From the Employee Perspective: Organizations’ Administration of Internal Social Media and the Relationship between Social Media Engagement and Relationship Cultivation

Abstract

This study examined communication strategies used by organizations to encourage employee participation on internal social media and analyzed whether employees’ internal social media usage engenders increased transparency and relational outcomes from the employee perspective. Specifically, researchers proposed and tested a conceptual model that links perceived organizational communication strategies (i.e., strategic information dissemination, two-way symmetrical communication), employee internal social media usage, perceived organizational transparency, and employee-organization relationships. Through an online survey of 1,150 employees from various organizations in the United States that had adopted internal social media, results showed that strategic information dissemination and two-way symmetrical communication both encouraged employees’ use of internal social media, which in turn, led to employees’ perception of organizational transparency and quality relationship outcomes with the organization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.