Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Risto Säntti
4. The social media mindset and knowledge management
Combining social media with knowledge management <strong>of</strong>ten focuses on tools, what <strong>the</strong>y are, how <strong>the</strong>y
can be adopted for use, what are <strong>the</strong> pros and cons. Suggestions are made concerning additions to
<strong>the</strong> existing social media toolbox in use. The principles <strong>of</strong> social media use are ano<strong>the</strong>r frequently
discussed topic. (Levy 2007) Tools and principles may be set upon unrealistic premises unless
emerging and existing mindsets are understood.
The empirical experience <strong>of</strong> this article emerges from explorative activities within one case
organization (described in more detail in Säntti 2008; Säntti & Säntti 2011). This company
implemented some intra-organizational social media mindset related interventions. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se was
<strong>the</strong> forming <strong>of</strong> a shadow management group that consisted <strong>of</strong> younger members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization.
They were expected to represent different thinking and working styles compared to those more
mature employees <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company. Differences in generation-related thinking and in working behavior
were made visible, and <strong>the</strong>se differences focused upon work itself, <strong>the</strong> work place, development, and
<strong>the</strong> balance <strong>of</strong> work and leisure time. Based upon this intervention <strong>of</strong> a social media mindset focusing
on conclusions, a new organizational unit was formed. This new unit was to be a social media task
force charged with giving continuous development impulses and suggestions to <strong>the</strong> company related
to social media, <strong>the</strong> social media mindset and business initiatives based upon <strong>the</strong>m.
This corporate attempt to capture <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>of</strong> social media through a new kind <strong>of</strong> organizing,
mindset recognition and change is fresh and challenging. Behind this decision lies an expressed
corporate management understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relevance <strong>of</strong> social media for <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> business.
The core task force is expected to recognize <strong>the</strong> social media mindset features that can be cultivated
and harvested. The core group is expected to find <strong>the</strong> right time points for new interventions, to define
actions to be taken, and to support <strong>the</strong> start <strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> a critical mass <strong>of</strong> employees.
Findings from discussions focused on social media utilization within organizations reveal <strong>the</strong> following
topics to be relevant (Säntti 2008). The idea here was to dig into <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> expanding <strong>the</strong>
understanding <strong>of</strong> factors influencing <strong>the</strong> willingness <strong>of</strong> employees to utilize social media tools within
organizations. The focus was on knowledge workers who had excellent technical abilities to utilize
social media, and an interest in <strong>the</strong> challenges preventing <strong>the</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> those tools – <strong>the</strong> key factors
being mindset related. The availability <strong>of</strong> relevant information and knowledge clearly functions as a
trigger. If <strong>the</strong>re is relevant information available, <strong>the</strong> interest in utilizing social media increases (see
also Awad et al. 2004). Ano<strong>the</strong>r factor <strong>of</strong> relevance is <strong>the</strong> perceived privacy <strong>of</strong> information. This
relates to <strong>the</strong> personal privacy, inter-organizational privacy etc (e.g. Dhillon & Moores 2001). A special
privacy related mindset issue is <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> anonymity. This means whe<strong>the</strong>r discussions are
conducted under one’s own name or under an alias. The issue <strong>of</strong> user age is a topic commonly
referred to as a factor influencing social media mindset (e.g. Jones & Fox 2009).
The case organization focus on social media mindset and knowledge management revealed that <strong>the</strong>
mindsets <strong>of</strong> knowledge workers did not differ considerably from those generally identified among <strong>the</strong>
wider public (Säntti 2008). Knowledge workers are no more apt to utilize social media tools in <strong>the</strong>ir
work, and <strong>the</strong>y carry similar doubts and prejudices to any o<strong>the</strong>r potential users. The user age and
generation seems to be a relevant factor in this respect.
The simplified interpretations <strong>of</strong> generations in relation to <strong>the</strong>ir social media practices – and <strong>the</strong>
mindsets behind those practices – prevail. Social media divides people into groups, <strong>the</strong> dividing
factors being <strong>the</strong> familiarity <strong>of</strong> tools, practices, and finally mindsets formed based upon experiences
and interpretations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m. Generations X, Y and Z (Stauss & Howe 1991) are <strong>of</strong> relevance from <strong>the</strong>
analysis point <strong>of</strong> view. Generation X is formed <strong>of</strong> people born between 1961 – 1979, generation Y
between 1980 – 1998 and generation Z between 1999 and approximately 2019. There exist
considerable differences in between <strong>the</strong> social media experiences and mindsets <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se groups <strong>of</strong>
people. A basic assumption is that generations grow to interpret realities according to <strong>the</strong> reality <strong>of</strong>
experiences during childhood and young adulthood. Worldviews are shaped by experience, <strong>the</strong>y are
internally coherent and consistent, and <strong>the</strong>y illuminate experience and guide our action (Olthuis
1988).
The mindset differences <strong>of</strong> generations are noteworthy. The reason why <strong>the</strong> generation approach is
relevant for organizational social media related knowledge management is <strong>the</strong> fairly long period <strong>of</strong>
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