Social Networks as a Tool of Communication Between Government Bodies and Citizens

Using social networks as a tool of communication between government bodies and citizens is of great interest today. The process of informatization and especially the development of social networks, which are indispensable attributes of people’s lives in modern world, make communication between government bodies and citizens in social networks almost inevitable. Research has shown that social networks, making the process of communication between government bodies and citizens quite easy and effective, satisfying citizen’s request for openness of government bodies and increasing the confidence in them, are not the main tool of communication with government bodies for the majority of citizens because of different reasons. Besides, the reasons for using and not using social networks as a tool of communication for government bodies and citizens, citizens’ attitudes to such communication and other important aspects related are considered. The paper aims to show the actual problems in the communication between government bodies and citizens in social networks. Based on the review of the literature on social networks used in communication between government bodies and citizens, the online survey was distributed to citizens of different age, sex and social status. Then the answers were analyzed with the help of Microsoft Excel and SPSS Statistics and the hypotheses were checked. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that citizens are active users of social networks, but most of them do not communicate with government bodies in social networks because of different reasons. There are also existing problems for the category of citizens who communicate with government bodies. The results indicate that there are still actual problems in the communication between government bodies and citizens in social networks. On this basis, it is recommended to pay attention to the existing problems in further research to identify the ways to make such communication even easier and more effective. Key words: communication, social networks, government bodies, citizens.