Employee Behavior in Social Media: its effect on Organization

Running head: MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT
Management Communication Assignment
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1MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT
Topic: Employee Behavior in Social Media: its effect on Organization
The impacts of social media on any organization has become one of the major
concern for the organization heads. The positive influence and opportunities that it presents
cannot be denied and thus, social media as a communication platform cannot be dismissed
(Majchrzak et al. 2013). So, it has become important that the usage of social media by the
employees is controlled and managed professionally. The enterprises generally use social
media policies and template to ensure best practice (Leftheriotis and Giannakos 2014).
Response to Q1:
Compare and Contrast of Challenges of Traditional Communication and Social
Media
Traditional media channels like television, radio, newspaper, email are expensive.
One has to buy their spots for advertisements and promotion in these channels that is in most
cases pricey. Moreover, they have to invest a substantial amount of money for the creation of
the advertisement. It is difficult for small organizations to afford these expenses continuously.
Social media on the other hand is much more reasonable, sometimes free of cost. Many small
enterprises only market their business through likes and shares to spread the word at the
initial stage. Traditional channels can target few segment of consumers at one time, social
media on the other hand can reach a large mass of people at one go, thus reducing the time
and expense for communication (Wendling, Radisch and Jacobzone 2013). For traditional
media, it is difficult to respond to changes in the market promptly. These communication is
generally planned beforehand while social media communication is instantaneous. Moreover,
in case of traditional communication, reaching the target audience is harder and the amount
of information one can deliver is limited. Social media, on the contrary, has unlimited scope

2MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT
of information sharing and the target audience are easily reached. Thus, it is quite clear that
the use of social media in this competitive and fast changing market has become mandatory.
Response to Q2:
Impact of Employee behaviour or comment in Social Media on Organization
Employee behaviour on social media platforms can have both positive and negative
effects on an organization. The positive effect that this phenomenon can bring is publicity of
the company whereas the negative impact is the risk to their image and reputation.
Organizations maintain and use social media pages for the promotion of their products and
services. The employees too are engaged there to promote the interest of the organization. If
their comments and behaviour are positive and are aligned with the interest of the company,
they will have a positive effects on the larger audience. They will develop a positive image
on the company and their products (Men 2014). Any negative comments on the other hand
can have long lasting detrimental consequences on the company image. As the target
audience of social media is much larger and in most cases far reaching, it might reach a
broader section of audience that had the potential of becoming their clients. It also affects
future employee involvement to the organization. Employees may disclose internal
documents, client info or criticism on social media that will create threat for the company.
Response to Q3:
Social Media Policy of a Company
It is necessary to ensure that the employee activities on social media does not affect
the organization adversely. The policy will have clear guidelines that will state the actions
that employees of the organization can be involved in regarding the organization which will