Leveraging Employees as Social Media Advocates: The Impacts of Social Media Communication Strategies on Employees’ Social Media Engagement

This study examines how internal social media communication strategies influence employees’ in-role and extra-role social media engagement. Based on social identity theory and conservation of resources theory, we investigated the effects of two types of internal social media communication strategies—organization-oriented and employee-oriented—on employees’ social media engagement. A survey of 429 U.S. employees showed that organization-oriented strategies enhanced employees’ organizational identification, which further motivates employees’ in-role and extra-role social media behaviors. Employee-oriented strategies also fostered employees’ social media engagement by strengthening their organizational identification and evoking positive emotions when using social media. These findings provide significant theoretical and practical implications for strategic internal communication and social media strategies.