Corporate Users' Attachment to Social Networking Sites: Examining the Role of Social Capital and Perceived Benefits

The debate on the pros and cons of employee attachment to social networking sites (SNS) has led to social media policy paralysis in many organizations, and often a prohibition on employee use of SNS. This paper examines corporate users' attachment to SNS. An analysis of 316 survey responses showed that corporate users' socialization in large public SNS was steeped in perceived work-related benefits, which in turn nourished their SNS attachment. Social use outperformed informational use in generating perceived work-related benefits from SNS. Weak ties in large heterogeneous networks resulted in strategic and operational benefits, whereas the effects of strong bonding in homogenous networks were limited to operational benefits. The paper contributes to research on SNS use by corporate users and the debate on the effect of SNS use for work. The findings will benefit SNS strategists of organizations and policymakers to exploit the benefit potential of public SNS.