The Political Variable in the Institutionalization of Social Networks in the Administration. The Case of the Ministerial Communication in Spain

Abstract

Technology is a key factor in the modernization of the State. Social networks, one of the most recent technologies, have spread in the Administration and have been a subject of study by an academia that has pointed out the importance of their institutionalization to achieve a successful technological adoption. This paper contributes to this debate, focusing on the political variable and how it affects institutionalization. For this purpose, we have chosen institutional communication, one of the various recognized uses of social technologies in institutions, a specific field such as the Spanish state administration, and a mixed research technique that includes both a descriptive and a quantitative analysis. The results clarify how the political variable significantly influences both on the decision to have social channels and their daily use and managament structure. Thus, the political factor is a barrier that weakens institutionalization, limiting the role of public employees, politically biasing the contents generated by institutional channels and giving rise to contingent management structures. The document offers a series of recommendations and some possible lines of research for further explore how the political factor affects the adoption of these technologies.