Dialogic accounting principles applied to social media use. Adapted from Brown (2009)
| Dialogic accounting principles | Application of dialogic accounting and accountability principles in social media | Identification of dialogic accounting and accountability signs in local governments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recognition of multiple ideological orientations | Social media engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and ideological perspectives on operational and executive decisions | LG is open to disclose transparency and accountability messages despite the presence of conflicting positions and divergent ideologies on social media |
| 2 | Avoiding monetary reductionism | Social media try to overcome the limits of calculative technologies and provides both quantitative and qualitative information that can satisfy information needs of the various actors. Social media messages expand the dialogic toolbox (e.g. supplementary visual material, videos, narrative accounts) | LGs explore the use of the larger social media dialogic toolbox, using images and videos to give information or to spread accountability messages Images and video should not be represented only in calculative ways, but with a mix of narrative/calculative representation |
| 3 | Openness about the subjectivity and contestable nature of calculations | Social media messages recognise the subjective and contestable nature of measures and inform on the decision rules as to what constitutes a “crisis response” move | LGs use messages not only for the disclosure of rules, but also for the explanation of decision rules and the rationale behind crisis response actions and decisions |
| 4 | Enabling access for non-experts | Social media give information access to all stakeholders, even those without specific technical skills and knowledge, in a way that allows them to understand the situation and participate | LG recognises the complex nature of relationships between knowledge, expertise and power using a language able to include people in the process, enabling “non-experts” to understand |
| 5 | Ensuring an effective participatory process | Social media messages should be structured by increasing the collection capacity of citizens’ needs and opinions on executive actions. Social media allows the creation of some (formal or informal) mechanisms to involve and hear citizens’ voices | LG creates content that allows users to ask questions directly to local government representatives, as well as posts that ask for opinions on specific topics (questions and polls to citizens) |
| 6 | Attention to power relationships and their dynamics | Social media messages are used for capacity building (e.g. developing skills and means to articulate currently marginalised voices in accounting terms) and do not use numbers as a tool of self-legitimation. Numbers, because of their aura of objectivity, hold power by masking value judgments and enabling manipulation in decision-making | LG uses social media as a capacity building tool, informing citizens with numbers, but explaining and educating citizens about the meaning and uncertainties behind those numbers, to empower them to interpret them and understand areas of uncertainty |
| 7 | Recognising transformative potential | Social media encourage social actors to be more reflective about the numbers and facilitate dialogue. The messages spread on social media help dialogic learning, discussion, debate, reflection | LG recognises the creation of debates and can have transformative potential and engage in interactions with the citizens’ comments for under accountability posts |
| 8 | Resisting new forms of monologism | Social media should not be a mere political communication tool where politicians and managers provide information according to the dialogic rhetoric concept just to guide actors to a pre-identified “new right answer” | LG attempts to create engagement on social media, even in a crisis context where decisions need to be made quickly, should form the basis for ongoing monitoring (e.g. comparing actual and expected results) as a way of keeping discussions alive |
| Dialogic accounting principles | Application of dialogic accounting and accountability principles in social media | Identification of dialogic accounting and accountability signs in local governments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recognition of multiple ideological orientations | Social media engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and ideological perspectives on operational and executive decisions | LG is open to disclose transparency and accountability messages despite the presence of conflicting positions and divergent ideologies on social media |
| 2 | Avoiding monetary reductionism | Social media try to overcome the limits of calculative technologies and provides both quantitative and qualitative information that can satisfy information needs of the various actors. Social media messages expand the dialogic toolbox (e.g. supplementary visual material, videos, narrative accounts) | LGs explore the use of the larger social media dialogic toolbox, using images and videos to give information or to spread accountability messages |
| 3 | Openness about the subjectivity and contestable nature of calculations | Social media messages recognise the subjective and contestable nature of measures and inform on the decision rules as to what constitutes a “crisis response” move | LGs use messages not only for the disclosure of rules, but also for the explanation of decision rules and the rationale behind crisis response actions and decisions |
| 4 | Enabling access for non-experts | Social media give information access to all stakeholders, even those without specific technical skills and knowledge, in a way that allows them to understand the situation and participate | LG recognises the complex nature of relationships between knowledge, expertise and power using a language able to include people in the process, enabling “non-experts” to understand |
| 5 | Ensuring an effective participatory process | Social media messages should be structured by increasing the collection capacity of citizens’ needs and opinions on executive actions. Social media allows the creation of some (formal or informal) mechanisms to involve and hear citizens’ voices | LG creates content that allows users to ask questions directly to local government representatives, as well as posts that ask for opinions on specific topics (questions and polls to citizens) |
| 6 | Attention to power relationships and their dynamics | Social media messages are used for capacity building (e.g. developing skills and means to articulate currently marginalised voices in accounting terms) and do not use numbers as a tool of self-legitimation. Numbers, because of their aura of objectivity, hold power by masking value judgments and enabling manipulation in decision-making | LG uses social media as a capacity building tool, informing citizens with numbers, but explaining and educating citizens about the meaning and uncertainties behind those numbers, to empower them to interpret them and understand areas of uncertainty |
| 7 | Recognising transformative potential | Social media encourage social actors to be more reflective about the numbers and facilitate dialogue. The messages spread on social media help dialogic learning, discussion, debate, reflection | LG recognises the creation of debates and can have transformative potential and engage in interactions with the citizens’ comments for under accountability posts |
| 8 | Resisting new forms of monologism | Social media should not be a mere political communication tool where politicians and managers provide information according to the dialogic rhetoric concept just to guide actors to a pre-identified “new right answer” | LG attempts to create engagement on social media, even in a crisis context where decisions need to be made quickly, should form the basis for ongoing monitoring (e.g. comparing actual and expected results) as a way of keeping discussions alive |
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