1. Public Politician Profiles on Facebook
and the gap of ‘Authenticity’
- Initial Evaluation Results of the EU Project
Where eGovernment meets the eSociety -
Timo Wandhoefer & Mark Thamm
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
IFIP e-government conference 2011, EGOV2011, Delft
August 28 – September 2, 2011

2. Background
WeGov - Where eGovernment meets the eSociety
• Research project for developing a toolbox
-> Enriching the online dialogue of citizens and politics
on the web
• SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME THEME
ICT 2009.7.3 ICT for Governance and Policy
Modelling
• 4 technical and 3 use case partner
• Month 20/30

3. Graphical Outline

4. WeGov Approach
Nuclear
phase-out
Climate friendly
Bridging-technology

5. Status-Quo
• Use cases for citizen<=>politics dialogue [1]
• Legal and ethical analysis [2]
• Basic functionality extracted [3]
• First prototype running a basic scenario [4]
• Discussion at German Parliament [5]
• Scenario modification – „citations‟ [6]
• Initial toolbox evaluation 

6. Semi-Structured Interview
20-30 minutes...
Information behaviour
• Patterns to adopt for analysis tools? Press work? Public relations?
Social Networking Sites vs. eParticipation platforms
• Different kinds of approaches, eParticipation, open government
Scenario „Testing one Statement“
• Post statement on Facebook
• Monitor feedback
Use of Social Networking Sites
Scenario „Quick Questionnaire“

7. 16 Interview Participants
German Parliamentary Party (1 office)
Federal Parliament Germany (1 MP)
German Parliament (11 MP offices)
EU Parliament (3 MPs)
By WeGov partner Gov2u

8. Interview Results
- WeGov initial Toolbox -

9. Information Behaviour
Information service Bundestag (-> Platform press)
• Topic extraction -> abstract-> full text
• Individual search profile
Scientific services (-> Platform science)
• Expert search
Social Networking Sites (-> Platform social media)
• Searching manually & non-systematic
– Example: Maintain Facebook page / profiles, Find special
interest groups, Tweet opponent…

10. Social Networking Sites vs.
eParticipation Platforms
Prospects
• „Image of the society‟ => Starting a dialogue
• Making politics „where people are‟
eParticipation via
- PRO: Social Networking Sites (WeGov)
- CON: Platforms (e.g. www.abgeordnetenwatch.de)
Challenges
• Less comments on „non polarising‟ statements
• The more politically the content the more comments are from experts
• Less control over content / Image of the own person
• „Authenticity‟ of the online profile (identity/intention)

11. Use of Social Networking Sites
‘Experts’ – Identify journalists
Example: Search for journalists on business platforms (XING /
LinkedIn) -> checking their opinion on Facebook
Public relations
Example: Press release -> fan page -> search group / person to
post
Political opponent („find one intercessor“)
Example: Who tweets pro opponent? -> gathering follower ->
checking their opinion on Facebook

12. Use of Social Networking Sites
Locally restriction on topics & people
Example: Find important groups / topics / „local heroes‟
within the politician‟s constituency
Testing one particular statement
• Follow-up of public clash on Social Networking Sites
• Fear of uncontrollable opinion mining process on the
own page => not controversy
Example: Abrogation of compulsory military service is a
claim of the FDP party

13. What Politicians know / assume
why Citizens do not participate
• Dialogue is with MP‟s employee
• Politicians do not reply on citizens‟ posts
• Politics are „far away‟ from citizens‟ way of
thinking
-> Politicians have a strong awareness on
authenticity issues and make it a serious issue
for their everyday job

14. Best Practice – „Ice-breaker‟ for
starting a two-way dialogue
• Example Tweet of German MP
– „Going to meet the families minister – what
should I ask?“

15. Best Practice – „Ice-breaker‟ for
starting a two-way dialogue
• Facebook ask: quick questionnaire
– “What is your opinion on a Facebook profile
with expiration date?”
http://goo.gl/RK0LD

16. Best Practice – Profile -> Page
“My friends! I am very
sorry, there is no space for
more friends… Please get
interlinked with my profile
throughout the like button.”
http://goo.gl/RXzTT http://goo.gl/jNOvQ

17. Best Practice – Author Annotation
http://twitter.com/#!/Halina_Waw

18. Conclusions (Interviewees)
• All MPs using social media
• Some are „experts‟
• Interlinking as „friend‟ is stronger than „like‟
• Types of dissemination are well known
• Awareness how to start (none) dialogue
– Polarising statements start a dialogue
– Press releases quit a dialogue

19. Visions Web2.0
„Politician 2.0 up close and personal
with short track to the citizen“
A fresh inside into opinion mining
“An unobserved look-out”

20. References
[1] M. Addis, S. Taylor, R. Fletcher, C. Wilson, F. Fallon, H. Alani, T. Wandhoefer, und P. Mutschke, “New ways
for policy makers to interact with citizens through open social network sites - a report on initial results,”
Internet, Politics, Policy 2010: an impact assessment (IPP2010), 16-17 September 2010, Oxford, UK.
URL: http://goo.gl/4Pqsf
[2] S. Joshi, E. Karamagioli, T. Wandhoefer, F. Fallon, R. Fletcher, C. Wilson, und B.I. Nasser, D5.1 Scenario
definition, advisory board and legal/ethical review. URL: http://goo.gl/8H41r
[3] Wandhoefer, Timo; Thamm, Mark; Mutschke, Peter (2011): Extracting a basic use case to let policy
makers interact with citizens on Social Networking Sites: a report on initial results. In: Parycek, Peter;
Kripp, Manuel J.; Edelmann, Noella (Hrsg.): CeDEM11 : proceedings of the international conference on
e-democracy and open government ; 5-6 May 2011, Danube University Krems, Austria, Krems: Ed.
Donau-Univ. Krems, S. 355-358. URL: http://goo.gl/0FssB
[4] A. Claes, S. Sizov, S. Angeletou, J. Reynolds, S. Taylor, und T. Wandhoefer, D4.2 Initial WeGov
toolbox, 2010. URL: http://goo.gl/22oGi
[5] Wandhoefer, Timo; Thamm, Mark (2011): WeGov Projektvorstellung und Live Demo des Prototypen.
Diskussion aktueller Anwendungsfälle. Deutscher Bundestag, Berlin, 31.03.2011. URL:
http://goo.gl/7fKCb
[6] Joshi, Wandhoefer, Thamm, Mathiak, Van Eeckhaute, „Rethinking Governance via Social Networking: The
case of direct vs. indirect stakeholder injection“, International Conference on Theory and Practice of
Electronic Governance (ICEGOV2011), 26-28 September 2011, Tallinn, Estonia. URL: coming soon...