Organizational Social Media: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Social media refers to online tools that make it possible for users to create content, publish, share and communicate online. Social media use by and in organizations is a developing research field still in its infancy. The present paper presents a literature review on the subject of Organizational Social Media (OSM), starting and proceeding from van Osch and Coursaris’s literature review extending to 2011. The review contributes to the IS research field by describing how the IS research field defines and categorizes social media, identifying what topics are currently interesting and suggesting future research topics. The findings suggest that to a great extent the IS research field focuses on internal activities e.g. communication and knowledge sharing made possible by social media and that a common definition of social media is lacking.