How social media can afford engagement processes

The increasing popularity of social media has led many organizations to find new ways of customer engagement. This paper presents an initial pilot study to explore the affordance of social media in engagement processes. By applying the affordance theory and Porter’s process for engagement model, we used a case study approach to examine the case company’s Facebook and Twitter content to identify the engagement possibilities of social media. Our preliminary results show that social media opens a new channel for organisations to engage with their customers. We present a preliminary theoretical model to understand the how the functional affordances of social media are socialised in engagement processes, which ultimately gives rise to socialised affordances

Einsatz von Social Media im Rahmen der Dialogkommunikation

Das Internet wurde in den letzten Jahren zu einem festen Bestandteil des Alltags der Konsumenten. Social Media-Kommunikation bezeichnet dabei die unternehmensseitigen aktiven und passiven Kommunikationsmaßnahmen auf Social Media-Plattformen. Neben den unternehmensgenerierten Inhalten sehen sich Unternehmen den Herausforderungen der nutzergenerierten Inhalten gegenüber. Die Interaktion wird daher zum zentralen Merkmal der Dialogkommunikation. Der Beitrag diskutiert den Stellenwert des Kommunikationsinstruments für Unternehmen und zeigt die notwendigen Schritte der Analyse, Planung, Implementierung und Kontrolle einer Social Media-Kommunikationsstrategie auf. Ein systematischer Einsatz der Social Media-Kommunikation stellt eine wesentliche Voraussetzung dar, um die Sozialen Medien als Instrument der Dialogkommunikation zu nutzen

The Value Creation of Social Media Information

Part 4: Information Sharing on Social MediaInternational audienceSocial media information is a useful barometer of value characterising the digital age. To identify the core contributors of value creation, value is in the ‘eye of the beholder’, and ‘sharing’ social media information is indicative of communicating such perceived value. Sharing allows for belongingness, as people do not simply connect with communities, they contribute to communities, and shape them too. Content that is shared needs to be credible, especially as the power to persuade is being co-created by consumers. This is facilitated by sharing content deemed truthful and relevant; accordingly, information conveyed needs to be accurate and timely. Drawing from social network theory and Buckner’s (1965) theory on rumour transmission, we argue that the value of social media information is significantly created from an interplay of: (i) ‘sharing’, (ii) ‘persuasion’ and (iii) ‘timing’. This interplay is not exhaustive, however, as other contributors may exist, thus further research is advocated