Social Media at Work
Lecture 1
What is social media?
Broad definition = all mediated interaction
Narrow definition = internet-based built upon web 2.0 technologies
Many-to-many
User-generated content
Persistent
Issue with popular thought about social media
Focus on technological innovation
Focus on specific social media applications
Leads to…
Little attention to underlying characteristics of technology/application involved
Little attention to the interplay between the organization/people perspective &
technology perspective
Leads to…
Inability to explain or predict the success of technological innovation (including social
media applications)
An overly deterministic (often dystopian or utopian view) on the outcomes of
technology use
Sociomateriality = the entanglement of the social and the material in everyday
organizational life
interplay between technology, organization/work, and social
In organizations, technology/the material is either not observed or seen as miracles/key
enablers of change.
Duality of technology
Technology structures (recognizes that technological features affect humans)
And is structured (recognizes human agency)
,Technological determinism
Technology gives structure to human thought and behavior
Technology determines social change
o Technology = autonomous force
o Technology is not neutral
‘Hard’ Social constructivism
Social Construction of Technology
o Technology is not an autonomous force
o Technology = neutral
Technologies as texts…
o Written by inventors, investors, competitors, designers
o Interpreted by users (who live in particular social, governmental, economic,
and cultural contexts)
o Technology is structured by human thought and behaviour
Technological affordances
In-between determinism and constructivism
o Is the use of an object determined by its properties materiality
o Or is its use only determined in use?
Affordances are perceptions of an object’s materiality
o Perceptions of an object’s utility, its possibilities for enabling human action
Characteristics of Technological Affordances
Affordances are functional: the enable and constrain actions
Affordances are also relational: need to be ‘perceived’ to become active. The
perception depends on the actor who perceives and uses the technology.
Not always immediately and completely visible to the user Oftentimes
technological affordances only become visible after ‘being in use’
Affordances are contextual
o Which affordances are perceived, depends on social, cultural and economic
context
o Organization, team, colleagues
The context provides concepts and rules that affect how affordances are perceived
and used.
Thus, technological affordances are learned by socialization.
A technology is designed well when its affordances are readily perceivable.
Affordances concept
Benefits of the affordances-concept:
o Avoids determinism: constructivism debate as it acknowledges both
perspectives
o Describes interaction: not an organization theory, nor a technological theory
o Focuses on functionality rather than on features
Affordances and social media at work
o Changes in the way we work cannot be attributed solely to social media
, o In order to understand the role of social media in new ways of working, we
need to look at their affordances and the context in which they are
appropriated.
Organizational affordances of social media
Enterprise social media: Web-based platforms that allow workers to:
(1) communicate messages with specific coworkers or broadcast messages to everyone in
the organization;
(2) explicitly indicate or implicitly reveal particular coworkers as communication partners
[interaction partner or audience];
(3) post, edit, and sort text and files linked to themselves or others; and
(4) view the messages, connections, text, and files communicated, posted, edited and sorted
by anyone else in the organization at any time of their choosing.
1. Visibility of knowledge, behavior, relations,…
o Selection methods/opinion expression: tagging, likes, review scores, etc.
o Reputation and reputation management
o Notifications
2. Associations between content, persons, content-person
o Fingerprint
3. Editability a-synchronicity allows editing and revising of content
o Information quality
o Targeting content
o Regulating personal expressions
4. Persistence reviewability, permanence of content & communication
o Sustaining knowledge over time
o Robust forms of communication
o Growing content
Visibility and other affordances
Visibility is now seen as the root affordance of social media
o Most important affordance of social media
o Other affordance derived from visibility
Affordances are not fixed
o For a general perspective on social media, visibility may be enough
o Sometimes a more fine-grained subdivision is necessary when investigating specific
uses of social media (e.g., distinguishing between different types of visibility)
Communication technology affordances
Other technologies have other affordances
CMC technologies may be defined by:
o Visibility, persistence, editability, associations, but also by…
o Anonymity
o Controllability of cues
Affordances in use (Van Zoonen et al., 2023)
, Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence,
and Association
CMC = Computer mediated communication
E-mail
Teleconferencing
Intranet
Social media = places where they can be entertained, communicate and participate in a social
environment
Affordance approach = a perspective used to understand how people interact with and make use of
technologies based on the opportunities or possibilities they perceive in those technologies.
Conclusion
The review reveals four consistent affordances—visibility, persistence, editability, and association—
that could substantially alter core organizational processes. They advocate for an affordance
approach that focuses on communication practices, urging scholars to cautiously explore the evolving
landscape of social media use in organizations for lasting insights.
Computer-Mediated Communication in the Age of Communication Visibility
Visibility = refers to the means, methods, and opportunities for presentation; in our usage it
primarily addresses the speakers’ concerns with the presentation of self
Communication visibility refers to the outcomes of activities through which actors strategically or
inadvertently: (a) make their communication more or less available, salient, or noticeable to others,
and (b) view, access, or become exposed to the communication of others, as they (c) interact with a
particular sociomaterial context.
Five interrelated types of theory (by Gregor)
1. Theory for analyzing
2. Theory for explaining
3. Theory for predicting
4. Theory for explaining and predicting
5. Theory for design and action
Communication visibility is theory 2 by Gregor
Conclusion
CMC scholarship has overlooked the intricate link between communication practices/content
visibility and technology. There's a paradox: communication can be more visible than ever, yet
control over its viewing is limited. This paradox, characterized by contradictions, tensions, and
complexity, should be explored further by scholars using the multidimensional framework we've
presented to enhance our understanding of CMC's role in the era of communication visibility.
Lecture 1
What is social media?
Broad definition = all mediated interaction
Narrow definition = internet-based built upon web 2.0 technologies
Many-to-many
User-generated content
Persistent
Issue with popular thought about social media
Focus on technological innovation
Focus on specific social media applications
Leads to…
Little attention to underlying characteristics of technology/application involved
Little attention to the interplay between the organization/people perspective &
technology perspective
Leads to…
Inability to explain or predict the success of technological innovation (including social
media applications)
An overly deterministic (often dystopian or utopian view) on the outcomes of
technology use
Sociomateriality = the entanglement of the social and the material in everyday
organizational life
interplay between technology, organization/work, and social
In organizations, technology/the material is either not observed or seen as miracles/key
enablers of change.
Duality of technology
Technology structures (recognizes that technological features affect humans)
And is structured (recognizes human agency)
,Technological determinism
Technology gives structure to human thought and behavior
Technology determines social change
o Technology = autonomous force
o Technology is not neutral
‘Hard’ Social constructivism
Social Construction of Technology
o Technology is not an autonomous force
o Technology = neutral
Technologies as texts…
o Written by inventors, investors, competitors, designers
o Interpreted by users (who live in particular social, governmental, economic,
and cultural contexts)
o Technology is structured by human thought and behaviour
Technological affordances
In-between determinism and constructivism
o Is the use of an object determined by its properties materiality
o Or is its use only determined in use?
Affordances are perceptions of an object’s materiality
o Perceptions of an object’s utility, its possibilities for enabling human action
Characteristics of Technological Affordances
Affordances are functional: the enable and constrain actions
Affordances are also relational: need to be ‘perceived’ to become active. The
perception depends on the actor who perceives and uses the technology.
Not always immediately and completely visible to the user Oftentimes
technological affordances only become visible after ‘being in use’
Affordances are contextual
o Which affordances are perceived, depends on social, cultural and economic
context
o Organization, team, colleagues
The context provides concepts and rules that affect how affordances are perceived
and used.
Thus, technological affordances are learned by socialization.
A technology is designed well when its affordances are readily perceivable.
Affordances concept
Benefits of the affordances-concept:
o Avoids determinism: constructivism debate as it acknowledges both
perspectives
o Describes interaction: not an organization theory, nor a technological theory
o Focuses on functionality rather than on features
Affordances and social media at work
o Changes in the way we work cannot be attributed solely to social media
, o In order to understand the role of social media in new ways of working, we
need to look at their affordances and the context in which they are
appropriated.
Organizational affordances of social media
Enterprise social media: Web-based platforms that allow workers to:
(1) communicate messages with specific coworkers or broadcast messages to everyone in
the organization;
(2) explicitly indicate or implicitly reveal particular coworkers as communication partners
[interaction partner or audience];
(3) post, edit, and sort text and files linked to themselves or others; and
(4) view the messages, connections, text, and files communicated, posted, edited and sorted
by anyone else in the organization at any time of their choosing.
1. Visibility of knowledge, behavior, relations,…
o Selection methods/opinion expression: tagging, likes, review scores, etc.
o Reputation and reputation management
o Notifications
2. Associations between content, persons, content-person
o Fingerprint
3. Editability a-synchronicity allows editing and revising of content
o Information quality
o Targeting content
o Regulating personal expressions
4. Persistence reviewability, permanence of content & communication
o Sustaining knowledge over time
o Robust forms of communication
o Growing content
Visibility and other affordances
Visibility is now seen as the root affordance of social media
o Most important affordance of social media
o Other affordance derived from visibility
Affordances are not fixed
o For a general perspective on social media, visibility may be enough
o Sometimes a more fine-grained subdivision is necessary when investigating specific
uses of social media (e.g., distinguishing between different types of visibility)
Communication technology affordances
Other technologies have other affordances
CMC technologies may be defined by:
o Visibility, persistence, editability, associations, but also by…
o Anonymity
o Controllability of cues
Affordances in use (Van Zoonen et al., 2023)
, Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence,
and Association
CMC = Computer mediated communication
Teleconferencing
Intranet
Social media = places where they can be entertained, communicate and participate in a social
environment
Affordance approach = a perspective used to understand how people interact with and make use of
technologies based on the opportunities or possibilities they perceive in those technologies.
Conclusion
The review reveals four consistent affordances—visibility, persistence, editability, and association—
that could substantially alter core organizational processes. They advocate for an affordance
approach that focuses on communication practices, urging scholars to cautiously explore the evolving
landscape of social media use in organizations for lasting insights.
Computer-Mediated Communication in the Age of Communication Visibility
Visibility = refers to the means, methods, and opportunities for presentation; in our usage it
primarily addresses the speakers’ concerns with the presentation of self
Communication visibility refers to the outcomes of activities through which actors strategically or
inadvertently: (a) make their communication more or less available, salient, or noticeable to others,
and (b) view, access, or become exposed to the communication of others, as they (c) interact with a
particular sociomaterial context.
Five interrelated types of theory (by Gregor)
1. Theory for analyzing
2. Theory for explaining
3. Theory for predicting
4. Theory for explaining and predicting
5. Theory for design and action
Communication visibility is theory 2 by Gregor
Conclusion
CMC scholarship has overlooked the intricate link between communication practices/content
visibility and technology. There's a paradox: communication can be more visible than ever, yet
control over its viewing is limited. This paradox, characterized by contradictions, tensions, and
complexity, should be explored further by scholars using the multidimensional framework we've
presented to enhance our understanding of CMC's role in the era of communication visibility.
