Individuals’ Use of Twitter to Discuss Freedom of Information in the United States: A Social Network Analysis

Abstract

This study employs social network analysis to examine more than 10,000 Twitter interactions that include the U.S. Freedom of Information Act hashtag (#FOIA) to understand who is engaging online, and to what extent. The analysis finds evidence of a dynamic conversation online among citizens, journalists, advocates, and public agencies. Findings offer insights into how citizens are using social media to engage with government and one another in conversations around important public policies, such as government transparency, as well as how technologies such as social media can be leveraged to better understand citizens’ interest. The study also found a significant increase in tweets during national Sunshine Week, a vehicle that increases national dialogue about FOI, and highlights effective social media strategies employed by MuckRock and other advocacy organizations.

Engaging stakeholders on TikTok: A multi‐level social media analysis of nonprofit Microvlogging

“…Organizations describe using Facebook as a “second website” to inform viewers about upcoming events, courses, and talks at a cheap distribution cost and without having to compromise with established news media (Figenschou & Fredheim, 2019). Nonprofits engage in social networking to market organizational activities, remain relevant to key stakeholders, increase community awareness of their mission (Campbell et al, 2014), and mobilize advocacy efforts (Schwoerer, 2019). Nonprofit leaders report long‐term visions for social media use, such as the ability to engage in dialogue with beneficiaries about their experiences; however, they are often unable to identify long‐term goals of social media usage (Campbell et al, 2014).…”

Forging Connections: Nonprofits, TikTok, and Authentic Engagement – A Mixed-Methods Study

“…On the other hand, the strength and size of an organization's network on Twitter/X and posting frequency are positively associated with donations during a fundraising campaign (McKeever, 2017). Larger interest groups can use social media to mobilize stakeholders due to larger resources (i.e., budget, staff, credibility, and political connections) (Figenschou & Fredheim, 2020;Schwoerer, 2019;Schwoerer, 2023).…”

An exploratory study of social media's role in facilitating public participation in e‐rulemaking using computational text analysis tools

“…In response to not just the stipulations of the proposed rule, but also the ongoing controversy around Zinke, the Interior, and what some interpreted as attempts to conceal the proposed rule and curb public involvement, the public may have been inclined to take to social media to exercise voice. Further the FOIA community could leverage social media (Schwoerer, 2019) to mobilize efforts to hold the agency accountable and encourage others to participate in the regulatory process. Thus, this case is a fitting one to explore the research question of interest because it allows us to observe public participation via social media in the absence of efforts made by government agencies to formally engage the public.…”

“…The “advanced search” tool on Twitter was used to filter the tweets according to one specific hashtag (#FOIA) beginning November 1, 2018 through December 28, 2019, exactly 1 year after the rule had been announced. This hashtag was chosen based on its relevance to the Interior's proposed rule as well as a broader community of journalists, lawyers, advocacy organizations, and citizens who have an interest in FOIA (Yaremko & Walby, 2021) and actively use Twitter to share FOIA‐related news with the community (Schwoerer, 2019). The python programming language was used to scrape the tweets using the GetOldTweets3 Python package.…”