Varia Ranah - Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam

225 Varia Ranah: Sorotan Ilmiah Perkhidmatan Awam INTRODUCTION Compared to traditional media, social media has emerged as one of the most important tools that connects governments, citizens, and their ideas across the whole world. These new connections provide an opportunity for the government to gather real-time insight regarding public policy that has come into effect. Hence, there is a need for real-time instruments to address social, political, and economic phenomena in the digital age. In recent times, citizens’ engagement in policy process has been globally emphasized. At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the General Assembly Resolution 288 of 2012 entitled The Future We Want , states in paragraph 13: “We recognize that opportunities for the people to influence their lives and future, participate in decision-making and voice their concerns are fundamental for sustainable development” (ECOSOC, 2012). To strengthen the resolution on civic engagement, the 51st Session of the United Nations on Social Development concluded that: “the empowerment and participation of all members of society in social, economic and political life is critical to achieving sustainable development” (ECOSOC, 2013). Hence, governments need sophisticated real-time tools to drive civic engagement and establish mechanisms for effective policy implementation and feedbacks in digital age. Recent statistics show that 3.8 billion people of the world population make use of social media for social, political, and economic purposes (WeAreSocial, 2020). More than 81 percent of Malaysians are online and the use of social media is increasing 4.1 percent from April 2019 to Jan 2020 (Data Reportal, 2020). However, the credibility and sufficiency of social media as a tool for policymaking remains controversial among scholars, policymakers, and governments globally. Social media has emerged as one of the most important tools that connects governments, citizens, and their ideas across the whole world