Although social media has the potential to transform the citizen-government relationship, it is not easy for bureaucratic-minded government agencies and officials to use them.

The use of micro blogs by government agencies has thrown up some problems. The merit of Government 2.0 depends largely on how the government addresses them.

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The current stage of social media use in government can at best be called "Government 1.5", because the dominant pattern of communication is still uni-directional inculcation rather than bi-directional dialogue. One of the salient features of social media lies in mutual communication, sharing and collaboration, but the engagement of citizens is still weak.

Most micro blog accounts are inactive, acting as silent audiences for influential opinion leaders. In other words, unless citizens are energized to engage in and contribute to public dialogue, there will not be any difference between government micro blogs and web portals.

Micro-blogging enables government to be more responsible and accountable, but its appropriate use is still far away.

The distribution of the benefits of government micro-blogging is also questionable, because it excludes a majority of citizens without access to the Internet or essential computer skills. What makes the problem worse is that such people are also most in need of public services.

Micro blogs are mainly opened by specific government agencies, which is at odds with the trend of e-government integration and whole-of-government approach.

Many cities have established one-stop service centers, but citizens have to visit each agency's micro blog to inquire about specific policy issues.

The boundary between formal and informal use of government micro blogs is still vague. It is crucial to regulate their use.

The author is a research fellow at Nanyang Centre for Public Administration, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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