Social Media in Workplace Communication

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Table of Contents

Facebook
What’s App
Linkedin Elevate
References

Facebook

Facebook is one of the widely used online social media platforms that connect people from different regions to share information. One can access Facebook from devices that have internet connectivity; these include personal computers, smartphones, and tablets. The users only need to sign up and fill in information about them to help them connect with other users. Once the signing up is done, the individual can now post their information or photos and interact with their friends.

Remarkably, Facebook can be used in workplaces like Optus Company for communication. However, it is imperative to ensure that communication is secure and information may not be leaked to unnecessary parties. Some of the advantages that Facebook offers include groups; Facebook groups are a valuable tool in collaboration where employees can share information, questionnaires, and pictures in a message-board-like environment (Chung & Kim, 2017).

It allows private groups for the entire organization or a specific project. In this case, anyone who does not belong to the group is not able to view the group contents. Facebook also allows faster messaging, and threads can be maintained to help follow up. Some of the disadvantages posed by Facebook include security issues. The information posted on this platform may be prone to leakage. Therefore, for Optus to implement Facebook in communication, it may need to create a closed social network.

What’s App

What’s app is a social media platform that allows users to send text messages, and makes video and voice calls, all with just an internet connection. Individuals widely use this networking tool in different geographical locations to stay in touch (Men et al., 2020). Its instant messaging makes it very reliable in communication both in the workplace and in social interactions. Advantages of what’s app include the fact that the messaging is faster and more efficient than emails. This platform improves team communication internally; almost everybody uses what’s app. Therefore, it is easier for the employees to send information, files, and images (Nduhura & Prieler, 2017).

Moreover, with what’s app web, the users can type the information using the web browsers on their personal computers. What’s app also boosts customer communication; most customers will not pick up calls from unknown numbers. Thus, the use of what’s app texts makes can make it easy for Optus to make a follow-up for its customers.

The disadvantages of using what’s app are that it does not protect against data loss. Additionally, it does not have enterprise administration; the business cannot manage the users professionally. Moreover, it does not allow file sharing solutions; for effective communication, employees should share documents directly (Opgenhaffen & Claeys, 2017). To implement this platform in Optus Company, it is imperative to consider its usage, if it supports the required privacy and if its use will improve communication among the employees. The figure below shows a graph of how what’s app usage has grown from 2009 to 2013.

*Figure 1: Exponential growth of WhatsApp users from 2009 to 2013 (Steil, 2020).*

Linkedin Elevate

This is an example of employee advocacy tools; these enable the company to communicate with its workforce for news, announcements, and other available content. The employees later share this information with their networks to pass the information about their company (Collin et al., 2016). Linkedin Elevate helps bridge the gap between the organization and the outside world. Advantages include that it is free to use with the company page, and one can add content easily and find the trending information. Additionally, it can notify employees about specific content, and an employee can see the trending content.

Disadvantages are: It does not offer customer support for the advocacy efforts. It also does not verify if the employee works for the company; if a user writes that they work for a company, then they will get the curated information for the company’s program. Content segmentation and organization are very minimal, and for any employee to use it, they must have a LinkedIn profile. To implement this platform, Optus needs to consider the impact of its usage on productivity improvement (Sarma, 2021). Moreover, all the employees should be encouraged to have a LinkedIn profile to make it useful.

References

Chung, Y. W., & Kim, T. (2017). Impact of using social network services on workplace ostracism, job satisfaction, and innovative behavior. Behavior & Information Technology, 36(12), 1235-1243. Web.

Collin, K, Shiffman, D., & Rock, J. (2016). How are scientists using social media in the workplace? Web.

Men, LR, O’Neil, J & Ewing, M. (2020). Examining the effects of internal social media usage on employee engagement. Web.

Nduhura, D., & Prieler, M. (2017). When I chat online, I feel relaxed and work better: Exploring the use of social media in the public sector workplace in Rwanda. Telecommunications Policy, 41(7-8), 708-716. Web.

Opgenhaffen, M. & Claeys, A.S. (2017). Between hope and fear: Developing social media guidelines. Web.

Sarma, S. (2021). Use of social media in the workplace- Advantages and disadvantages. Web.