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Social Media as a Catalyst of Good Governance: A Bibliometric Analysis

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 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies

(UJMPPS)
June 2024, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 1-20
ISSN: 2078-7049 (Print), 2959-4316 (Online)
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
Published by Uganda Management Institute

Social Media as a Catalyst of Good Governance:

A Bibliometric Analysis
Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya
Department of Information and Library Science
The Technical University of Kenya
Corresponding E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

Article History Abstract

Received: September 30, 2023
Social media has revolutionized how information flows among
Revised: January 10, 2024
Accepted: May 25, 2024 people. Therefore, social media is vital in promoting good
governance through citizen participation in decision-making.
This study investigated social media’s role as a catalyst for
good governance in East Africa. The objectives of the study
were to determine the quantity of research on social media
as a catalyst of good governance in East Africa; identify the
research themes addressed by scholarly articles on social
media as a catalyst of good governance in East Africa;
examine the authorship patterns of scholarly articles on social
media as a catalyst of good governance in East Africa; and,
evaluate the visibility of scholarly articles on social media as a
catalyst of good governance in East Africa. The study applied
a bibliometrics research approach. Data was collected from
Google Scholar using Harzing’s “Publish or Perish” software
and analyzed in Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer. A total of
999 articles were retrieved for data analysis using keywords
in the title. After data cleaning, 601 articles were used for
© 2018 the Author(s). Creative data analysis. The findings indicate that there was a gradual
Commons CC-BY: This open- increase in papers on social media for good governance in
access article is distributed
under the terms of the Creative
the last ten years, with a sharp decline over the last two (2)
Commons Attribution 4.0 License. years. Numerous research themes have emerged from diverse
This permits anyone to share, use, disciplines. However, there was little collaboration between
reproduce, and redistribute the
work without further permission, authors in the area. The visibility of publications was high
provided the person gives due but with a significant variance between the leading and the
credit to the work.
rest. This study recommends that policies on engagement on

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 1
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

social media be developed; there is need for training on the use of social media tools
for research; and, the need to enhance collaborative efforts among researchers in the
discipline to enhance good governance through social media.
Keywords: Social media, governance, good governance, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania

Introduction
New technologies, mainly social media uptake in recent years, have altered how information
flows among people. Technology specifically influences how citizens communicate with
persons in government and public administration. Thus, technology provides an open channel
that enhances communication between governments and their citizens (Alguliyev & Yusifov,
2023).There has been exponential growth in the number of social media users, thereby creating
a significant shift from traditional communication channels like television and newspapers to
digital social media systems (Kwon et al., 2021). Browne (2015) opines that social media are
web-based tools and services used by citizens to create content, search, share and rate content
or information without the need to log into any specific portal site or portal destination. These
tools become ‘social’ in the sense that they are created in ways that enable users to share and
communicate with one another through them. They include social networking sites, blogs,
microblogs, video blogs, and discussion forums, among others (Browne, 2015).

Kwon et al. (2021) argue that one of the most distinguished and valuable characteristics
of social media is the fact that it is interactive, unlike other traditional communication
channels, which are mainly one-way, thus limiting audiences from sharing and exchanging
information, opinions, and knowledge freely. Social media is a powerful tool based on network
communications and provides a tool for mutual communication between government and
society. It has the potential to improve government transparency and facilitate the development
of a genuinely democratic society (Alguliyev & Yusifov, 2023). According to Tullah (2014),
in countries like Kenya, the public has become aware of their roles in enhancing democracy.
As such, social media channels are used to communicate issues that they, as a society, deem
pertinent for government to address. In the last decade, citizens have used social media in
information gathering and dissemination.This has led to the achievement of transparency in
public administration through advanced information access and use (Alguliyev & Yusifov,
2023).

Tullah (2014) believes that social media plays a vital role in transforming and promoting
good governance through citizen participation in decision-making. He further argues that
citizen participation in a democratic society involves a series of actions undertaken by either
individuals or groups of people to ensure the smooth running and operation of government
services through, for example, social media. Alfakoro et al. (2021) agree that social media
plays a crucial role in the dissemination of information in today’s modern society by facilitating
interactivity, especially in consensus and consent-building in the governance processes. Over
time, social media has contributed to the development of citizens’ participation in government
by creating public awareness and facilitating interactions between people and administrators.

2 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Sheng (2018) explains that the concept of “governance” as the process by which
decisions are made and implemented (or not implemented). He furthers his argument that
good governance has eight significant characteristics: it is participatory, consensus-oriented,
accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows
the rule of law. Figure 1 presents these attributes that ensure that corruption is minimised, the
views of minorities are taken into account, and the voices of the most vulnerable in society
are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.
Figure 1: Characteristics of good governance

Source: Sheng (2018)

Literature Review
This literature review covers critical themes drawn from the paper’s topic. These are social
media use, characteristics of social media, principles of good governance, and social media
and good governance.

Social media use

Edosomwan et al. (2011) agree that social media has transformed how people interact and
communicate. Indeed, social media is a new form of media that is interactive and participative
(Manning, 2014). Boyd & Ellison (2007) opine that social media are websites that facilitate
the creation of user profiles and the visibility of relationships between users. They are web-
based applications that enable users to create relationships, form groups, create conversations,
share ideas and create profiles (Kietzmann et al., 2011).

Edosomwan et al. (2011) note that social media and social networking sites that came
into existence in the 21st Century, like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Cyworld, and
LunarStorm, are not a new concept but have evolved from Web2.0 technologies as a result
of information exchange and service provision among individuals, groups, or institutions.

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 3
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Edosomwan et al. (2011) further expound that social media is challenging to define and that the
features and functions put into these websites by their creators dictate how they are supposed
to be used. Wolf et al. (2018) are in agreement and explain that research on social media has
focused on specific platforms or applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, which
differ in functionality; hence, the lack of a clear definition. However, they reiterate that many
scholars define it using its common properties.

Jere et al. (2016) posit that there is an upsurge in the use of social media in Africa, arguing
that it has revolutionized how people communicate. They, however, noted that social media
usage in Africa is marred with ethical implications and that despite the benefits it provides,
there have been concerns among users, communities, academics, researchers and governments
on the ethical implications of its use. In Kenya, the ubiquity of Internet connectivity has given
rise to the growth and uptake of social media in the country (Kamwaria et al., 2015; Kwanya
et al., 2021). The government of Kenya, for example, has recently scored high in the use of
social media technology in government (Kamwaria et al., 2015). The penetration of social
media in Africa can be measured by the uptake of Facebook (Asongu & Odhiambo, 2019).
This is because, as Kwanya et al. (2021) affirm, Facebook is currently the dominant social
media platform among the youth in Kenya.

Characteristics of social media

Manning (2014) argues that there are two common characteristics of social media. First, it
allows participation because it is not entirely passive. Second, it facilitates interactivity. It is
challenging to discuss social media without bringing in the concept of social networking. This
enables users to form online communities, share ideas and content, or exchange information
and services among individuals, groups, or institutions. Specifically, it facilitates the cultivation
of productive relationships for employment or business (Edosomwan et al., 2011).

Wolf et al. (2018) explain that the term “social media” is identified through its
functionalities, including promoting open communication, enabling the sharing of ideas and
formation of effective teamwork, diffusion of knowledge and experiences, enhancing content
that is shared; enabling collaborative communication with effective feedback; defining tasks
and development of ideas and how to go about them; helping in the recognition of input
by members leading to well-recognised communities; and providing a good channel for
discussions. However, they reiterate that for these to be effective, users must adhere to the
rules and etiquette of social media.

Kietzmann et al. (2011) specify seven functional building blocks of social media, as
depicted in Figure 2.

4 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Figure 2 - Building Blocks of Social Media

PRESENCE
PRESENCE
the extent to Creating and
which users managing the
know if others reality, intimacy
are available and immediacy
SHARING RELATIONSHIPS SHARING of the content RELATIONSHIPS
the extent to the extent to Content Managing the
which users which users management structural and
exchange, relate to each system and social flow properties in
distribute and other graph a network of
receive content IDENTITY IDENTITY relationships
the extent to Data privacy
which users contacts, and
reveal REPUTATION
tools for user
themselves the extent to CONVERSATIONS
self-promotion REPUTATION
CONVERSATIONS
Monitoring the
the extent to which users Conversation
strength, passion,
which users know the social velocity, and the
sentiment, and
communicate standing of risks of starting
reach of users
with each other others and and joining
GROUPS and brands
content GROUPS
the extent to Membership
which users are rules and
ordered or form protocols
communities

Social Media Functionality Implications of the Functionality

Source: Wolf et al. (2018)

Principles of Good Governance

Governance is the process of managing a country’s affairs through political and administrative
authority (UNDESA, 2012). It is the process through which decisions are made and
implemented. It involves both formal and informal actors and the structures put in place to
arrive at decisions at the corporate, local, national, and international levels (Sheng, 2018).

United Nations (2007) posits that for good governance to be realised, political and
institutional processes should be transparent and accountable by encouraging public
participation in the processes. UNDESA (2012) agrees that good governance is centred on
what makes the institutions and the rules guiding them more effective and efficient in order to
achieve equity, transparency, participation, responsiveness, accountability, and the rule of law.
It further states that these are crucial in the eradication of poverty and fostering development
since ineffective institutions cause the most significant harm to the poor and vulnerable in
society. Good governance is all about strengthening the active participation of communities in
the decision-making processes and putting an emphasis on practical cooperation among civil
society, governments and communities.

However, UNDESA (2012) argues that the performance of institutions is a subject of

debate, especially in the fields of education, health, finance, and other development sectors.
However, it concludes that the target of good governance is tied to aspects of administration
applicable to all government functions and includes transparency, accountability, integrity,

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 5
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

equity, efficiency, and participation.

The United Nations (2007) explains that good governance is a fundamental human right. It
is not an exclusively government affair but requires public participation through contributions
to policies that respect civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.
Policies resulting from participatory processes are likely to be perceived as legitimate by the
population through informed social dialogue.

Sheng (2018) outlines eight major characteristics of good governance as a process that
requires participation, consensus building, accountability, transparency, responsiveness,
effectiveness and efficiency, equity and inclusivity and follows the rule of law to ensure that
the views of the minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable
in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs
of the society.

However, Sano (2002) argues that governance, good governance, and democratic
governance were vaguely defined during the 1990s depending on the context and who was
interpreting them. Gisselquist (2012) agrees that good governance is an extremely elusive
concept that means different things to different people, organizations, and actors within these
organizations.

Poor governance is projected to be the primary impediment to economic development

in Africa (Asongu & Odhiambo, 2019; Fosu, 2018). Some scholars argue that the continent
of Africa lags because of bad governance, as political leaders in Africa exhibit selfishness,
corruption, and non-inclusivity of the people in their respective countries in decision-making
(Yaro et al., 2019). As such, the African Union (AU) has put forth a set of shared values
for good governance in Africa, including democracy and good governance, the rule of law
and human rights, peace and security, and continental development and integration (Corrigan,
2017).

Social Media and Good Governance

In this age of information systems, social media plays a pivotal role in communication and
organizational transformation due to social networking. The year 2000 saw the emergence of
many social networking sites that facilitated interactions of people with common interests,
thus affecting how organizations are run (Edosomwan et al., 2011).

Manning (2014) also posits that with the rise in technology, and in particular mobile
technologies, considerable scale interaction between individuals arose, and interactivity
took centre stage in new media functions. In addition, instant feedback became possible, and
citizens who used to have limited and somewhat muted voices could now share their opinions
and contribute to good governance. Furthermore, social groups now exist where members
share values and beliefs and can collaborate as team members, share workload, keep up-to-
date with the latest developments, interact with leaders and resolve conflicts, resulting in better
outcomes as compared to individual effort (Edosomwan et al., 2011). However, Edosomwan et
al. (2011) opine that it is not easy to quantify the gains of social media, especially in terms of

6 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

good governance. They argue that despite the fact that people can take part in conversations,
discuss and contribute on social media sites, users can manipulate comments, introduce errors
and manipulate data for personal or business gain.

Social media has contributed to the development of governments due to citizens’

participation in government since it creates public awareness and interactions between people
and the government (Alfakoro et al., 2021). In Kenya, many public officers and organizations,
especially government departments, use social media. For example, the President of Kenya
explained that he engages with Kenyan citizens at a personal level through his social media
accounts to discuss matters of national importance by reading and responding to comments
and questions addressed through social media by citizens on various issues (Kamwaria et al.,
2015).

Context and Rationale of the Study

The use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and blogs, among
others, has created considerable impact on the roles of traditional mass media in the world
today. According to Maina (2012), up until 2008, the world witnessed an upsurge in social
media sites, which caused traditional media outlets to suffer a setback. Consequently, social
media has progressively influenced how communication occurs within organizations. Thus,
organizations, as well as the government, cannot ignore social media if they are to expect good
results.

Lin & Kant (2021) are in agreement that traditional media involves participation among
a small number of selected representatives or stakeholders in governance. These participants
were required to be present in a physical place at a particular time, thereby resulting in many
problems, such as lack of inclusion and the inflexibility of participation. Recently, this situation
has changed, and scholars, planners, and policymakers have turned their attention toward
social media in order to overcome the problems of traditional participation methods and, in
particular, its increasing use in planning to include citizen participation (Lin & Kant, 2021).
The state develops two-way interactions or digital participation systems to increase citizens’
participation, improve accountability and accommodate feedback (Hollands, 2012). However,
Browne (2015) states that as much as social media has a great potential to be used for good
governance purposes, this potential remains unexploited in most contexts. He argues that
many governments are using e-government strategies and disseminating information through
online channels but not soliciting citizen feedback. Where there are two-way channels, it is
unclear whether citizen feedback is acted upon or not. There is promising evidence that social
media improves the transparency of organizations and government ministries, but there is less
evidence on whether this improves accountability (Browne, 2015).

Sheng (2018) also opines that despite the presence of various approaches by governments
to social media and social media analytics in international practice, the impact of social
media on public administration is of no doubt. He argues that there are still pending issues
surrounding the building of mutual communication between government bodies and citizens,
the role played by social media in enabling feedback between government and citizens in an

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 7
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

e-government context, the application of social media in e-government, and the transformation
of administrative mechanisms using social media channels.

Governments in the East African region are increasingly using social media. In Kenya,
for instance, social media have been used in government planning to gain public opinions,
distribute information, and support citizen participation in planning practices. Nevertheless,
few studies have been conducted in East Africa to understand the influence of social media in
local contexts and the extent to which its use can enhance citizen power and inclusion in good
governance.

Research Objectives
1. To determine the amount of research on social media as a catalyst for good governance
in East Africa;
2. To identify the research themes addressed by scholarly articles on social media as a
catalyst of good governance in East Africa;
3. To examine the authorship patterns of scholarly articles on social media as a catalyst of
good governance in East Africa;
4. To evaluate the visibility of scholarly articles on social media as a catalyst of good
governance in East Africa.

Methodology
Bibliometric methods were used for this study. Roy & Basak (2013) explain that bibliometrics
is a quantitative method employed to probe the scientific communication process by measuring
and analysing various aspects of written documents and that bibliometrics has become a
standard tool of science policy and research management in the last decades. Bibliometrics
has been used to provide quantitative analysis of written publications (Ellegaard & Wallin,
2015) and is accepted as a scientific method in research in different disciplines. Gauthier
(1998) explains that one of the primary goals of scientometrics and bibliometrics, as applied
to public policy, is to provide objective information for decision-making since bibliometrics
indicators can provide accurate information on the scientific output of a country by listings
of papers and citations, listings of patents and citations, as well as measures of the volume
and impact of research at various levels. Padrós-Cuxartet al. (2016) agree with Ellegaard &
Wallin (2015) stating that bibliometrics has become an increasingly necessary tool used by
researchers to study and analyse publication activities by other researchers and institutions.
Dede & Ozdemir (2022) opine that due to technological advancements, more robust methods
like bibliometric analysis methods have emerged to find various parameters in research, such
as the quality, value and productivity of scientific output by researchers. In addition, Dede &
Ozdemir expound that bibliometric analysis uses statistical methods to analyse books, articles,
and other publications and can be applied to describe, evaluate and monitor publications
in regard to citations, authorship, institutions, journals, and countries of publication. When
bibliometric analyses are used over prolonged periods, they provide a means of identifying
trends in scientific production. The output of one country can then be compared to that of other

8 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

countries competitively or comparably. Comparisons between countries can also be based on

disciplines (Gauthier, 1998). Bibliometric analysis provides significant contributions in terms
of directing researchers to the most compelling studies even before they start reading, enabling
them to quickly find research gaps in the field, inspiring new ideas for research, revealing
research trends and mapping the research area to see the conceptual, social or cognitive
structure (Dede & Ozdemir, 2022).

Bibliometric analysis has gained immense popularity in research in recent years due
to the advancement, availability, and accessibility of bibliometric software such as Gephi,
Leximancer, VOSviewer, and scientific databases such as Scopus and Web of Science (Donthu
et al., 2021). It is popular because it can be applied across disciplines from information science
to business research, handle large volumes of scientific data, and produce high research impact.

For these reasons, the researchers used bibliometrics to provide public policy makers
with a guide to using bibliometric tools currently available to obtain information on using
social media for good governance. The publications used for bibliometric analysis in this study
were retrieved from Google Scholar using Harzing’s “Publish or Perish” software. Google
Scholar was chosen because it offers diverse publications, and its access is not restricted. A
total of 999 articles for a period of ten (10) years (2012-2022) were retrieved using keywords
in the study title. Data cleaning was done to weed out publications that did not meet the search
criteria, such as subject matter and region of publication. The published materials included
journal articles,published books, conference proceedings, and theses. The data was analysed
with the aid of Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer and presented in tables and charts.

Findings of the study

From the bibliometrics search on Google Scholar, the researchers retrieved 999 articles on
social media as a catalyst for good governance. However, after data cleaning, 601 scholarly
articles were identified as suitable for analysis. The researchers used keywords from the title
and the content to select the publications.

Quantity of research on social media as a catalyst of good governance

Table 1 shows the number of publications on social media as a catalyst of good governance for
the period between 2012 and 2022. The year 2020 had the most publications (89), followed by
2021 (82) and 2019 (70). The lowest number of publications was witnessed in the year 2013
(27) and 2012 (30).

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 9
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Table 1: Publications on social media as a catalyst of good governance (2012 – 2022)

Year of publication Number of Publications

2012 30
2013 27
2014 41
2015 41
2016 44
2017 53
2018 57
2019 70
2020 89
2021 82
2022 50
The publication trends show a gradual increase in the number of publications from 2012 up to
2020, peaking in 2020 and then decreasing sharply between the years 2020 and 2022. However,
since the research was conducted before the end of 2022, the researchers cannot conclusively
say if 2022 will experience a decline or an increase. Figure 3 presents the publication trends
on social media as a catalyst for good governance.
Figure 3: Publication trends on social media as a catalyst for good governance

10 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Research themes addressed by scholarly articles on social media as a catalyst of

good governance
From the emerging themes from the title of the publication, the prominent keywords were
“Right” with 24 occurrences, followed by “Information” (16), “Facebook” (14), “Twitter”(13),
“Reforms” (11), “Challenge” (10), “Effect” (10), “Growth” (10), “Initiative” (10). Other
themes included “Social media tool” (8), “Social media user” (8), “Benefit” (7), “Democratic
governance” (7), “Good governance practices” (7) and “bad governance” (6), among others.
This is depicted in Table 2.
Table 2: Research themes on publications on social media as a catalyst of good governance

S/N Theme Concept Cluster Weight Weight Occurrence

Links (Total
Links)
1 Right 2 20 22 24
2 Information 6 23 25 16
3 Facebook 10 18 26 14
4 Twitter 10 13 21 13
5 Reform 1 15 18 11
6 Challenge 4 7 10 10
7 Effect 1 13 13 10
8 Growth 7 6 9 10
9 Initiative 1 12 13 10
10 Report 5 14 19 10
11 Research 2 12 12 10
12 Strategy 8 12 16 10
13 Campaign 2 11 11 9
14 Corporate governance 4 3 10 9
15 Year 5 15 19 9
16 Impact 1 9 10 8
17 Leader 8 13 19 8
18 Quality 1 13 14 8
19 Social media tool 4 11 11 8
20 Social media user 5 8 10 8
21 Benefit 7 8 9 7
22 Commitment 9 8 8 7
23 Democratic governance 1 7 8 7
24 Evidence 1 9 9 7
25 Good governance practices 1 8 9 7
26 Local governance 3 13 14 7

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024 11
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

S/N Theme Concept Cluster Weight Weight Occurrence

Links (Total
Links)
27 Regulation 2 8 9 7
28 Bad governance 2 6 7 6

The themes in Figure 4 below show that most of the research conducted on social media
and good governance revolve around the “right to or access to information”, “information”,
“Facebook” as a social media tool, “Strategy”, “Reforms”, “Youth”, “Cooperative governance”,
“Evaluation”, “Students”, “training”, “Environment”, “Reports” and “News”, and “Paper”,
among others.

Figure 4: Themes from social media and good governance research

Authorship patterns of the publications on social media as a catalyst of good

governance
From the 601 publications used for analysis, S.A. Asongu had the most publications on
social media and good governance attributed to him with a total of eight (8) occurrences and
a weighted total link (collaboration) strength of eight (8) with a weighted link of four (4).
Odhiambo followed this with a total occurrence of five (5) publications and a total weighted
link strength of four (4) with a weighted link of one (1). He was followed closely by Mutula
with a total occurrence of five (5) publications and a total weighted strength of four (4) with a
weighted link of three (3). Other authors include Kinyondo, Oje, Mcgee, Pelizzo, Sigsworth
and Willems, each with a total of three (3) occurrences, as indicated in Table 3.

12 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Table 3:Authorship patterns of publications

Name (s) Cluster Weight Weight<Total Link Weight

<Links> Strength>
<Occurrences>
S.A. Asongu 3 4 8 8
N. M. Odhiambo 3 1 4 5
S. M. Mutula 18 3 3 5
J. Baguma 24 2 3 4
Kinyondo 16 3 5 3
Ojo 29 2 2 3
R. Mcgee 2 4 5 3
R. Pelizzo 16 3 5 3
R. Sigsworth 77 2 4 3
W. Willems 200 1 2 3
Figure 5 shows the authors’ collaboration patterns from a social network analysis of the
publications. The co-authorships observed are mainly between S.A. Asongu and J. Nnanna.
Other collaborations are between V. Adutela and G. Power, R. McGee and G. Relhan, and
Kinyondo and M. Brayo, among others. However, most publications were single-authored, as
can be noted by authors such as Khan, Olojo, E. Masse, Ari, Ab Zwi, and B. Cooksey, among
others.
Figure 5: Publication collaboration patterns among authors

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 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

Visibility of scholarly articles on social media as a catalyst of good governance

The visibility of research publications can be deduced from the citation counts the publications
get. Citation counts are dependent on the number of users who have accessed a particular
publication. This is further influenced by the scholarly channel in which the article has been
published. High-quality articles are typically published in journals with high impact factors,
thereby guaranteeing their visibility and, ultimately, the citations they attract. The article with
the highest number of citations in this research had 472 citations. A second publication with
189 citations followed this. There is a vast difference in citations between the first and second
publication. The leading publication, in terms of citation, is by the World Bank Group and is
a World Development Report published in 2016. The citation for publications in this research
on social media for good governance is provided in Table 4.
Table 4: Visibility of publications on social media for good governance

S/N Citations Authors Title

1 472 World Bank Group World Development Report 2016: Digital
dividends
2 189 J.G. McGann 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report
3 183 L. Rodić, D.C. Resolving governance issues to achieve priority
Wilson sustainable development goals related to solid
waste management in developing countries
4 169 I.A. Agyepong, N. The path to longer and healthier lives for all
Sewankambo, A. Africans by 2030: The Lancet Commission on
Binagwaho… the future of health in sub-Saharan Africa
5 167 G.G. Haile, Q. Tang, Droughts in East Africa: Causes, impacts and
S. Sun, Z. Huang, X resilience
Zhang, X Liu
6 162 J.J. Mistry, A. Jalal An empirical analysis of the relationship between
e-government and corruption.
7 133 A. Kolk, M. Rivera- The state of research on Africa in business and
Santos management: Insights from a systematic review
of key international journals
8 118 S. Olsson, S.N. Pal, Pharmacovigilance in resource-limited countries
A. Dodoo
9 112 C. Johnson, S. Advocacy for urban resilience: UNISDR’s
Blackburn making cities resilient campaign
10 112 F.L. Wang, E.A. China in Africa: presence, perceptions and
Elliot prospects
11 111 R. Rotberg Africa emerges: Consummate challenges,
abundant opportunities
12 109 S. Christopoulos, B. Advancing the governance of cross‐sectoral
Horvath… policies for sustainable development: A meta
governance perspective

14 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

13 106 S.B. Banerjee Transnational power and translocal governance:

The politics of corporate responsibility
14 99 S. Batabyal, A. Curbing corruption, financial development and
Chowdhury income inequality
15 96 A.L. Kühn, M. Contents and determinants of corporate social
Stiglbauer, M.S. responsibility website reporting in Sub-Saharan
Fifka Africa: A seven-country study
16 93 A. Kolk, F. Lenfant Cross-sector collaboration, institutional gaps,
and fragility: the role of social innovation
partnerships in a conflict-affected region
17 83 S. Podder Non-state armed groups and stability:
Reconsidering legitimacy and inclusion
18 80 A. George, K. Scott, Anchoring contextual analysis in health policy
S. Garimella, S. and systems research: a narrative review of
Mondal, R. Ved… contextual factors influencing health committees
in low and middle income …
19 77 A. De Waal, R. Hybrid social movements in Africa
Ibreck
20 76 E. Mwasalwiba, H. Graduate entrepreneurship in Tanzania:
Dahles, I. Wakkee Contextual enablers and hindrances

It is worth noting that the first two (2) leading publications are economic reports. The
publications with high citations were organizational publications, single-authored publications,
and multi-author publications. The publications also covered various disciplines and did not
cover a particular field.

Discussions of the Findings

The increasing rise in the volume of publications on social media as a tool for good governance
can be attributed to the interest generated in the topic. As opined by Mishaal and Abu-Shanab
(2015), the emergence of social media, its characteristics and benefits created an opportunity
for people to connect, thereby creating a revolution. This triggered researchers to study the
phenomenon, leading to vast research outputs, especially during the years preceding 2010.
Beyond 2010, social media gave not just businesses but churches, non-profit organizations,
and basically everyone, including governments, a chance to communicate effectively (Sterne,
2010). These kinds of views by researchers might have propelled them to study the phenomenon
of social media. Indeed, Osterrieder (2013) stated that social media like Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube and many other social networking sites existing today complement people’s lives
by allowing users to share content and interact online with like-minded people; hence, better
decisions can be arrived at, leading to good governance.

Mishaal and Abu-Shanab (2015) also allude to the fact that social media had an impact on
governments when governments realised the presence of their citizens on the platform in 2011
and beyond. For example, the popularity of Facebook as a tool for governance also spurred
interest in the area. As Hussain (2014) explains, the Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)

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 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

adopted Facebook as a social communication tool to enhance the provision of e-government

services in 2013 in Northern Pakistan. However, with the popularity of social media sites rising,
so were the vices committed to it that decelerated its uptake in the years 2020 and beyond. As
Kwanya et al. (2021) argue, social media sites like Facebook have become the new tool for
committing social vices like cyberbullying. This new realisation is driving some people off
such social media platforms, thereby catalysing a decline in its popularity in governance, as
highlighted in the research publication themes identified.

There were divergent themes in the publications on social media for good governance.
The most dominant themes in the publications were social rights, information and Facebook,
among others. The most dominant use of social media is representation and equity. Through
social media, people can air grievances, highlight problems and fight for their rights. Thom
(2017) argues that social media gives a voice to the voiceless and, as such, gives an equal
platform to be heard. People use social media to communicate their thoughts freely without
any fear of intimidation due to anonymity (Kwanya et al., 2021). As such, these themes were
strongly evident in the publications retrieved and analysed.

Osterrieder (2013) opines that social media now complements many parts of people’s
lives. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other social networking sites enable their users
to share and interact with online content and connect with like-minded people. Its strengths –
rapid dissemination and amplification of content and the ability to lead informal conversations
– make it a powerful tool to use in a professional context. From the research, there was a
significant disparity between the most cited publication and the second most cited. This
may be attributed to the most cited publication of a World Bank Group, which is a reputable
and established organization, as opposed to individual researchers. As such, they may have
the requisite tools and experience to conduct studies perceived to be of a higher quality.
Alternatively, the high citations it attracted may be due to its multidisciplinary nature.

The advantage of using social media in governance is the rapid dissemination and
amplification of information, as captured in one of the major themes of the research publications
retrieved. In addition, informal conversations can be converted into powerful ideas applied in a
professional context, such as scientific content (Osterrieder, 2013). Osterrieder (2013) further
argues that researchers, therefore, should collaborate on social networks and build a social
presence. This was noted to be lacking in the current research. Despite the few collaborative
networks formed by the researchers, most studies on social media for good governance were
single-authored.

However, Osterrieder (2013) also notes that as much as there is a presence of a scientific
community on social media and studying effective social media use within the scientific
community, there are some common reasons that make scientists not engage on social media.
These include the fear of being judged unprofessional for using social media, posting content
perceived as inappropriate, being misunderstood, and lacking the requisite IT skills. However,
there is a rapid change in academic publishing through social media. The dissemination of
scientific research through ‘altmetrics’ is being adopted fast, and more or so, in tracking online
engagement with scientific content. Because of this, digital literacy should be an essential skill

16 The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies | Volume 24 No. 2, June 2024
 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

in scientists’ toolkit to enhance their visibility in research.

Conclusion
Social media facilitates faster communication, enables inclusivity in participation, facilitates
the exchange of ideas and spurs innovation. Numerous research studies have been conducted
on the application of social media for good governance. It is evident from the publications that
governments across the East African region are utilising social media to support governance
in all sectors, as indicated by the themes in the published research retrieved and analysed.
However, most professionals, especially in scientific communities, seemingly do not take
social media seriously because it is an informal means of communication. Research articles
on this subject matter are visible, based on the citations and publication channels from the
bibliometrics analysis, especially for reputable organizations like the World Bank, but this
can also be enhanced for individual scholars so as to improve their visibility. East African
countries, in particular, need to set up clear policies on public engagement on social media
coupled with proper and adequate training to spur this.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the researchers recommend the following:
• Enhance policies on social media use: The governments of East African countries
should come up with effective policies on their engagement with social media for good
governance.
• Training on social media use: Governments should facilitate training on the ethical
use of social media to enrich the quality of conversations and engagements on social
media platforms. This will play a crucial role in improving the use of social media
technologies for decision-making, citizen participation, and good governance.
• Adoption of social media for scholarly communication: To enhance the impact, exposure,
and accessibility of their research, academics ought to leverage social media platforms
for academic communication. This will facilitate cross-disciplinary cooperation and
help them reach a global audience.
• Enhance collaboration among scholars: The research contributes essential insights on
how best to use social media to catalyse good governments in East Africa. Efforts to
improve the quantity, quality and visibility of research on the subject will potentially
empower governments, citizens and stakeholders to effectively use social media to
entrench good governance in the region.

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 Erick Odhiambo Ogolla & Tom Kwanya

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