The Process of Personal Social Media for Work

Unveiling the 'Work' Behind Social Media

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2414818
AutoresStephanie L Dailey (0000-0002-9049-8521, Texas State University, autor de correspondencia), Madeline Martinson (InterDigital (United States))
Año2024
Volumen10
Número3
Fecha de publicación2024-07-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Media + Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2056-3051 • E-ISSN: 2056-3051
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/20563051241277313
OpenAlexW4402364711
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas40

Many employees are engaging in personal social media for work (PSMW), which involves posting work-related content from a user's individual social-media account. Despite quantitative studies demonstrating the presence and outcomes of talking about work on social media, scholars know little about the process of using PSMW. To fill this gap, the current study uses social identity theory and boundary theory as conceptual frames to learn why and how people engage in PSMW. Through analyzing interview and observational data from employees' social media across a variety of industries and work arrangements, we present a model of PSMW. Our findings contribute to scholarship in at least three ways. First, this study exposes the 'work' behind PSMW through a pattern of Labored Worklife: a paradox of communicating both authentically and strategically. Second, our findings show PSMW as a distinctive, flexible way through which workers can traverse complicated work and non-work borders and communicate multiple (even conflicting) identities on social media. Third, this project suggests connections between PSMW and scholarship surrounding emotion at work

Political science · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Engineering · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Knowledge Management and Sharing · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges · Mechanical Engineering