An examination of the use of social media platforms in formal organisational communication at a selected university in the Western Cape

Abstract

Within modern society, social media has become an important channel through which communication can be facilitated. Social networks can be maintained even in geographically dispersed contexts. The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the ability to maintain these networks. Organisations have a social media footprint to communicate with broader society. Due to its prevalence in society, social media has infiltrated organisations and is used in different applications. It is expected that the use of social media is accounted for in the domain of organisational communication. However, this is not the case as organisations’ use of social media has outpaced academic research. This study explores the use of social media platforms for formal organisational communication through the lived experiences of university academics and administrative staff.