. The study sampled 338 young people from the University Malaysia Sabah using convenient sampling. The online questionnaire is distributed through Google Form and the hypotheses are analysed using SPSS Process macro and AMOS. The results highlighted that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, political participation, and political interest are significantly related to government-political related social media usage. Social media usage mediated the relationship between all predictors and dependent variables (except for political knowledge). This study offers evidence-based suggestions within a theoretical framework to improve the government’s use of social media for civil engagement.
Keywords: political decision-making, digital government, social media, perceived usefulness, political knowledge, political participation, perceived ease of use, R&D investment

CITATION

Ting, T. T., Lee, M. Y., Chok, S. X., Huang, Y. H., Choy, X. N., Lee, K. T., Ikumapayi, O. M., & Olugbade, T. O. (2024). Digital government: Social media as a mediator in technology acceptance with political knowledge, interest, and participation. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(4), e202454. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/15145

REFERENCES

  • Abdullah, N. H., Hassan, I., Fazil Ahmad, M., Hassan, N. A., & Ismail, M. M. (2021). Social media, youths and political participation in Malaysia: A review of literature. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(4), 845-857. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3849948
  • Afieroho, P., Perkins, R., Zhou, X., Hoanca, B., & Protasel, G. (2023). Adopting e-government to monitor public infrastructure projects execution in Nigeria: The public perspective. Heliyon, 9(8), Article e18552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18552
  • Agus, A. A., Badaruddin, S., Muhkam, M. F., & Umalia, A. D. (2020). Pengaruh pengetahuan politik terhadap tingkat partisipasi politik mahasiswa pada pemilihan presiden tahun 2019-2024 [The influence of political knowledge on the level of student political participation in the 2019-2024 presidential election]. Jurnal Pemikiran, Penelitian Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial, Hukum dan Pengajarannya, 15(2), 112-120. https://doi.org/10.26858/supremasi.v15i2.19679
  • Al-Adwan, A. S. (2024). The government metaverse: Charting the coordinates of citizen acceptance. Telematics and Informatics, 88, Article 102109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2024.102109
  • Al-Adwan, A. S., Li, N., Al-Adwan, A., Abbasi, G. A., Albelbisi, N. A., & Habibi, A. (2023). Extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) to predict university students’ intentions to use metaverse-based learning platforms. Education and Information Technologies, 28(11), 15381-15413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11816-3
  • Al-Maroof, R., Ayoubi, K., Alhumaid, K., Aburayya, A., Alshurideh, M., Alfaisal, R., & Salloum, S. (2021). The acceptance of social media video for knowledge acquisition, sharing and application: A comparative study among YouTube users and TikTok users’ for medical purposes. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 5(3), 197-214. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2021.6.013
  • Arshad, S., & Khurram, S. (2020). Survey dataset on government’s provision of quality information on social media and citizens’ online political participation in Pakistan. Mendeley Data. https://doi.org/10.17632/3mhk2jv94m.2
  • Bernama. (2023). Social media, the Internet dominate the lives of Malaysians police keeping an eye on porn sales through social media, call on public to report sellers. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/09/955973/social-media-internet-dominate-lives-malaysians
  • Chan, T. J., Taher, S. S., Ng, M. L., & Fadzilah, A. H. H. (2024). Perceived social media influencers’ reputation of a beauty cosmetics company: A perspective of customers. Studies in Media and Communication, 12(2), 130-139. https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v12i2.6663
  • Chen, Q., Min, C., Zhang, W., Wang, G., Ma, X., & Evans, R. (2020). Unpacking the black box: How to promote citizen engagement through government social media during the COVID-19 crisis. Computers in Human Behavior, 110, Article 106380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106380
  • Chen, R. (2013). Member use of social networking sites – An empirical examination. Decision Support Systems, 54(3), 1219-1227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2012.10.028
  • Choi, H., Kim, Y., & Kim, J. (2011). Driving factors of post adoption behavior in mobile data services. Journal of Business Research, 64(11), 1212-1217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.06.025
  • Choi, J., & Lee, J. K. (2015). Investigating the effects of news sharing and political interest on social media network heterogeneity. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.029
  • Davis, F. D., Bagozzi, R. P., & Warshaw, P. R. (1989). User acceptance of computer technology: A comparison of two theoretical models. Management Science, 35(8), 982-1003. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.35.8.982
  • Devgan, S., & Das, R. (2022). Social media for government: A complete guide. https://statusbrew.com/insights/social-media-for-government/
  • Dhume, S. M., Pattanshetti, M. Y., Kamble, S. S., & Prasad, T. (2012). Adoption of social media by business education students: Application of technology acceptance model (TAM). In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Technology Enhanced Education. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTEE.2012.6208609
  • Dzandu, M. D., Boateng, H., Agyemang, F. G., & Quansah, F. (2016). Social media adoption among university students: The role of gender, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSMILE.2016.077584
  • Feezell, J. T., Wagner, J. K., & Conroy, M. (2021). Exploring the effects of algorithm-driven news sources on political behavior and polarization. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, Article 106626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106626
  • Gavino, M. C., Williams, D. E., Jacobson, D., & Smith, I. (2019). Latino entrepreneurs and social media adoption: Personal and business social network platforms. Management Research Review, 42(4), 469-494. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-02-2018-0095
  • Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2012). Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01574.x
  • Gottfried, J., & Shearer, E. (2016). News use across social media platforms. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/
  • Guess, A. M., & Munger, K. (2023). Digital literacy and online political behavior. Political Science Research and Methods, 11(1), 110-128. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2022.17
  • Halim, H., Mohamad, B., Dauda, S. A., Azizan, F. L., & Akanmu, M. D. (2021). Association of online political participation with social media usage, perceived information quality, political interest and political knowledge among Malaysian youth: Structural equation model analysis. Cogent Social Sciences, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.1964186
  • Hassan, M. S., Allam, S. N., Meerangani, K. A., Mohideen, R. S., & Daud, M. A. (2024). Undi18: The impact of media literacy towards decision to vote. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2799, Article 020119. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0182935
  • Howe, S. (2023). Social media statistics for Malaysia. https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/social-media-statistics-malaysia
  • Husnal ‘Az’ Hari, N. S. (2022). Political marketing: Social media content and its influence on voters’ loyalty to political leaders [Master’s thesis, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak].
  • Islm, T., Meng, H., Pitafi, A. H., Ullah Zafar, A., Sheikh, Z., Shujaat Mubarik, M., & Liang, X. (2021). Why DO citizens engage in government social media accounts during COVID-19 pandemic? A comparative study. Telematics and Informatics, 62, Article 101619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101619
  • Johnson, T. J., & Kaye, B. K. (2014). Credibility of social network sites for political information among politically interested internet users. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(4), 957-974. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12084
  • Kasmani, M. F. (2023). Undi 18: Understanding the political participation of first-time Malay voters through social media. SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research.
  • Khan, M. Y., Javeed, A., Khan, M. J., Din, S. U., Khurshid, A., & Noor, U. (2019). Political participation through social media: Comparison of Pakistani and Malaysian youth. IEEE Access, 7, 35532-35543. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2904553
  • Khan, S., Rahim, N. Z. A., & Maarop, N. (2020). A systematic literature review and a proposed model on antecedents of trust to use social media for e-government services. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 7(2), 44-56. https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2020.02.007
  • Khan, S., Umer, R., Umer, S., & Naqvi, S. (2021). Antecedents of trust in using social media for e-government services: An empirical study in Pakistan. Technology in Society, 64, Article 101400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101400
  • Khurshid, M. M., Zakaria, N. H., Arfeen, M. I., Rashid, A., Nasir, S. U., & Shehzad, H. M. F. (2022). Factors influencing citizens’ intention to use open government data–A case study of Pakistan. Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 6(1), Article 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc6010031
  • Kim, D. H., Weeks, B. E., Lane, D. S., Hahn, L. B., & Kwak, N. (2021). Sharing and commenting facilitate political learning on Facebook: Evidence from a two-wave panel study. Social Media + Society, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211047876
  • Kim, H., Kim, Y., & Lee, D. (2020). Understanding the role of social media in political participation: Integrating political knowledge and bridging social capital from the social cognitive approach. International Journal of Communication, 14, 4803-4824.
  • Knoll, J., Matthes, J., & Heiss, R. (2020). The social media political participation model: A goal systems theory perspective. Convergence, 26(1), 135-156. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517750366
  • Lane, M., & Coleman, P. (2012). Technology ease of use through social networking media. Journal of Technology Research, 3, 1-12.
  • Marquart, F., Ohme, J., & Möller, J. (2020). Following politicians on social media: Effects for political information, peer communication, and youth engagement. Media and Communication, 8(2), 196-207. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2764
  • Mohamad, B., Dauda, S. A., & Halim, H. (2018). Youth offline political participation: Trends and role of social media. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 34(3), 172-192. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2018-3403-11
  • Mugaheed Al-Rahimi, W., Shahizan Othman, M., & Alhaji Musa, M. (2013). Using TAM model to measure the use of social media for collaborative learning. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, 5(2), 90-95.
  • Nawi, N. C., Mamun, A. Al, Nasir, N. A. M., & Muniady, R. (2019). Factors affecting the adoption of social media as a business platform: A study among student entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Vision, 23(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262918821200
  • Nguyen, T. T. U., Nguyen, P. V., Huynh, H. T. N., Vrontis, D., & Ahmed, Z. U. (2024). Identification of the determinants of public trust in e-government services and participation in social media based on good governance theory and the technology acceptance model. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 18(1), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-04-2023-0160
  • Nurshahidah Sah Allam, S., Kamal, S., Imma Abdul Latiff, D., Nasarah Ismail, S., Rauf Hj Ridzuan, A., & Mohd Azni, Z. (2015). Social media, political news exposure and political participation among Malay young people. In Proceedings of the ICOMHAC2015 (pp. 546-557).
  • Ohme, J., Marquart, F., & Kristensen, L. M. (2020). School lessons, social media and political events in a get-out-the-vote campaign: Successful drivers of political engagement among youth? Journal of Youth Studies, 23(7), 886-908. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1645311
  • Oluwatosin, O., Olusoji, O. S., Olusola, A., & Popoola, O. A. (2020). The influence of media on political knowledge amongst undergraduate students in Ibadan, Nigeria. Global Journal of Social Sciences, 19, 13-24. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjss.v19i1.2
  • Pap, A., Ham, M., & Bilandžić, K. (2018). Does social media usage influence youth’s interest in politics? International Journal of Multidisciplinary in Business and Science, 4(5), 84-90.
  • Porumbescu, G. A. (2016). Linking public sector social media and e-government website use to trust in government. Government Information Quarterly, 33(2), 291-304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2016.04.006
  • Ramírez-Correa, P., Grandón, E. E., Ramírez-Santana, M., & Órdenes, L. B. (2019). Explaining the use of social network sites as seen by older adults: The enjoyment component of a hedonic information system. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), Article 1673. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101673
  • Raosoft. (2004). Sample size calculator. http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html
  • Reiter, F., & Matthes, J. (2023). Correctives of the mainstream media? A panel study on mainstream media use, alternative digital media use, and the erosion of political Interest as well as political knowledge. Digital Journalism, 11(5), 813-832. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1974916
  • Rossini, P., Stromer-Galley, J., Baptista, E. A., & Veiga de Oliveira, V. (2021). Dysfunctional information sharing on WhatsApp and Facebook: The role of political talk, cross-cutting exposure and social corrections. New Media and Society, 23(8), 2430-2451. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820928059
  • Sesli, M., Güven, D. (2024). The impact of social media usage on political participation (A case study on university students). In Y. Acungil (Ed.), Change, Consciousness, and Awareness in Social Sciences (pp. 60-86). Lap Lambert.
  • Shehata, A., & Strömbäck, J. (2021). Learning political news from social media: Network media logic and current affairs news learning in a high-choice media environment. Communication Research, 48(1), 125-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650217749354
  • Shyu, S. H. P., & Huang, J. H. (2011). Elucidating usage of e-government learning: A perspective of the extended technology acceptance model. Government Information Quarterly, 28(4), 491-502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2011.04.002
  • Siang Ling, A. L., & Puyok, A. (2024). The impacts of Undi 18 on political participation, awareness and readiness. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 9(2), Article e002655. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v9i2.2655
  • Starke, C., Marcinkowski, F., & Wintterlin, F. (2020). Social networking sites, personalization, and trust in government: Empirical evidence for a mediation model. Social Media + Society, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120913885
  • Statista. (2022). Most popular social media platforms for Malaysians to get political news and information as of March 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1341678/malaysia-most-popular-social-media-for-political-news-and-information/
  • Suk, J., Coppini, D., Muñiz, C., & Rojas, H. (2022). The more you know, the less you like: A comparative study of how news and political conversation shape political knowledge and affective polarization. Communication and the Public, 7(1), 40-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473211063237
  • Sze Huey, L. (2023). Exploring political participation of Malay first-time voters and the TikTok role in Malaysia [Doctoral dissertation, UTAR].
  • Tahar, A., Riyadh, H. A., Sofyani, H., & Purnomo, W. E. (2020). Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security and intention to use e-filing: The role of technology readiness. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(9), 537-547. https://doi.org/10.13106/JAFEB.2020.VOL7.NO9.537
  • Thi, T., Nguyen, U., Do, L., Thi, H., & Huynh, N. (2023). The role of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and public trust in enhancing citizen participation in social media. In Proceedings of the NIC-NIDA.
  • Thorson, K., Cotter, K., Medeiros, M., & Pak, C. (2021). Algorithmic inference, political interest, and exposure to news and politics on Facebook. Information Communication and Society, 24(2), 183-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1642934
  • Ting, T. T., Lee, K. T., Lim, S. M., Lai, C. C., Omar, M. A., Alin, J., & Meri, A. (2023). Assessing the identity of digital technology in education in the age of digital communication. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 13(4), Article e202353. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13695
  • UMS. (2024). University Malaysia Sabah. https://www.ums.edu.my/v5/en/admission-foundation
  • UniRank. (2024). UniRank. https://www.4icu.org/courses/my/3223-universiti-malaysia-sabah/index.htm
  • Van Erkel, P. F., & Van Aelst, P. (2021). Why don’t we learn from social media? Studying effects of and mechanisms behind social media news use on general surveillance political knowledge. Political Communication, 38(4), 407-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2020.1784328
  • Wang, H., & Lee, K. (2020). Getting in the flow together: The role of social presence, perceived enjoyment and concentration on sustainable use intention of mobile social network game. Sustainability, 12(17), Article 6853. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU12176853
  • Yuan, Y. P., Dwivedi, Y. K., Tan, G. W. H., Cham, T. H., Ooi, K. B., Aw, E. C. X., & Currie, W. (2023). Government digital transformation: Understanding the role of government social media. Government Information Quarterly, 40(1), Article 101775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101775