Workplaces and Social Networking Behavior on Employment

Relations
INTRODUCTION
Over the lsat couple of years, we have seen several firms adopt various
kinds of social media networkings such as blogs and wikis for internal use.
Social networking involves use of an online platform or website that enables
people to communicate, usually for a social purpose, through a variety of
services, most of which are web-based and offer opportunities for people to
interact over the internet, e.g. via e-mail and instant messaging. These social
media technologies, often termed collectively as Enterprise 2.0, enable firms
to accelerate organizational performance by supporting not just inward facing
collaboration but also to come together internally to respond to customer
support, innovation, and sales and marketing opportunities.
As defined by Boyd and Ellisons overview of the field in the Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication (2007) comments on the particular
communications opportunities provided by social networking sites (SNSs):
We define social network sites as web-based services that
allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they
share a
connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections
and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature
of these
connections may vary from site to site What makes social
network sites
unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers,
but rather that
they enable users to articulate and make visible their
social networks
While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical
features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an
articulated list of Friends who are also users of the system The public
display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. Beyond profiles,
friends SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base Some
have photo sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in
blogging
and instant messaging technology.

This study sets out to find out and examine the implications of social
networking and mobile information and communications technologies (ICT)
for employment relations.

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR EMPIRICAL STUDIES

On the basis of the above proposed model (see Figure 2), the following
research problems may be scientifically tested and studied in future
empirical studies:
Can social media behavior informatics serve as an assessment tool for
personality, motivation and other Behavioral Patterns?
Can Social Media data be fairly used in diverse decisions throughout the
various stages of employee life-cycle like recruitment, selection,
performance, development and transition?
Can the employability of social media HR analytics in HR Processes
specifically in hiring, selection, communication & collaboration, employee
engagement, internal branding and talent management be seen?