# Towards a New Digital Era: Observing Local E-Government Services Adoption in a Chinese Municipality
## Literature Review  
### E-Government Applications: From Website Portals to Multiple Channels  
Since the 1990s, e-government has entered public administration era with the utilization of ICT, beginning with straightforward services: official government websites, mayor's mailboxes, hotlines and online forums. As the coming of age of digital society introduces changes, scholars have gradually documented a transformation in e-government as well. With the popularity of multiple digital devices such as tablets and smart phones, governments have also endeavored to exploit the accessibility of e-services so citizens can reach the public departments via diverse entry points. Regarding theoretical discussions, for instance, [PERSON] et al. put forth the possibility of providing citizens with more sufficient and less constrained public services compared to traditional e-government applications called \"m-government\" (mobile-government) [7]. m-Technology is favored for its \"mobility\" and \"wireless\" compatibility [8], but m-government remains a complement to traditional e-government practices in which official channels are dominant without private engagement. On the other hand, social networking services (SNS) have begun to enter the governmental field as tools to accomplish improved public service and engagement [9]. Under the theory of Digital-era Governance (DEG) that said to be the successor of New Public Management [10], [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2013) have emphasized the pressure on governments from the rapid growth of social media in commercial, social and cultural life nowadays in digital era, which potentially facilitates the second wave of DEG to provide holistic services to citizens [10; 11]. While more and more citizens are on the social networking, governments have to embrace social media to \"catch up\" in the realistic digital world. Civil services via conventional e-government applications may no longer satisfy citizens who have already experienced transcendental communication on SNS. In this case, there should be no boundaries to governments' endeavor on the utilization of social media [12]. Various authors have provided ideas of applying social networking in the e-government area to achieve better outcomes to increase e-participation and transparency [13]. Social networking applications and social media not only affect e-government but also play a role in its communications process [14]. However, scholars have urged caution regarding the utilization of SNS in e-government As SNS has become a formidable presence in social life, some researchers suggest government should collaborate with private sector in a different and guided approach utilizing social media in the public sector [15; 16]; some authors have questioned social networking utilization's ability to reach every group of citizens equally [17], as well as the potential confusion between private and public use [18]. Whether there is theoretical consensus on the pace of SNS applications in e-government or not, both academics and practitioners need solid data and cases with respect to this ongoing tendency. This article aims to provide an observation of the adoption of local e-government services in the context of Chinese administration. SNS giants WeChat and SinaWeibo have been chosen by the public authorities as collaborators to deliver local e-serviceson their commercial platforms. The perspective of citizens is adopted in this research to explore user experiences for all kinds of e-services applications.