Abstract
PurposeThis paper considers the potential of social media for developing public services. The paper approaches social media as a context that can provide information that might otherwise be unattainable. The focus of analysis is on a special hard-to-reach group of marginalized youths who appear to have isolated themselves from society.Design/methodology/approachThe authors answer the question: How can the experiences of socially withdrawn youth as shared on social media be used to enrich the knowledge base relating to the initiation phase of co-creation of public services? The data retrieved from the Finnish discussion forum are analyzed using the combination of unsupervised machine learning and discourse analysis.FindingsThe paper contributes by outlining a method that can be applied to identify expertise-by-experience from digital stories shared by marginalized youths. To overcome the challenges of making socially withdrawn youths real contributors to the co-creation of public services, this paper suggests several theoretical and managerial implications.Originality/valueCo-creation assumes an interactive and dynamic relationship where value is created at the nexus of interaction. However, the evidence base for successful co-creation, particularly with digital technology, is limited. This paper fills the gap by providing findings from a case study that investigated how social media discussions can be a stimulus to enrich the knowledge base of the co-creation of public services.
Highlights
Co-creation is demanding for public service organizations (PSOs) and for citizens involved in such co-creation
Social media discussions and stories dealing with the availability, access and quality of public services – even acrimonious ones – can be deemed testimonials that could enable PSOs to identify the bottlenecks in the service delivery process
To overcome the challenges of making socially withdrawn youths real contributors to the initiation of co-creation of public services, this paper offers three findings
Summary
Co-creation is demanding for public service organizations (PSOs) and for citizens involved in such co-creation. In co-creation, citizens are not seen as beneficiaries but as collaborators whose needs should drive the process from initiation through design to implementation. From the citizen’s perspective, the challenge is how to overcome time- and space-related or social and cognitive obstacles to engaging in cocreating activities proposed by a PSO. The challenge may seem impossible to resolve for those who suffer from a lack of tangible and intangible resources. Previous research shows that many intangible resources, such as educational level and interest in politics, increase citizens’ intention to take part in co-creation processes This paper focuses on socially withdrawn youths who are not taking part in any conventional social activities such as education or work. The paper takes a view that youths with a weak attachment to work and education should not be labeled passive bystanders
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