Social Media Capital: Conceptualizing the Nature, Acquisition, and Expenditure of Social Media-Based Organizational Resources

International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Vol. 36, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.accinf.2019.100443

47 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2018 Last revised: 7 Aug 2020

See all articles by Gregory D. Saxton

Gregory D. Saxton

Schulich School of Business, York University

Chao Guo

Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania

Date Written: December 23, 2019

Abstract

The near-universal organizational participation in social media is predicated on the belief there are some tangible or intangible new resources to be had through tweeting, pinning, posting, friending, and sharing. We argue the linchpin of any payoff from engagement in social media is a special form of social capital we refer to as social media capital, and offer a conceptual framework for understanding its nature, acquisition, and expenditure. This paper contributes to existing literature by elaborating a new type of organizational resource and then synthesizing and extending research on the processes through which organizations can translate social media efforts into meaningful organizational outcomes. Understanding this causal chain is critical not only for measuring the return on investment from social media use but also for developing accounting information systems that are both adaptable to social resources and better able to exploit the data analytic and forecasting capabilities of real-time social media data.

Keywords: Big Data, Data Analytics, Resources, Social Capital, Social Media, Social Networks

Suggested Citation

Saxton, Gregory D. and Guo, Chao, Social Media Capital: Conceptualizing the Nature, Acquisition, and Expenditure of Social Media-Based Organizational Resources (December 23, 2019). International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Vol. 36, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.accinf.2019.100443, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3217732 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3217732

Gregory D. Saxton (Contact Author)

Schulich School of Business, York University ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://social-metrics.org

Chao Guo

Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104-6214
United States

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