Many hands make light work: towards a framework of digital co-production to co-creation on social platforms

Abstract

PurposeRecent technological advances have enabled consumers and citizens to contribute to organizational processes through co-production and co-creation in ways that challenge traditional co-production. However, the practices and capabilities for value co-creation are less understood, particularly in an increasingly networked social government ecosystem. The purpose of this research is to examine the enablement of new digital co-production practices in social media platforms (SMPs) and theorize SMP-enabled digital co-production vis-à-vis traditional co-production for public sector.Design/methodology/approachPrimarily using principles of interpretivist approaches, a qualitative content analysis of communication practices (i.e. genres) observed within Australian government Facebook pages was carried out to examine the salient digital forms of co-production practices.FindingsSMPs enable new practices in digital co-production for public sector (information dissemination, Q&A, feedback and co-creation), ranging from lower to higher intensity in terms of resource integration, scale of contributions, engagement and extent of relationship vis-à-vis traditional co-production.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is bounded by its geographical emphasis on Australian Federal government. Hence, the results may not be readily transferable to other contexts.Practical implicationsOur framework offers an array of choices for digital co-production strategies to suit agency's focus and goals for engagement in the Facebook Pages. As agencies progress to reach higher intensity co-production, public engagement and impact increases.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to co-production in social government ecosystem by increasing the theoretical and practical understanding of new form of SMP-enabled digital co-production defined as “small-scale, repetitive, user-driven co-production that is flexible, durable, ad-hoc, and sporadic, where many hands make light work”. The proposed “co-production to co-creation” framework provides valuable guideline for enhancing public service provision via SMPs.

Dialogic accounting through popular reporting and digital platforms

“…E-participation and the exchange of information on social networks and digital platforms have changed the approach from co-creation to co-design by placing the typology and accessibility of data at the centre. The government can move from a government-centric perspective to a more citizen-centric one by increasing the benefits between the parties; citizens as co-producers can provide their opinions through social media, guaranteeing direct resolution of mutual interests that has a great impact on public value (Alam, 2020;Bracci et al, 2019;Steccolini, 2019). The analysis of social media (such as Twitter) and sentiments increases the administration's narrative and decision-making capacity, although how this approach takes place has not been defined (Akom et al, 2016;Balogun et al, 2020;Chen, 2014).…”

What are the social and personal drivers to engage in co-creation? A study of UK 7–13-year-olds

“…Co-creation research is dominated by empirical insights concerned with how organisations encourage and leverage brand conversations to enhance brand values and equity (Alam, 2020). France et al (2015) indicated that co-creation behaviours are customer-led and are predicated on pre-existing brand relationships (Sarkar and Banerjee, 2020).…”

“…These works indicate that co-creation is a shared experience. There is an intrinsic need for participation, personal proximity and a sense belonging (Alam, 2020; Pan, 2020), with this facilitated by a given brand (Akman et al , 2019). This desire for interactivity and social interaction results in a willingness to engage collectively (Jun et al , 2020) and is representative of a literal and metaphoric journey as consumers move towards a more collective consciousness (Akman et al , 2019).…”

“…It is conceptualised as a collaborative (Veloutsou and Black, 2020), volitional action (France et al , 2018), in which consumers and organisations develop meaning (Veloutsou and Black, 2020). Marketing and brand managers have embraced the notion (Alam, 2020; Thomas, 2018), as co-creation facilitates individuals reconfiguring their role of customer to that of contributor and creator (Xiao et al , 2020), expressing personal acumen through discourse and through shaping and reshaping brand identities (Kennedy and Guzmán, 2016). Consequently, it is suggested that the relationship between the organisation and customers becomes inexorable (Cheung and To, 2020), as customers realise their potential effect on a brand’s direction (Zhao et al , 2019).…”

Citizen Coproduction and Social Media Communication: Delivering a Municipal Government’s Urban Services through Digital Participation

“…Social media and digital technologies are seen as important enablers (Alam 2020;Daneshvar et al 2018;Venugopalan et al 2021), allowing real-time interactions between government and citizens with almost no cost (Meijer 2011). The capacity of new media, a new form of connection between government and citizens, allows new practices of coproduction.…”