Employees are increasingly using social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit to voice job frustrations and seek social support (Lee, 2020; Miles & Mangold, 2014; Sajjadiani et al., 2024). However, these online communities have the potential to develop cultures of cynicism (Korczynski, 2003) as employees engage in reciprocal sharing (Sajjadiani et al., 2024), which can reflect poorly on organizations and occupations. For example, employee social media comments have been used in court cases to diminish trust in police (Goldsmith, 2015) and can put healthcare professionals and their organizations at risk for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA; Rukavina et al., 2021). Many organizations now use social media to screen applicants and monitor employees, but the validity, ethics, and legality of these practices have been challenged in the literature and in the courts (e.g., Behrend et al., 2024; Bon et al., 2013; Clark & Roberts, 2010; Gigante & Fant, 2024; Thomas et al., 2015). Despite this contention, little is known about the motivation behind employee expression on social media, its relationship with job outcomes, or how negative expressions might be attenuated within legal and societal boundaries.
This symposium aims to deepen our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of employees' work-related social media expressions. We are especially interested in research on employee destructive voice, incivility, counterproductive work behavior, cynicism, or similar concepts with respect to employee social media use. Research on less destructive social media expressions, individual differences in employee social media use, organizational factors that influence employees' expressions, the predictive validity of social media screenings, or other related topics is also welcome. Conceptual papers, integrative reviews, and empirical research (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) will all be considered.
If interested, please send a short proposal (1-2 pages; include research question, theoretical framing, methods if applicable, contribution, and fit with the symposium) by Friday, November 7th. Participants' final papers (5 pages) will be due Friday, November 28th.
For submissions or inquiries, please contact Stacy Boyer (sboyer586@wcupa.edu) or Yoonhee Kim (ykim2@wcupa.edu).
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Stacy L. Boyer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
College of Business and Public Management
West Chester University
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