STUDY OF DIGITAL GOVERNANCE THROUGH THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

• Main Author: Fitria, Yolana
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/67655
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Indonesia occupies the fourth position as the country with the largest social media users in the world in year 2021. Of the total 274.9 million population in 2021, 170 million people (61,8% of the total population) are social media users. Nowadays, social media is not only used by public, but also by public officials, government and supreme audit institutions. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), especially the internet as a tool to realize a better governance has been known as e-government. The use of social media in the public sector can be seen as a new wave of the e-government era. Accountability, transparency and participation are considered to be important elements in realizing better governance. There have been many studies related to the use of social media by government in relation to transparency and public participation, but not accountability. In addition, the concept of accountability is often interpreted in various ways by writers and readers and continues to experience expansion in scope and meaning. Therefore, this study aims to describe the reflection of digital governance practices through social media on the perspective of public accountability and to identify factors that influence the implementation of such accountability. This research is a descriptive qualitative research with a case study approach. The object of research is BPK RI as the Indonesian SAI and its official Instagram account. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, observations on social media accounts and literature studies. The study uses theoretical synthesis of four accountability concepts, namely the five dimensions of accountability, accountability as a social relationship, improving organizational reputation and voluntary accountability to analyze the data. The results of the analysis will lead to the conclusion that the digital governance practices that have been carried out are in accordance with the concept of accountability and vice versa. In other words, if the practice is in accordance with the concept of accountability, then the practice of implementing digital through social media can be said to be an accountable practice, and vice versa. Furthermore, the meaning of accountability based on the results of the analysis and the analysis of the coding of interview transcripts will be used to identify the factors that influence the implementation of accountability in digital governance practices through social media. iv In this study, there are at least three meanings of public accountability based on the four concepts of accountability from scholars. Accountability can be interpreted as a dimension of morality in the form of transparency, obligation, control, responsibility and responsiveness. Accountability can also be interpreted as a social relationship between actors and forums, both arising from formal obligations and carried out voluntarily. In addition, accountability is a medium to enhance the reputation of the organization. The results of the study show that actually, the practice of digital governance through the use of social media that has been carried out by BPK is similar to practice of accountability based on the perspective of morality and reputation. BPK has disclosed its organizational performance in its social media accounts. For this matter, BPK has accepted the informal consequences given by the public in the form of positive support for organizational performance and bad comments for public dissatisfaction with organizational performance. The practice of digital governance through the use of social media is a form of BPK's compliance with the public will as manifested in the Law of Public Information Disclosure and with various other formal regulations, both in the context of the state and internal organizations. The use of social media by BPK focuses on the needs of the organization in educating the public, in order to be more familiar with the main tasks and functions of BPK as a public institution that examines the management and responsibilities of state finances. Public misunderstanding of the duties and main functions of BPK can reduce the reputation of the institution in the eyes of the public. Public education conducted by BPK in its social media accounts is a form of reputation investment. However, the practice of digital governance through the use of social media that has been carried out by BPK cannot be said to be an accountable practice based on the perspective of social relations. Although there is evidence that there has been information sharing, debate and assessment in social media, the relationship that occurs between BPK as an actor and the public/followers as a forum is broadly still in the phase of providing information. Organizational hierarchical structure, allocation of human resources and public preferences were identified as factors influencing the implementation of digital governance through social media in the case study. The hierarchical structure of the organization affects the implementation of accountability in relation to the publication of organizational performance, while the allocation of human resources and public preferences affect the interactivity between actors and forums.