Impact of Social Media on Collaborative Organizational Activities: Position Paper

Abstract

Web 2.0 technologies, commonly referred to as social media (SM), have become important
tools for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). SM tools can change the organizational
system through the way a business connects, collaborates, and cooperates and communicates. This
paper uses an Organizational Semiotics (OS) approach to explore the impact of the participatory
nature SM has on organizations as it focuses on the relations between the IT system, business process
and organization.

Introduction

Web 2.0 technologies, commonly referred to as social media (SM), have become important
tools for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). The use of these SM tools such as blogs,
wikis and social networking sites within organizations may have an impact on the organization and
users. SM tools can change the organizational system through the way a business connects,
collaborates, cooperates and communicates. Different scholars have proposed various socio-technical
approaches to study organizations and information systems (IS) analysis, modelling and
implementation. In our research, an Organizational Semiotics (OS) approach has been used to explore
the impact of the participatory nature SM has on organizations; conceptual underpinnings and
methods of analysis in OS provides a means to analyses SM at different abstraction levels.

Social Media is defined loosely and is considered a subset of Web 2.0technology; however,
the two terms are often used interchangeably. It is necessary to explore Web 2.0 in order to understand
the nature of Social Media. Web 2.0 was first introduced by O’Reilly in 2004, who described it as “a
more mature, distinctive medium characterized by user participation, openness and network
effects.”(Musser, O’Reilly et al. 2006, p. 4). SM tools such as, wikis, blogs, SNS, social tagging and
media sharing are used by organizations for communication, collaboration, cooperation and
connection (Cook 2008). These tools enable users to have more control over, selecting, filtering,
publishing and editing information while participating in creation of information (Tredinnick
2006).There is a need for a further study in CSCW, in regards to the use of social media tools within
an organization. In particular, further research is needed on how cooperative and collaborative
activities in organizations may be impacted by the collaborative activities of social media. The field of
CSCW does not have a clear definition and is studied from multiple perspectives. It is described by
some researchers from a technical design perspective (Grief 1988). Alternatively, it is defined by
researchers from a social perspective (Suchman 1994) (Bannon &Schmidt 1989), while others provide
a broader definition of CSCW. Wilson (1991) defines it as combination of the understanding of the
way people work in groups with the enabling technologies of computer networking, and associated
hardware, software, services and techniques. Because CSCW is loosely defined, it has been used to
understand a plethora of problem areas such as face-to-face meeting facilitation, desk-top
presentation, project management, multi-user applications, text-filtering software, electronic mail,
computer conferencing, hypertext, etc. (Bannon & Schmidt 1991).Bannon (1991) states that when a
computer-based system is introduced into organizational activities, there is an impact on the
organization and the activities are consciously or unconsciously redesigned. This means that
introducing a technical solution potentially changes the way people work, and that sometimes the
intended purposes or features for the use of new technologies may not be the way the users actually
use these tools. SM tools of the Web 2.0 platform have a participatory nature and therefore user
contribution is more important in creation and organization of information than traditional means
(Tredinnick 2006). Kling 1991) argues that computer and group use should be looked at in its
environment with a view of organizational structures around the emergence of new technologies, and
that the focus should be on the conflicting goals that are present in an organization.

Position: An Organizational Semiotics Approach

For these reasons an organizational semiotics (OS) approach has been taken for this paper as
it provides a methodology to investigate the informal, formal and technical aspects of the use of social
media for organizational collaborative activities. OS applies semiotic concepts to the analysis and
design of organizations and information systems (IS) focusing on signs and sign systems which are
created in business operations (Liu 1997). OS states that the key to an organization success is the
coordination and cooperation of organizational activities, which lie in the norms that define the
responsibilities and establish patterns of behavior (Liu 1997). It also offers a range of methods and
frameworks to analyses and design firms (Liu 2000), which will enable us to understand the ways in
which social media is used in firms Askool et al (2010) identified the socio-technical factors that
affect the adoption of social media in business as business objectives, sharing information, innovation,
familiarity, caring behavior, and trust. Additionally, adoption of SM can produce the benefits of
enhanced communication, collaboration, cooperation and connections that increase productivity and
profit. Further analysis using the Semiotic framework has shown that the social interactions level is
important when analyzing SM tools because of the human centered features of SM.

In our study of stakeholder valuation based on Hall’s cultural Behavioral aspects (Jacobs &
Nakata 2011) it was found that stakeholders value the use of social media within an organization,
especially in the cultural behavioral aspects of association, learning and temporality. Alternatively, the
cultural behavioral aspect of protection was shown to be valued the least. While recent studies have
shown that social media use in organizations can provide benefits and is valued by the stakeholders
there also been socio-technical issues that affect adoption. Further research should help bridge the gap
between the strategic business needs (intended needs), technology tools (social media) and pragmatic
needs of the users through the supported activities. This research should help organizations introduce
these social technologies into the organization by aligning these needs. Additionally, this should
enhance the research of the CSCW field with a better understanding of the impacts these tools may
have on social relationships and cooperative work within organizations.

Conclusion

The analysis carried out so far has given an insight into the impact social media has on
organizations. Further exploration into the observable activities of social