Citizen organizing in cyberspace - Illustrations from health care and implications for public administration

This article investigates two examples of citizen cyber-organizing in the context of the literatures on social capital and organizing. It asks, What can cyber-organizations teach us about the current state of social capital? What are the implications of cyber-organizing for the context of public administration? What implications do cyber-organizations hold for the role of the public administrator? The author concludes that the continuous communication of participants in cyber-organizations, as well as their transitory and informal roles and rules, their social and emotional support, and their development of a shared understanding of the issues they face function as forms of social capital that facilitate civic engagement. Furthermore, cyber-organizations add to the fragmented and fluid social and political environment confronting public administration. Finally, to realize the potential power and significance of cyber-organizing, public administrators should begin to see such organizations through a lens that is different from the professional orientation to interest groups that has pervaded the field. Public administrators must reimagine themselves as agents of the social bond.