The use of social media for employee communication in selected South African municipalities

Abstract

Social media networks have become integral to everyday human life as they are now essential sources of news, entertainment and have enabled collaboration in both organisations and communities. This study sought to explore social media’s use for employee communication and the challenges encountered in appropriating these social technologies focusing on communications departments in five local municipalities in the O.R Tambo District Municipality. The researcher adopted Grunig and Hunt’s (1984) Excellence Theory as the theoretical framework for this study. The researcher used a mixed-methods research approach to collect, present and analyse data. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the researcher used twenty-eight online questionnaires to gather quantitative data. Simultaneously, in-depth telephonic interviews were also conducted with the four communications managers in municipalities to collect qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, and qualitative were nested in the quantitative data to expound the results. At the same time, the researcher undertook thematic analyses for the qualitative data. The results of the research revealed that employees utilised social media for communication in the municipalities. Facebook and WhatsApp were particularly popular as they enable two-way symmetrical communication and dialogical communication. Social media played a significant role as a communication tool during the COVID 19 hard national lockdown as employees worked remotely. However, the challenge is that social media was not integrated and mainstreamed in overall communication strategies. As a result, some municipalities did not have social media policies and their support for social media use was minimal contrary to the Government Social Media Policy. Furthermore, the findings revealed that respondents perceived social media as an effective and useful communication tool for employees despite these challenges. The study proposes a conceptual framework of integrating social media within employee communication in local municipalities. In terms of recommendations, this study recommends that social media be integrated into municipalities’ overall communication strategies and must adhere to Government Communication Policy (2018). For improved symmetrical communications, municipalities must also provide support by providing data, technology, training and a supportive policy framework.