TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The high rate of internet penetration has led to the proliferation of social media (SM) use, even at the workplace, including academia. This research attempts to develop a topology and thereby determine the dominant use motive for faculty’s use of SM.Design/methodology/approach In this two-part study, a two-stage research design has been adopted for topology development based on the application of Uses and Gratifications Theory. In the second part, the Technology Acceptance Model is applied to discern the dominant motive for SM use in academia.Findings The work is able to develop a seven-item topology, conforming to the basic three use motives, namely, hedonic, utilitarian and social. The work shows faculty attach more value to the instrumental utility of SM, while the hedonic function is also significant.Practical implications Discerning dominant motive implies that SM use at the workplace should not be banned, rather effective regulated use will instil the faculty to enhance work outcomes. The conceptualisation of topology for SM use in academia at the workplace can aid in designing an effective organisation policy, and design of an internal SM platform.Originality/value The study is unique towards topology development for academic faculty and has many important implications for management and academia, especially towards policy design for SM use at the workplace. VL - 18 IS - 2 SN - 1477-996X DO - 10.1108/JICES-08-2019-0093 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-08-2019-0093 AU - Nijjer Shivinder AU - Raj Sahil PY - 2020 Y1 - 2020/01/01 TI - Social media use in academia: Towards topology development and investigation of dominant use motive T2 - Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 255 EP - 280 Y2 - 2024/09/21 ER -