SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN WORKPLACE Name Institution Date Introduction Growth of social media use cannot be understated It has “changed the way we communicate Organizations can leverage opportunities arising from use of social media in workplace” The exploding growth of social media has significantly changed the way people communicate at home and at work. Social media applications include sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, Yelp, Flickr, Snapchat, Instagram, Second Life, WordPress and ZoomInfo. Not only has social media changed the way we communicate, but these applications present great opportunities for businesses in the areas of public relations, internal and external communications, recruiting, organizational learning and collaboration, and more 2 Recruitment “Social media” acts as a networking tool Useful in mining talent Organizations can post job openings on their social media pages Active job seekers following the social media pages immediately notified (Holland, Cooper, & Hecker, 2016) Recruiters and staffing managers can make use of social media sites in mining of talent. They can also post for job openings available in the organization where by active job seekers can apply. 3 Recruitment issues Accessing protected information regarding applicants Possibility in violating fair credit reporting law Negligent hiring claims (Collins, Shiffman, & Rock, 2016) During screening and background checks staffing managers could learn information about a candidate in social media that may be used against the candidate. A candidate could claim that a potential employer did not offer a job because of information found on a social networking site, which discusses legally protected categories such as the candidate's race, ethnicity, age, associations, family relationships or political views. In avoiding such employers should avoid use of social media when screening. 4 Employee engagement Social media can be channeled to engage employees and connect them. Companies can communicate through their official pages Employees can react on the same in the comment section Any clarifications or enquiries can be addressed immediately Social media can be used as a tool for engaging employees in workplace. Employees tend to feel more engaged in the workplace if they feel informed and if they believe their opinions are heard. Social media can give employers a way to spread the word as well as a way to channel employee comments. 5 Learning applications Social media can be used to incorporate learning into the organization It can be used to change the learning process Foster interactions during training sessions Its tools can be used for learning rather than turning for consultants outside the organization. Video instructions (van Zoonen, Verhoeven, & Vliegenthart, 2017) Social media is changing the way of learning in organizations. Social media is transforming the workplace into an environment.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN WORKPLACE
Name
Institution
Date
Introduction
Growth of social media use cannot be understated
It has “changed the way we communicate
Organizations can leverage opportunities arising from use of
social media in workplace”
The exploding growth of social media has significantly changed
the way people communicate at home and at work. Social media
applications include sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+,
Pinterest, Tumblr, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, Yelp, Flickr,
Snapchat, Instagram, Second Life, WordPress and ZoomInfo.
Not only has social media changed the way we communicate,
but these applications present great opportunities for businesses
in the areas of public relations, internal and external
communications, recruiting, organizational learning and
collaboration, and more
2
Recruitment
“Social media” acts as a networking tool
Useful in mining talent

2. Organizations can post job openings on their social media pages
Active job seekers following the social media pages
immediately notified (Holland, Cooper, & Hecker, 2016)
Recruiters and staffing managers can make use of social media
sites in mining of talent. They can also post for job openings
available in the organization where by active job seekers can
apply.
3
Recruitment issues
Accessing protected information regarding applicants
Possibility in violating fair credit reporting law
Negligent hiring claims (Collins, Shiffman, & Rock, 2016)
During screening and background checks staffing managers
could learn information about a candidate in social media that
may be used against the candidate. A candidate could claim that
a potential employer did not offer a job because of information
found on a social networking site, which discusses legally
protected categories such as the candidate's race, ethnicity, age,
associations, family relationships or political views. In avoiding
such employers should avoid use of social media when
screening.
4
Employee engagement
Social media can be channeled to engage employees and connect
them.
Companies can communicate through their official pages
Employees can react on the same in the comment section
Any clarifications or enquiries can be addressed immediately

3. Social media can be used as a tool for engaging employees in
workplace. Employees tend to feel more engaged in the
workplace if they feel informed and if they believe their
opinions are heard. Social media can give employers a way to
spread the word as well as a way to channel employee
comments.
5
Learning applications
Social media can be used to incorporate learning into the
organization
It can be used to change the learning process
Foster interactions during training sessions
Its tools can be used for learning rather than turning for
consultants outside the organization.
Video instructions (van Zoonen, Verhoeven, & Vliegenthart,
2017)
Social media is changing the way of learning in organizations.
Social media is transforming the workplace into an environment
where people learn naturally with each other all the time, not
just during a single training event. Social media permits
interaction with employees both before, during and after the
actual training session
6
Blogging
It can be used to promote the brand of the organization
Key information may be disseminated to customers via blogs
It can also be used internally as a training tool for employees
(Carlson, Zivnuska, Harris, Harris, & Carlson, 2016)

4. blogs, can be used to post entries for general public view,
usually on specific topics or on behalf of the organization.
Blogs for business can be aimed at attracting the attention of
potential employees, promotion of a brand , or disseminating
information out to customers, among other uses.
7
Microblogging and micro sharing
Allows real time exchange of information in small snippets
Allow project interactions.
Twitter can be used for such
Other tools include yammer and chatter
These technologies permit users to exchange information in
small snippets and in real time. Twitter is an example of a
microblog, but today some organizations use other
microblogging tools they can secure behind their computer
firewalls and restrict to those inside the company. Employees
can ask or answer questions, exchange information with peers,
find out who has needed expertise and quickly give their input
on projects. They can post their comments about documents,
proposals or presentations.
8
Metrics
Organization can measure social media results
Tracked metrics include;
Source of traffic
Visitors
Network size
Interactions generated by the brand

5. Monitoring of data is only valuable if the organization is
tracking and analyzing metrics which can be relevant to it and
then apply such information to improving its social media
strategy. As part of their social media strategy, organizations
should identify what important metrics to track.
9
Social media policy and guidelines
In making this successful organizations should have policies
and guidelines to guide social media use in workplace;
Clearly acceptable use policy should be outlined
Disciplinary measures upon violation of such policies
Productivity outlines when social networking (Holland, Cooper,
& Hecker, 2016)
In making this successful organizations should have policies
and guidelines to guide social media use in workplace;
Clearly acceptable use policy should be outlined
Disciplinary measures upon violation of such policies
Productivity outlines when social networking
10
Legal issues
Policies and protected activity
Ownership disputes
Password requests
Recruitment and hiring issues
the legal issues for employers to watch include policy content,
social media for recruitment and hiring, pitfalls of social media
"friendings," and questions about ownership of materials posted

6. online. Any policy should be in the form of a guideline, not an
absolute rule. If a guideline is made into a rule, the employer
may possibly violate the National Labor Relations Act, which
says employees have the right to engage in "protected concerted
activity."
11
Advantages
Facilitates open communication
Opportunity for widening business contacts
Useful recruitment tool
Can be used to improve the reputation of the organization
Promoting diversity and inclusion (Carlson, Zivnuska, Harris,
Harris, & Carlson, 2016)
Use of social media in workplace is associated with the
following advantages;
Facilitates open communication
Opportunity for widening business contacts
Useful recruitment tool
Can be used to improve the reputation of the organization
Promoting diversity and inclusion
12
Disadvantages
Exposure to network attacks
Online scams
Distribution of confidential information
It can be used to damage the reputation of the organization

7. Visiting some social networking sites could potentially expose
the company to networks malware which may enable hackers to
gain unauthorized access into the system of the organization
There is also a risk of distributing or sharing confidential
information that may harm or damage the reputation of the
organization.
13
References
Carlson, J. R., Zivnuska, S., Harris, R. B., Harris, K. J., &
Carlson, D. S. (2016, January 1). Social Media Use in the
Workplace: A Study of Dual Effects. Retrieved May 13, 2020,
from Journal of Organizational and End User Computing
(JOEUC) website: https://www.igi-global.com/article/social-
media-use-in-the-workplace/142884
Collins, K., Shiffman, D., & Rock, J. (2016). How Are
Scientists Using Social Media in the Workplace? PLOS
ONE, 11(10), e0162680.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162680
Holland, P., Cooper, B. K., & Hecker, R. (2016). Use of social
media at work: a new form of employee voice? The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(21),
2621–2634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1227867
van Zoonen, W., Verhoeven, J. W. M., & Vliegenthart, R.
(2017). Understanding the consequences of public social media
use for work. European Management Journal, 35(5), 595–605.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2017.07.006
Research Theory, Design, and Methods Walden University

8. © 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 2
Threats to Internal Validity
(Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002)
1. Ambiguous temporal precedence. Based on the design, unable
to determine
with certainty which variable occurred first or which variable
caused the other.
Thus, unable to conclude with certainty cause-effect
relationship. Correlation
of two variables does not prove causation.
2. Selection. The procedures for selecting participants (e.g.,
self-selection or
researcher sampling and assignment procedures) result in
systematic
differences across conditions (e.g., experimental-control). Thus,
unable to
conclude with certainty that the “intervention” caused the
effect; could be due
to way in which participants are selected.
3. History. Other events occur during the course of treatment
that can interfere
with treatment effects and could account for outcomes. Thus,
unable to
conclude with certainty that the “intervention” caused the
effect; could be due
to some other event to which the participants were exposed.
4. Maturation. Natural changes that participants experience

9. (e.g., grow older,
get tired) during the course of the intervention could account
for the
outcomes. Thus, unable to conclude with certainty that the
“intervention”
caused the effect; could be due to the natural change/maturation
of the
participants.
5. Regression artifacts. Participants who are at extreme ends of
the measure
(score higher or lower than average) are likely to “regress”
toward the mean
(scores get lower or higher, respectively) on other measures or
retest on
same measure. Thus, regression can be confused with treatment
effect.
6. Attrition (mortality). Refers to dropout or failure to complete
the
treatment/study activities. If differential dropout across groups
(e.g.,
experimental-control) occurs, could confound the results. Thus,
effects may
be due to dropout rather than treatment.
7. Testing. Experience with test/measure influences scores on
retest. For
example, familiarity with testing procedures, practice effects, or
reactivity can
influence subsequent performance on the same test.
8. Instrumentation. The measure changes over time (e.g., from
pretest to
posttest), thus making it difficult to determine if effects or
outcomes are due to

10. instrument vs. treatment. For example, observers change
definitions of
behaviors they are tracking, or the researcher alters
administration of test
items from pretest to posttest.
9. Additive and interactive effects of threats to validity. Single
threats interact,
such that the occurrence of multiple threats has an additive
effect. For
example, selection can interact with history, maturation, or
instrumentation.
Research Theory, Design, and Methods Walden University
© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 2
Reference
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002).
Experimental and quasi-
experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston,
MA:
Houghton-Mifflin.
Threats to Internal ValidityShadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., &
Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental
designs for generalized causal inference. Boston, MA:
Houghton-Mifflin.