With the ubiquitous presence of smart phones and the availability of easy-to-use applications, there is an increase in the number of online services. A growing number of people now search for information and interact online. They expect to see services available and accessible online. To meet citizens’ expectations, governments have also increased their online presence. However, information and services are not the only reasons people go online. People also build their social circle online, seeking support and empathy, looking for someone with whom they can talk and who can understand their situation and worries. Online communities (and social networks in general) have been shown to have the potential to provide social and emotional peer-support. Our work aimed at determining whether online communities could be deployed in the public administration domain, in particular to support people receiving welfare payments, with similar benefits. We hypothesized that an online community could provide such support to disadvantaged citizens. Toward testing this hypothesis, after a user requirements analysis and some preparatory work, we designed and developed an online community for a specific target group of welfare recipients, as a collaboration between CSIRO and the Australian Department of Human Services. The community was deployed for one year. In this paper, we briefly explain our aims and the work that went into preparing for the community. We introduce the portal and the support it offered. We then report our observations and findings about both the informational and emotional support participants received, through an analysis of the comments posted in the community, and whether this support was perceived as welcome and useful.

中文翻译：

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政府运营的在线社区以支持福利金的接受者

随着智能手机的无处不在和易于使用的应用程序的可用性，在线服务的数量有所增加。现在越来越多的人在网上搜索信息和互动。他们希望看到在线可用和可访问的服务。为了满足公民的期望，政府还增加了他们的在线形象。然而，信息和服务并不是人们上网的唯一原因。人们还在网上建立自己的社交圈，寻求支持和同理心，寻找可以与之交谈并能理解他们的处境和担忧的人。在线社区（以及一般的社交网络）已被证明具有提供社交和情感同伴支持的潜力。我们的工作旨在确定是否可以在公共管理领域部署在线社区，特别是支持接受福利金的人，并获得类似的福利。我们假设一个在线社区可以为弱势公民提供这种支持。为了验证这一假设，经过用户需求分析和一些准备工作，作为 CSIRO 和澳大利亚公共服务部的合作，我们为特定的福利接受者目标群体设计和开发了一个在线社区。社区部署了一年。在本文中，我们简要解释了我们的目标和为社区做准备的工作。我们介绍了门户网站及其提供的支持。