Curvilinear relationship between social media use and job performance: a media synchronicity perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT An increasing number of employees are using social media for their daily work. But the relationship between social media use and job performance is controversial. To address this issue, this study explores the impact of different social media platform usage on job performance based on different usage purposes. The media synchronicity theory provides the theoretical foundation. Surveys were conducted in an Internet commerce company in China, generating 301 valid responses for analysis. The results showed that both work-related and social-related use of enterprise social media had a U-shape effect on job performance. Also, work-related use of general social media had a U-shape effect on job performance, whereas social-related use of general social media had no effect on job performance. These results offer insights about how organisations may guide their employees in their use of social media to improve job performance.