Workplace Communication & Social Networking

Abstract

This thesis examines how the communication relationships between coworkers within a sales organization are conducted via social media. Ten employees were asked to explain how they use social media in their lives both during work and outside of work. Grounded in systems theory, this research utilized a qualitative thematic analysis to identify how these individuals use social media to connect with others. Results from interviews established three main areas of commonality among employees. With the given demographic of individuals that participated in this study, results showed that social media were not very widely used and what little use was being conducted was purely for recreational means and not between coworkers. The purpose of this study was to determine if social media had a dominant role in the communication conducted between these workers already, if not, then how social media might be utilized to enhance communication. Conclusions from this study identify suggestions for managers interested in integrating social media into the workplace, as well as suggestions for future analysis on social media usage in the work setting.