Can non-work-related social media use benefit the company? A study on corporate blogging and affective organizational commitment

Abstract

Intra-organizational social media systems, such as corporate blogging, are increasingly implemented in companies. Although it is usually expected that such systems are used for sharing work-related information, employees also tend to use them for non-work-related purposes, such as posting leisure-related information, sharing life experiences, and exchanging emotional feelings. Whether the non-work-related use of corporate blogging is beneficial or harmful to an organization has yet to be adequately explored. Based on the literature on information systems and organizational behavior, we propose that although non-work-related corporate blog use does not directly improve employee work efficiency, it may increase employees’ affective organizational commitment. Accordingly, research hypotheses are proposed and tested using data collected from a large telecommunication company. The results show that non-work-related content contribution and information acquisition activities both have significant positive impacts on the affective commitment of employees. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.