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ABSTRACT
Social media is a relatively new and dynamic field dealing with the development and use of social media technologies by individuals and more recently by organizations. Although several frameworks and models have been proposed for studying social media, most provide only limited insights into the complex social activities that are supported by the strategic usage of social media in organizational settings. In this article, we take up this challenge and introduce a Strategic Social Action Framework for analyzing social media technologies and their strategic usage in and by organizations. This framework is based on Habermas’ theory of social action and the idea that social media platforms serve as sets of rules and resources that mediate strategic organizational (inter-)actions involving these platforms. We demonstrate the value of the framework by theoretically delineating the appropriateness of the framework to specific social media tools, as well as by empirically analyzing the strategic use of two publicly available social media platforms—Facebook and Twitter—by three large airlines—Delta, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and JetBlue. Our findings reveal that when implementing social media in organizational contexts, developers and managers should critically evaluate (a) the need for supporting a rich variety of action types, (b) the possible role of social media support in the specific action situation, and (c) the strategic alignment of social media affordances and specific social action categories. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.
Notes
1 We use the terms espoused and enacted affordances in largely the same way as Brown and Duguid (Citation1991) discuss espoused versus enacted practices in organizations. Espoused affordances—similar to espoused practices—refer to the canonical practices of use of social media, that is, the intended use of such tools. The enacted affordances—similar to enacted practices—refer to the noncanonical practices of use of social media, that is, using these tools in non-intended ways or developing “work arounds” in the employment of these tools.
2 In his earlier work, Habermas viewed strategic action as a subset of teleological action; however, in his later work, Habermas uses the two terms synonymously and interchangeably.
3 Dramaturgical Action is also associated with significantly higher engagement in terms of brand Facebook Page Likes (F = 8.095), Comments (F = 10.011), and Shares (F = 7.696).
4 Communicative Action is also associated with significantly higher engagement in terms of brand Twitter Favorites (F = 2.980), Replies (F = 5.342), and Retweets (F = 7.711).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Wietske Van Osch
Wietske Van Osch received her PhD in Economics (Information Systems) at the University of Amsterdam. Her doctoral dissertation focused on “Generative Collectives” and won the 2014 Gerardine deSanctis Award from the Academy of Management OCIS Division, was recognized as First Runner Up to the 2014 Academy of Management Academy-Wide Newman Award, and received the First Runner Up award for the ACM SIGMIS/AIS Best Doctoral Dissertation 2012.
Her current research interests include enterprise social media (ESM) and online communities for collaboration, knowledge sharing, boundary spanning, and innovation with a focus on the design of generative systems and communities, both inside and outside organizations. Current research projects involve extensive industry collaborations for research on ESM, big data, and social media marketing with companies including Steelcase and Leo Burnett. Her work on ESM has been funded by the National Science Foundation (http://esm.mi.msu.edu) and published in premier information systems and communication journals and conferences, including Journal of Information Technology, Information and Management, Computers in Human Behavior, International Conference on Information Systems, Americas Conference on Information Systems, European Conference on Information Systems, the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, and Communications Monographs.
Before joining the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University, she was also a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam Business School. She also holds a visiting appointment with the Department of Information Systems at the IESEG School of Management in France.
Constantinos K. Coursaris
Constantinos K. Coursaris is the associate chairperson, director of Graduate Studies, and associate professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. He is also associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and professor by Courtesy in Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting. His formal training consists of a B.Eng. in Aerospace, an MBA in e-Business, and a PhD in Information Systems with a concentration on electronic business and mobile commerce.
His doctoral dissertation focused on “Contextual Usability: The Impact of Distraction on User Performance, Satisfaction, and Adoption of Mobile Devices for Wireless Data Services.” During his academic career he has received many accolades in business analysis and e-Business research and development. Over the past decade, he has been the instructor of more than 20 university courses. He has also gained consulting experience in the private sector, focusing on Web content management, Website development, and event organizing. Dr. Constantinos has also held management positions in retail, hospitality, and information technology (IT).
Professor Constantinos studies user motivations, expectations, and experiences with new media and the consequent design implications with a focus on social systems. Having published over 25 peer-reviewed journal and 50 peer-reviewed conference publications, his current research interests lie in the intersection of usability and mobile technologies for the purpose of health and/or commercial applications. He supplements his research expertise with consulting on social media for governance and/or marketing, and has trained diverse organizations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).