Guanxi in the Digital Age : The Influence of Social Media on Guanxi Development

Guanxi refers to the social practices of developing and leveraging personal ties to thrive in life and work. In this era of digital ubiquity, many of the interactions between Chinese employees are facilitated by social media. And yet, our knowledge of how the use of social media influences the development of Guanxi is limited. Toward tackling this knowledge gap, this research-in-progress paper presents an ongoing case study of how Chinese employees build, manage and maintain work and professional relationships when mediated by different forms of social media. From our findings to date, a preliminary theoretical framework is presented that depicts the influence of social media on Guanxi development along its four component dimensions: Obligation, Affection, Trust and Status. More specifically, our framework suggests that social media will not facilitate Guanxi development fully, but it makes the attainment of the advanced stages of the process easier.