Social Media

Traditionally, consumers used the Internet to simply expend content: they read it, they watched it, and they used it to buy products and services. Increasingly, however, consumers are utilizing platforms - such as content sharing sites, blogs, social networking, and wikis - to create, modify, share, and discuss Internet content. This represents the social media phenomenon, which can now significantly impact a firm’s reputation, sales, and even survival. Yet, many executives eschew or ignore this form of media because they don’t understand what it is, the various forms it can take, and how to engage with it and learn. In response, we present a framework that defines social media by using seven functional building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. As different social media activities are defined by the extent to which they focus on some or all of these blocks, we explain the implications that each block can have for how firms should engage with social media. To conclude, we present a number of recommendations regarding how firms should develop strategies for monitoring, understanding, and responding to different social media activities.

Recently, scholars tested how digital media use for informational purposes similarly contributes to foster democratic processes and the creation of social capital. Nevertheless, in the context of today's socially-networked-society and the rise of social media applications (i.e., Facebook) new perspectives need to be considered. Based on U.S. national data, results show that after controlling for demographic variables, traditional media use offline and online, political constructs (knowledge and efficacy), and frequency and size of political discussion networks, seeking information via social network sites is a positive and significant predictor of people's social capital and civic and political participatory behaviors, online and offline.

Purpose. Service managers and researchers are especially interested in Generation Y’s social media usage because it may be a harbinger of how people will behave in the future. The purpose of this paper is to review what we know – and don’t know – about Generation Y’s use of social media and to assess the implications for individuals, firms and society. The paper describes a conceptual framework for understanding Generation Y’s social media use, its antecedents and consequences. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda to address unanswered questions about Generation Y’s use of social media.

Design/methodology/approach. The paper distinguishes Generation Y from other cohorts in terms of systematic differences in values, preferences and behavior that are stable over time (as opposed to maturational or other differences). It describes their social media use and highlights evidence of intra-generational variance arising from environmental factors (including economic, cultural, technological and political/legal factors) and individual factors. Individual factors include stable factors (including socio-economic status, age and lifecycle stage) and dynamic, endogenous factors (including goals, emotions, and social norms).The paper discusses how Generation Y’s use of social media influences individuals, firms and society. It develops managerial implications and a research agenda.

Findings. Prior research on the social media use of Generation Y raises more questions than it answers. It (a) focuses primarily on the United States and/or (at most) one other country, ignoring other regions with large and fast-growing Gen Y populations where social-media use and its determinants may differ significantly; (b) tends to study students whose behaviors may change over their life cycle stages; (c) relies on self-reports by different age groups to infer Gen Y’s social media use; and (d) does not examine the drivers and outcomes of social-media use. Our conceptual framework yields a detailed set of research questions.

Research limitations/implications. Gen Y is distinguished from other generational cohorts in its intense exposure to the Internet from a very young age. Further research is needed to identify enduring Gen Y traits and their influence on social media use. Also needed are studies investigating how Gen Y’s goals, emotions and norms influence – and are in turn influenced by – its social media use. Most studies consider Gen Y as a single homogeneous cohort; some compare and contrast Gen Y with other cohorts. However, there is significant heterogeneity within Gen Y’s social media use due to individual level factors identified by our framework.

Practical implications. Gen Y’s chief purpose for social media use is communication. We consider broad categories of social media usage (contributing, sharing, consuming or searching for content, participating, and playing). Social media offer opportunities to strengthen customer relationships by encouraging customers to engage with their brands and by fostering online brand or user communities, which can strengthen brand equity and increase customer lifetime value. Service industries traditionally rely on younger workers to fill their customer-facing positions. Hence, Gen Y’s use of social media also has implications for customer-employee interactions and for how firms hire, manage and motivate employees.

Social implications. There are beneficial consequences of Gen Y’s social media use. Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, have been used effectively to disseminate healthcare information to communities, especially teens and young adults. There is evidence of negative long-term consequences for society arising from Gen Y’s social media use, such as a deterioration of civic engagement, a loss of privacy and public safety, and an increase in cyber crime. Gen Y’s use of social media may be leading to changes in social norms and behavior at the societal level in domains such as civic and political engagement, privacy and public safety.

Originality/value. One of the great challenges in generational research is that many studies are cross sectional and do not distinguish between the effects of age versus generational cohort. A limited number of studies have used longitudinal methods (that distinguish between these two effects). They confirm some generationally enduring traits. However, Gen Y’s characteristics are often discussed in overly broad, even sweeping, terms – ignoring intra-generational differences. This paper provides a conceptual framework for considering the antecedents and consequences of Gen Y’s social media usage. It identifies unanswered questions about Generation Y’s use of social media, as well as practical insights for managers.