Is there a Way of Being Social? -A study about how companies use social media

Abstract

The users of social media create and improve the social media platforms they use through networking, communicating, and sharing information and applications with others within the online space. Three companies are presented in this study, which all see a benefit of having a presence in social media, mainly as a way to reach external stakeholders to increase their brand value. In this thesis the use of social media is addressed from a corporate management perspective. The idea that social media has an increasing importance in companies is discussed. This thesis has as its purpose to highlight consequences on the internal organization when implementing a social media strategy. Social media can by its nature create new ways for democracy and companies want to be included in this online space. The requirements on openness and transparency, which stimulate the social media platforms, are hard for the companies to accept. They are not prepared release the control and they are afraid of sharing too much information which could possibly hurt the company.