Since social media reaches billions of people, governments must take heed of citizens’ opinions expressed therein. However, this is easier said than done. Political leaders used to make decisions through a long series of polls and discussions, but the Internet and social media have changed the landscape. When things happen, comments hit all types of social media instantly. Leaders have only a few days (even hours) to make decisions. How can governments at all levels interact with and use social media to improve the democratic process and the communication between governments and citizens?

This book presents several test cases showing what countries are doing to enhance government services through social media. Some are in the research phase, some are in development, and some are already deployed. The book has two parts: Part 1 presents case studies and Part 2 discusses systems and applications.

Since this is an edited book and each chapter is contributed by different authors, we cannot see a global view of what social media can do to improve government services. We only see individual test cases. Also, many chapters begin with similar introductory material, which would have been avoided in a single-author book.

The most important issue, besides government services, is whether social media can help to improve democratic participation or impede the government’s decision-making processes. Democracy is based on the general will and the common good. Can social media identify that, or is it just a fad that expresses the views of a few? Readers may want to consult works such as the one by Zavattaro and Bryer [1]; in it, many issues are presented, whether internal or external, related to using social media in government.