The Communicative Ecology of Web 2.0 @ Work : Social Networking in the Workspace

Social media have transformed social interactions and now look set to transform workplace communications. In this exploratory study, we investigate how employees use and get value from a variety of social networking technologies. The context of this research is four software firms located in China. Notwithstanding differences in corporate attitudes towards social networking, we identify common themes in the way Web 2.0 technologies are leveraged as value is created by employees at all levels. We draw on the communication ecology framework to analyse the application of various technologies. We inductively develop five propositions that describe how social networking technologies contribute directly to horizontal and vertical communication in organizations, and ultimately to individual, team and organizational performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.