Exploring the effects of enabling Web 2.0 in e-government services

Until now public organizations have been using Web 2.0 mainly to communicate their activities to the public, but we do not have many success stories utilizing social media in public service provision. As users are no more satisfied only with the pragmatic attributes of a product as useful functions, but are also expecting pleasure and satisfaction. This paper explores how governments can benefit from Web 2.0 features in order to provide enhanced service experience. The results show that some of the Web 2.0 features are perceived as highly appealing in online public service use referring to their ability to stimulate the innate human need for personal development or addressing a personal need of expressing oneself and being perceived by others in a certain way.