This chapter examines the effect of media richness of four popular social media (Facebook, YouTube, Skype and Wikipedia) applications on their usage for organizational learning. The study is guided by a research framework based on the amalgamation of the SECI model and the media richness theory (MRT). This framework was used to investigate the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCBOD) to investigate which social media platform used by this organization was effective for organizational learning. Data was gathered and analysed using surveys and hierarchical second-order structural equation modeling (SEM). The data was validated using SmartPLS 3. the study concludes that there is a strong relationship between media richness and social media usage for organizational learning.
TopConcepts And Principles Of Web 2.0 Technologies
The term web 2.0 is defined as “the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them” (Musser & O’Reilly, 2007). Web 2.0, which was originally coined in 2004 by O’Reilly Media, is used to refer to a second-generation approach to the World Wide Web (WWW) with community-driven services such as social networking sites, blogs, wikis, etc. (Paroutis & Saleh, 2009). The capabilities of web 2.0 has shifted the focus of end users from being passive content consumers to active user participation where they are allowed to collaborate, communicate, create, control, and share contents using the web as a medium for communication. Web 2.0 tools come in different forms and classes including blogs, collective intelligence (wikis), digital content management (media sharing), social networks, mash-ups, virtual worlds, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), tagging, peer-to-peer programs and so on.
Different classification models have been created in attempt to clarify the functions, tools and web application of web 2.0 in organizations. These classification models include SLATE, FLATNESSES and 4C models designed by McAfee (2006), Hinchcliffe (2007), and Cook (2008), respectively (Cook, 2008; Hinchcliffe, 2007; McAfee, 2006). SLATES is an acronym used to represent six classes of web 2.0 tools namely: search, links, authoring, tags, extensions and signals. Search technologies involve the tools that enable intranet users to find what they are looking for. Links provide guide to users on what they are searching for and provide structure to the online content (Hinchcliffe, 2007). Authoring technologies allow people to create contents for a broad audience either individually or collaboratively. Tags are tools that are used mainly for content categorization. Extensions take tagging a step further to introduce automation into the categorization process and pattern matching. Signals represent tools used to draw users’ attention when updates of their contents of interest appear. Dion Hichcliffe (2007) presented another classification model called FLATNESSES (Freeform, Links, Authorship, Tagging, Network-oriented, Extensions, Search, Social, Emergence, and Signals) to augment the SLATES model, to capture the social, emergent, network-oriented and freeform aspects of Enterprise 2.0.