Social media efficacy and workplace relationships
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
ISSN: 1356-3289
Article publication date: 30 May 2020
Issue publication date: 15 July 2020
Abstract
Purpose
With the increase of social media usage in the workplace as a background, this paper specifically addresses social media efficacy's and social media privacy's impact on supervisor and subordinate trust, affective organizational commitment (AOC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through the theoretical lens of communication privacy management (CPM) theory.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of 337 full- and part-time workers was conducted.
Findings
Path models showed that social media efficacy positively influenced social media privacy which in turn impacted both supervisor trust and subordinate trust. Supervisor trust was positively related to AOC, while subordinate trust positively influenced OCB. t-tests revealed differences between workers who have social media relationships with supervisors and/or subordinates and those workers without such relationships.
Practical implications
If workers believe they are adept at using social media, they will also be less concerned about the company's ability to infringe upon privacy through unwanted access to social media content. If social media efficacy drives perceptions of social media privacy and indirectly influences trust and organizational outcomes then it may be worthwhile for organizations to help enhance workers' feelings of social media efficacy through professional development programs.
Originality/value
This study is the first to extend research on workplace communication privacy into the realm of social media. Social media relationships also influence the work environment. These findings can be used as information in future research as well as policy development and professional development programs.
Keywords
Citation
Snyder, J. and Cistulli, M.D. (2020), "Social media efficacy and workplace relationships", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 463-476. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-01-2020-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited