The interplay between users' intraorganizational social media use and social capital

The wide acceptance of social media by the public has caused companies try to use intraorganizational social media to increase employee work performance. However, simply implementing a platform is insufficient for success. Companies must encourage employees to use social media for work-related purposes. This study divided the use of intraorganizational social media into social- and work-related use and proposed a model based on the theory of social capital to explore the effects of social-related use on work-related use. The model was tested using a survey of users of intraorganizational microblog systems in China. The results indicate the relationships among two types of intraorganizational use and the dimensions of social capital, and that social-related use fosters work-related use directly and indirectly by enhancing social capital. These results facilitate an understanding of the value of social activities conducted using intraorganizational social media in organizations.