Organizational members’ useof social networking sites

and job performanceAn exploratory study

Murad MoqbelHealth Information Management & Health Informatics Departments,

University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Saggi NevoDepartment of Information Technology Management,University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA, and

Ned KockDivision of International Business and Technology Studies,Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA

Abstract

Purpose – There is considerable debate among academics and business practitioners on the value ofthe use of social networking by organizational members. Some, fearing presenteeism (i.e. being atthe workplace but working below peak capacity), claim that the use of social networking sitesby organizational members is a waste of time, while others believe it leads to improvements in jobperformance, partly due to employees’ successful efforts to balance work-life realms. This paper aimsto inform this debate by examining the use of social networking sites by organizational members andits effect on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance.Design/methodology/approach – The exploratory study is based on a survey of 193 employees,focusing on the following constructs: social networking site use intensity, perceived job satisfaction,perceived organizational commitment, and job performance. The authors’ proposed model wasevaluated using variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM), a latent variable-based multivariatetechnique enabling concurrent estimation of structural and measurement models under nonparametricassumptions. This study used WarpPLS 2.0 to assess both the measurement and the structural model.Findings – The results show that social networking site use intensity has a significant positive effecton job performance through the mediation of job satisfaction, and that this mediating effect is itselfmediated – in a nested way – via organizational commitment. The findings suggest that socialnetworking site use, rather than causing presenteeism, may be a new way through which employeesbalance their work-life realms, in turn benefitting their organizations.Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze, in anintegrated way, the relationship between those theoretical constructs.

Keywords Social networking sites, Presenteeism, Work-life balance, Job satisfaction,Affective commitment, Job performance, Workplace, Job performance, Structural equation modeling,WarpPLS

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionThe technological advances and the increased use of the internet in recent years haveled to a communication revolution (Massari, 2010; Moqbel, 2012). This communicationrevolution as well as the more technologically empowered lifestyle of the individualusers has changed the way people communicate and connect with each other

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0959-3845.htm

Received 12 October 2012Revised 22 February 201316 April 201318 April 201319 April 2013Accepted 19 April 2013

Information Technology & PeopleVol. 26 No. 3, 2013pp. 240-264r Emerald Group Publishing Limited0959-3845DOI 10.1108/ITP-10-2012-0110

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(Coyle, 2008; O’Murchu et al., 2004). Social networking sites are a recent trend of thisrevolution. Social networking sites are defined by Boyd and Ellison (2007, p. 211) as“web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-publicprofile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom theyshare a connection with, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and thosemade by others within the system.” Rooksby et al. (2009) divide social networking sitesinto two main types: public social networking sites and internal social networkingsites. Public social networking sites are run by commercial providers and are often free.Examples are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (for basic accounts). Internal socialnetworking sites are owned by organizations for their own internal use. Examples areWatercooler at HP, Beehive at IBM, Harmony at SAP, D Street at Deloitte, and TownSquare at Microsoft. This study looks at the use of public social networking sites byemployees for several reasons. First, those sites have experienced exponential growthin the past few years and are now all but omnipresent. Second, their use in theworkplace has been controversial, unlike that of their private counterparts. Third, theuse of public social networking sites does not only enable employees to communicateand connect with coworkers, but also with family members and friends. This latteraspect of public social networking sites is posited to be especially important in helpingemployees balance their work-life realms.

Like several emerging technologies, social networking sites, and their use byorganizational members, have been controversial. Some argue that the use of socialnetworking sites by members of an organization leads to better employee productivitythrough effects on intermediate variables, such as higher morale (AT&T, 2008; Bennettet al., 2010; Leidner et al., 2010; Li and Bernoff, 2008; Patel and Jasani, 2010). Others,likely reflecting employers’ fear of the adverse effects of nonwork-related presenteeism(D’Abate and Eddy, 2007), argue that organizational members’ use of social networkingsites causes loss of labor productivity as a result of time wasted at work (Nucleus, 2009;O’Murchu et al., 2004; Rooksby et al., 2009; Shepherd, 2011; Wavecrest, 2006).

In support of the opponents of social networking site use by organizationalmembers, a study by Nucleus Research (2009) suggested that full access to Facebookalone at the workplace results in a 1.5 percent drop in productivity. On the other hand,Leidner et al. (2010) found that the ability of employees to access Facebook at work wasa great incentive for retention and organizational commitment – particularly of newhires, as they can be socially connected with family, friends, and other coworkers in theworkplace, leading to a better work-life balance. In addition, a European studycommissioned by AT&T (2008) found that 65 percent of employees believed that theuse of social networking sites in the workplace helped them become more productive.

Most research studies on social networking sites relied on college student data(Clark and Roberts, 2010; Dwyer, 2007; Dwyer et al., 2007; Ellison et al., 2007; Hargittai,2008; Mainier and O’Brien, 2010; North, 2010), which, could create external validityproblems when attempting to extrapolate the results to business settings. In this study,we are collecting data from working professionals to test our hypotheses of whetherthe use of social networking sites has effects on job satisfaction, organizationalcommitment, and ultimately job performance.

This study is partly motivated by North’s (2010) call to investigate whether socialnetworking site use by organizational members influences their productivity. It hasbeen noted that social networking site use could lead to role conflicts (Baker et al.,2011), which negatively affect work-related attitudinal outcomes such as jobsatisfaction and organizational commitment (Koch et al., 2012). One the other hand,

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anecdotal evidence suggests that social networking site use by organizationalmembers can improve organizational commitment (Leidner et al., 2010). Hence, thisstudy was further motivated by the lack of empirical studies examining the impact ofsocial networking site use by organizational members on organizational commitment,and job outcomes. The main objective of this study is thus to inform the debate on theproductivity paradox of social networking site use by studying whether the use ofsocial networking sites by organizational members leads to work-life balance orpresenteeism. Therefore, the research question motivating this paper is, whether, andunder what conditions, the use of social networking sites by organizational memberscan lead to improved job performance?

Research background and hypothesesThe hypotheses introduced in this section are depicted in the research model inFigure 1. Each main construct was included in the model as a latent variable, shownwithin an oval symbol. Hypotheses are represented by arrows connecting pairs oflatent variables. Several control variables were included in the analysis; these areshown at the top-right area of the figure.

Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon that has not yet been fullyinvestigated (North, 2010). The effect of the use of social networking by organizationalmembers is being debated by academics and practitioners (Boyd and Ellison, 2007; North,2010). Social networking site use may be seen as a source of reduced productivity since itcan be a waste of time, likely reflecting employers’ fear of the adverse effects of nonwork-related presenteeism (D’Abate and Eddy, 2007). Alternatively, it may be seen as a source ofperformance stimulus as it offers employees a mechanisms for achieving work-life balance(DiMicco et al., 2008). To the extent that organizational members succeed in the balancingact they may exhibit increased job satisfaction, stronger organizational commitment,and ultimately performance better at their job. Investigating whether social networkingsite use can achieve work-life balance is therefore crucial to informing the debate on the

Control variables:- Age- Gender- Experience- Education- Full-time/Part-time- Race/Hispanic- Policy

H1

H2 H3

H5

JobSatisfaction

JobPerformance

OrganizationalCommitment

SocialNetworking Site

Use Intensity

H6 H4

Figure 1.Research model andhypotheses

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productivity paradox of social networking. In other words, when social networking siteuse promotes work-life balance, positive impacts on employee work-related outcomes,specifically employee performance, would likely be established. If work-life balance is notachieved, the use of social networking sites by organizational members could insteadproduce negative work-related outcomes. Next, we elaborate on the potential downsideand upside of social networking site use by organizational members by building on theliteratures on presenteeism and work-life balance, respectively.

Presenteeism and work-life balanceEmployers’ concerns regarding social networking site use by their employees are notbaseless as the evidence shows that employees spend, on average, 80 minutes per dayengaging in nonwork-related activities, such as sending and receiving e-mail fromfriends and family, talking on the phone for personal business, and surfing the internet(D’Abate and Eddy, 2007). Thus, although they are present at work, employees mightnot perform to the best of their ability due to lack of concentration orabsentmindedness, thus exhibiting presenteeism (D’Abate and Eddy, 2007).

Presenteeism was originally proposed as a term for describing situations whereemployees come to work when they are ill or injured and due to their illness or injurythey perform below peak levels, such as producing lower quantity of output or lowerquality of work, making mistakes, and repeating tasks (Hemp, 2004; Zengerle, 2004).The term presenteeism was later expanded to describe situations in which employeesunderperform because of lack of concentration (Simpson, 1998). Most recently,presenteeism has been suggested as a term for describing employees who engage innonwork-related activities such as personal business for a portion of the workday(D’Abate and Eddy, 2007). Employees may engage in myriad nonwork-relatedactivities, including surfing the internet, sending and receiving e-mails from friends,shopping online, having social conversation, and getting visits from family (D’Abateand Eddy, 2007). Cleary, employers have grounds for being concerned about suchactivities, which can be linked to lost productivity.

However, when we consider the reasons behind the apparent nonwork-relatedpresenteeism, it is possible to identify problems which such activities may help toalleviate. A key reason for presenteeism in the form of nonwork-related activities isto achieve better work-life balance (D’Abate, 2005). Work cannot be separated fromemployees’ other life’s realms – that is, home and leisure (Crouter, 1984; Hochschild,1997; Watkins and Subich, 1995). In fact, individuals consciously cross the permeableboundaries of these realms in an effort to balance their roles within them (Ashforthet al., 2000). For example, employees often use the telephone to get in touch with a sickrelative, congratulate a friend on the birth of a new child, and set plans for after workevents. On the other hand, employees often check their work e-mail from home anddiscuss work-related problems with friends and family. Thus, the three realms – work,home, and leisure – are intertwined, and imbalance and conflict among them couldhave negative impact on employees and, consequently, their workplace (Greenhaus andBeutell, 1985; Hobsor et al., 2001). For example, if an employee comes to work after, say,she has had an argument with her spouse, preoccupation with such an unresolvedhome issue could cause an emotional strain and become a distraction at work, therebyimpacting her job satisfaction and performance. If she is able to pick up the phone ordiscuss this issue with a friend or a family member via a social networking site andrestore balance to her home realm, this employee is likely to regain emotional stabilityand perform at higher levels.

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Employees who are given opportunities to balance work-life are more likely toexpress higher commitment levels, perform at higher levels, and report greater levelsof job satisfaction (Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000). Accordingly, in this paper weempirically explore the proposition that social networking site use by organizationalmembers, which might be interpreted as a form of presenteeism by concernedemployers and seen as having detrimental consequences for organizations, can in factpromote higher commitment to the organization and induce higher job satisfactionevaluations, and ultimately enhance employee job performance.

Social networking site use: relationships with job performance and job satisfactionSeveral studies have been conducted on social networking sites, examining a variety ofimportant aspects. For instance, North (2010) explored the benefits as well as the risksof the use of social networking sites in the workplace and concluded that employeesbelieve that social networking site use in the workplace is worthwhile. This finding isnot surprising, given that one of the primary objectives of using social networking sitesis to develop new relationships as well as to maintain existing relationships. Ellisonet al. (2007) found a strong association between the intensity of use of Facebook andsocial capital and that using this social networking site can help certain users to dealwith low self-esteem and low life satisfaction. Leidner et al. (2010) report that the use ofan internal social networking system at a particular organization helped new hiresbetter acclimate into the IT department. Some of the benefits Leidner and hercolleagues found include stronger sense of cultural belonging, higher morale, and amore exciting environment for entry-level IT workers. The same study found that theability of employees to access Facebook at work was a great incentive for the retentionand organizational commitment of new hires as they can be socially connected withfamily, friends, and other coworkers in the workplace. In addition, a studycommissioned by AT&T (2008) found that 65 percent of employees believed that theuse of social networking helped them be more productive. Moreover, Ali-Hassan et al.(2011) found that using social computing at the workplace increases employees’ jobperformance by enhancing first their social capital. Furthermore, Bennett et al. (2010)report that the benefits of social networking site use in the workplace can includeenhanced collective knowledge, improved knowledge, increased productivity, andimproved morale. In sum, the use of social networking sites by organizational memberscould lead to benefits to both the employee and the organization.

On the other hand, some studies suggest that the use of social networking in theworkplace might lead to loss in worker productivity (Nucleus, 2009; O’Murchu et al.,2004; Rooksby et al., 2009; Shepherd, 2011; Wavecrest, 2006). Indeed, it was found thatfull Facebook access in the workplace results in a 1.5 percent drop in productivity(Nucleus Research, 2009). Social networking site use can be argued to lead to distraction,reducing individuals’ task performance. For instance, in an academic setting, students,using social networking sites while studying, reported to have lower performance thantheir peers (Kirschner and Karpinski, 2010). In addition, by blurring the boundariesbetween life and work realms, social networking site use by organizational membersmight cause home and leisure issues to interfere with job responsibilities, therebyresulting in diminished job performance (Allen et al., 2000; Kossek and Ozeki, 1999).

Although the above does not depict a clear positive or negative impact of socialnetworking site use on job performance we expect the effect to be mainly positive byarguing that social networking site use by employees can be seen as a tool forenhancing work-life balance. Extant literature indicates that work-life balance

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practices positively influence organizational member productivity. For instance,research found that allowing employees to take care of personal business at workwas a significant factor behind their outstanding performance (Ioan et al., 2010).Organizations have utilized work-life balance practices as a strategic human resourcemanagement practice that resulted not only in improved individual performance, butalso reduced absenteeism, job stress, and turnover rate (Ioan et al., 2010). This, inturn, eventually results in enhanced job performance. Since organizational membersmay resort to social networking site use as a means for reaching work-life balance(DiMicco et al., 2008), we hypothesize that:

H1. Organizational members’ social networking site use intensity is positivelyassociated with increased job performance.

The conflicting evidence regarding the impact of social networking sites on jobperformance may be further explained by the absence of relevant mediators from pastmodels. In this paper we identify two relevant variables – i.e. job satisfaction andorganizational commitment – that appear to play an important role as mediators in therelationship between social networking site use and job performance. We discuss thesevariables next, beginning with job satisfaction.

As noted above, organizational members aim to balance three realms – work, home,and leisure (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985, Hobsor et al., 2001). Achieving balance wasfound to enhance job satisfaction (Kanwar et al., 2009). Research has shown thatemployees who have better work-life balance tend to be more satisfied with their jobsand have less burnout (Malik et al., 2010). A recent research showed that work-lifebalance is a key factor in attracting quality employees (Converge International, 2008).Social networking sites may serve as a mechanism for achieving balance by extendingone’s virtual presence into the other realms and maintaining one’s roles andresponsibilities in absentia (DiMicco et al., 2008). Also, social networking site use canserve as a social resource that helps build and strengthen social ties (Lin et al., 1981).These social ties, in turn, can influence job satisfaction through the provision of socialsupport, which was found to positively affect job satisfaction (Hurlbert, 1991). Thus,a work-balance environment is a significant driving force behind employees’ jobsatisfaction (Clark, 2001). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H2. Organizational members’ social networking site use intensity is positivelyassociated with job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction: relationships with job performance and organizational commitmentJob satisfaction refers to the extent to which employees have positive and pleasurableemotions as a result of their appraisal for their job experience (Locke, 1970; Schmidt, 2007).It is considered by practitioners and researchers alike to be the most important employeeattitude (Saari and Judge, 2004). We note that the terms job satisfaction, job attitude, andmorale are often used interchangeably in the literature because they tend to measurethe same concept “organizational member’s happiness at work” (Organ and Near, 1985).In line with this tradition, we often refer to employee attitude or morale broadly in thispaper, although our specific theorizing and subsequent measurement will concernjob satisfaction.

Past research found that higher morale leads to improved productivity(Strauss, 1968). Job satisfaction is generally (but not always, see e.g. Iaffaldano and

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Muchinsky, 1985) believed to have a positive effect on job performance ( Judge et al.,2001). Those findings are consistent with the widely accepted notion that attitude,which could be favorable or unfavorable, is a precursor to behavior (Fishbein andAjzen, 1975; Judge et al., 2001). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H3. Greater job satisfaction is positively associated with higher job performance.

It has been shown that job satisfaction is related to organizational commitment(Bhuian and Abdul-Muhmin, 1997; Johnston et al., 1987; Hellman and McMillan, 1994;Jamal, 1999; Yavas and Bodur, 1999). Affective organizational commitment is definedby Porter et al. (1974) as “the relative strength of an individual’s identification withand involvement in a particular organization” (p. 604). Similar to the relationshipbetween job satisfaction and job performance, the direction of the relationship betweenjob satisfaction and organizational commitment has been debated (Bluedorn, 1982). Yetthe majority of the literature (see, e.g. Brown and Peterson, 1993) agrees that jobsatisfaction is a precedent of organizational commitment. In line with that we proposethe following:

H4. Job satisfaction is positively associated with organizational commitment.

Organizational commitment: relationships with job performance and social networkingsite useOrganizational commitment has been conceptualized as having three dimensions:“affective,” “continuance,” and “normative” (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Workers withstrong affective commitment have a strong emotional attachment to the organizationthey work in, and are generally disinclined to leave the organization. Those with strongnormative commitment feel they ought to stay at the organization, but not necessarilybecause of emotional attachment; and those with strong continuance commitment staybecause they need to (Allen and Meyer, 1990).

Employees who identify with and feel attached to their organizations tend to workharder (Riketta, 2002). This refers primarily to affective commitment, which in the contextof this study is the most relevant dimension of organizational commitment, and one forwhich measurement instruments have been widely used and validated by variousresearchers (O’Reilly and Chatman, 1986; Price and Mueller, 1981). We therefore useaffective commitment in this study, as a way of measuring organizational commitment.It has been shown that job performance is positively influenced by organizationalcommitment (Allen and Meyer, 1996; Hellman and McMillan, 1994; Mathieu and Zajac,1990; Meyer et al., 2002; Riketta, 2002). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H5. Organizational commitment is positively associated with job performance.

Social networking site use intensity may also have a direct impact on organizationalcommitment. The use of social networking sites by organizational members mayprovide employees with a sense of social interaction. Social interaction serves as aresource to employees in the organization which, in turn, may enhance the employee’saffective attachment to the organization. For instance, Leidner et al. (2010) found thatthe use of an internal social networking site at one organization provided new hireswith supporting resources that led to high commitment to the IT department inparticular, and the organization in general.

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The provision of work-life balance by employers produces a sense of assurance foremployees that their employer is supportive of their well-being and nonwork-relatedneeds. Employees who feel supported by their organization express positive attitudestoward the organization (Blau, 1964; Eisenberger et al., 1986) and tend to exertadditional effort (Lambert, 2000). Social networking site use is a means through whichemployees can reach work-life balance (DiMicco et al., 2008), which in turn promotehigher level of organizational commitment (Kopelman et al., 2006). This leads to thefollowing hypothesis:

H6. Employees’ social networking site use intensity is positively associated withorganizational commitment.

In this study, we argue that job satisfaction and organizational commitment playimportant roles as mediators of the relationships between work-life balance providedthrough social networking site use and job performance. This mediational role isconsistent with several theoretical frameworks that focus on the manner in which anindividual’s behaviors toward a social entity are influenced by the manner in which theentity is perceived to have acted toward the individual. Examples of such theoreticalframeworks include social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), perceived organizationalsupport (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002), and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960).These theories can be used to predict that organizational members would tend to holdpositive feelings, feel indebted, and be inclined to respond in kind when treatedfavorably by their organizations. In the context of this paper, this rationale suggeststhat job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment would be enhancedwhen organizational members are afforded opportunities to maintain work-life balancevia the use of social networking sites. Ultimately, job satisfaction and affectiveorganizational commitment are hypothesized to enhance job performance, thusimplicating their role as mediators of the relationship between social networking siteuse and job performance.

Research methodWe adopted indicators for the social networking site use intensity latent variablefrom Ellison et al. (2007) after making some wording modifications, such as replacing“Facebook” with “social networking.” The survey questions included Facebook andMySpace as examples clarifying the public type of social networking sites used in thestudy. Indicators for the organizational commitment latent variable were adaptedfrom Mowday et al. (1982). Indicators for job satisfaction and job performance wereadopted from Rehman (2011) and Rehman and Waheed (2011). All latent variableswere modeled as reflective.

The indicators were measured on five-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The social networking site use intensity latentvariable was measured using six indicators; job satisfaction was measured using fiveindicators; organizational commitment was measured using five indicators; and jobperformance was measured using three indicators (see Appendix for a description ofthe complete measurement instrument used).

We surveyed professionals both via online and mail questionnaires. Theonline respondents were employees from different states in the USA, while theoffline respondents were employees from multiple organizations in a metropolitanborder town in southern Texas. Totally, 200 invitations to participate in the online

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version of the questionnaire were sent and 79 completed questionnaires were received (39.5percent response rate). Totally, 160 invitations for the offline version of the questionnairewere mailed and 120 completed questionnaires were received (79 percent response rate).After dropping six respondents because they did not fit criteria for inclusion in the study(e.g. not currently employed) our final sample consisted of 193 responses. Of those 90 weremale (47 percent) and 103 were female (53 percent). Their average respondent age was27 (SD 7.97). In all, 41 percent (80) of the respondents were employed full-time and theaverage years of experience were 5.5 (SD 5.6).

Measurement instrument validationOur proposed model was evaluated using variance-based structural equation modeling(SEM), a latent variable-based multivariate technique enabling concurrent estimation ofstructural and measurement models under nonparametric assumptions (Chin, 1998;Lohmoller, 1989). Variance-based SEM is a multivariate analysis technique that sharessimilarities with covariance-based SEM, but differs from it in that it builds on techniques,such as resampling, which do not require parametric assumptions to be met (Diaconisand Efron, 1983; Lohmoller, 1989; Rencher, 1998). Variance-based SEM is more suitablewhen the criterion of multivariate normality is not met in a data set (Chin, 1998; Siegeland Castellan, 1988), which is the case in this study.

The structural model was used to examine the strength and statistical significanceof the relationships among theoretical latent variables. The measurement model wastested using confirmatory factor analysis and related techniques to examine whetherthe latent variables had acceptable reliability and validity. This study used WarpPLS2.0 to assess both the measurement and the structural model (Kock, 2010, 2011).

We started by assessing the measurement model for latent variable validity andreliability. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using principal componentsas the means of extraction. The confirmatory factor analysis was conducted toestablish whether widely accepted criteria for acceptable discriminant and convergentvalidity were met. The loadings of all indicators should be 0.50 or above on theirexpected latent variable (Hair et al., 1992) and they should be significant at least at the0.05 level (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988; Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Sujan et al., 1994).

Loadings, cross-loadings, and p-values obtained from the confirmatory factoranalysis for the four latent variables used in this study are shown on Table I. All of thefactor loadings and cross-loadings are after an oblique rotation (Ehrenberg, 1976;Thompson, 2004). This type of rotation is recommended in SEM as latent variables areanticipated to be correlated with one another (Kline, 2005; Schumacker and Lomax,2004). To the right of Table I, the composite reliability (CR) and the Cronbach’s a (CA)coefficients for each latent variable are shown.

All of the standardized factor loadings for our study were significant at po0.001level. They ranged from 0.613 to 0.969. These results suggest that our instrument hasacceptable convergent validity (Hair et al., 2010).

We tested discriminant validity by comparing the inter-construct correlations withthe square roots of their respective average variances extracted (AVEs), shown onTable II. The square roots of the AVEs for the latent variables are shown along thediagonal and within parentheses. When we compare the square roots of the AVEs withthe other values on each column, we find that the square roots of the AVEs for eachlatent variable are greater than any correlation involving the latent variables. Thus weconclude that the measurement model has acceptable discriminant validity (Fornelland Larcker, 1981).

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Measurement model reliability is typically assessed using CR- or CA-based tests.The CA provides an estimate of the indicator inter-correlations (Henseler et al., 2009).An acceptable measure for the CA is 0.7 or higher (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).Table I shows that all latent variables in this study are above the suggested threshold.

In addition to using the CA, reliability can also be measured using the CR. In orderto display good reliability, a latent variable’s CR should generally be 0.70 or higher(Hair et al., 1992; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). The CR estimate, unlike the CA, takesinto consideration the indicators’ different loadings. As shown in Table I, the CRs for alllatent variables have exceeded the threshold mentioned.

In addition, we ran a full collinearity test to examine whether there wasmulticollinearity among all of the latent variables. This test relies on the varianceinflation factors (VIFs) calculated for each latent variable, in relation to all of the other

PERF COM SAT SNSUI p-value CR CA

PERF1 (0.901) 0.079 �0.104 0.007 o0.001 0.952 0.924PERF2 (0.961) �0.071 0.059 0.008 o0.001PERF3 (0.935) �0.002 0.037 �0.014 o0.001COM1 �0.090 (0.742) 0.133 0.050 o0.001 0.902 0.865COM2 0.029 (0.613) 0.240 �0.005 o0.001COM3 0.087 (0.827) �0.075 0.017 o0.001COM4 0.011 (0.889) �0.186 0.013 o0.001COM5 �0.041 (0.969) �0.123 �0.076 o0.001SAT1 �0.021 �0.166 (0.936) 0.068 o0.001 0.949 0.932SAT2 0.002 0.109 (0.887) �0.010 o0.001SAT3 �0.021 0.089 (0.915) �0.062 o0.001SAT4 0.019 0.034 (0.888) �0.009 o0.001SAT5 0.022 �0.098 (0.819) 0.024 o0.001SNSUI1 0.007 �0.019 �0.095 (0.841) o0.001 0.931 0.911SNSUI2 0.008 0.011 0.034 (0.779) o0.001SNSUI3 0.023 �0.018 �0.060 (0.883) o0.001SNSUI4 0.010 0.017 0.016 (0.869) o0.001SNSUI5 �0.015 0.001 �0.006 (0.848) o0.001SNSUI6 �0.038 0.010 0.128 (0.769) o0.001

Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networking site useintensity; CR, composite reliability coefficient for latent variable; CA, Cronbach’s a coefficient for latentvariable. Loadings are shown within parentheses; loadings and cross-loadings are oblique-rotated;p-values refer to loadings and were obtained through bootstrapping

Table I.Loadings and cross-

loadings for latentvariables

PERF COM SAT SNSUI

PPERF (0.933)COM 0.445 (0.806)SAT 0.458 0.664 (0.888)SNSUI �0.011 0.126 0.065 (0.833)

Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networking site useintensity; AVE, average variance extracted. Square roots of AVEs are shown on diagonal withinparentheses

Table II.Correlation betweenlatent variables and

square roots of AVEs

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latent variables (Kline, 2005). The full collinearity test was conducted by building anew model including all latent variables and manifest variables in the model pointingat a dummy variable storing random values. We found that the VIF values for all latentvariables were less than the threshold of 5 as suggested by Hair et al. (2010). Thehighest VIF value was 3.131 for age, as shown in Table III. This means that collinearitycan be ruled out as a significant source of bias.

In summary, the measurement model passes several strict tests of convergentvalidity, discriminant validity, reliability, and absence of collinearity. These resultsshow that our model meets widely accepted data validation criteria, suggesting thatthe results of the SEM can be generally trusted not to be due to data measurementproblems (Kline, 2005; Schumacker and Lomax, 2004).

ResultsFigure 2 shows the SEM analysis results. Each hypothesis refers to a link in the model;which is a variable-pair relationship, except for the link that refers to the controlvariables. The latent variables are reduced to individual scores using a PLS regressionalgorithm. b coefficients, which are standardized partial regression coefficients, denotethe strengths of the multivariate associations among latent variables in the model. Thesymbol “*” refers to b coefficients with a significance level lower than 5 percent( po0.05); the symbol “**” to po0.01; and the symbol “***” to po0.001. The symbol“ns” represents b coefficients that were not statistically significant. R2-values arepresented under the under endogenous variables and show the percentage of varianceexplained by the variables that point at them in the model.

After examining the results in terms of paths, we found that four out of the sixproposed hypotheses were supported, and that the model explained 27 percent ofthe variance in job performance. Social networking site use intensity did not havea statistically significant association with job performance (b¼�0.06, ns),indicating that there is no direct effect on job performance by social networking siteuse intensity, when one controls for the mediating roles of job satisfaction andorganizational commitment.

On the other hand, social networking site use intensity had a significant positiveassociation with job satisfaction (b¼ 0.22, po0.01), indicating that the more intense theuse of social networking site by employees, the higher their level of job satisfaction. Inpractical terms, this result means that for every 10 percent increase in social networkingsite use intensity, there is an expected 2.2 percent increase in job satisfaction.

Performance 1.380Social-networking-site-use intensity 1.112Satisfaction 2.250Organizational commitment 2.025Gender 1.158Job type 1.582Race 1.578Experience 2.218Age 3.131Education 1.433Policy 1.175

Notes: Variance inflation factors (VIFs) obtained through a full collinearity test. A VIF lower than5 suggests no collinearity between a variable and other variables

Table III.Variance inflation factorsfor all variables

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Job satisfaction had a significant positive association with job performance (b¼ 0.31,po0.01), which could suggest that the more satisfied employees are with their jobs, thehigher is their job performance. This result can be interpreted practically by sayingthat for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction, there is a 3.1 percent increase injob performance.

In addition, job satisfaction had a significant positive association with organizationalcommitment (b¼ 0.65, po0.001), suggesting that the more satisfied employees are withtheir jobs, the higher the level of organizational commitment they have. Similarly, thepractical interpretation of this result is that there is an expected 6.5 percent increase inorganizational commitment for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction.

Organizational commitment had a significant positive association with jobperformance (b¼ 0.23, po0.01), implying that the more emotionally attachedemployees are with their organizations, the higher the level of job performancethey exert. The practical interpretation of this result is that for every 10 percentincrease in organizational commitment, there is a 2.3 percent increase injob performance.

On the other hand, the social networking site use intensity did not have a significantassociation with organizational commitment (b¼ 0.08, ns), indicating that jobsatisfaction plays a more prominent role as a mediator between social networking siteuse and job performance than organizational commitment.

The following control variables were included in the analysis, with respect to jobperformance: age, gender, years of work experience, level of education, full-time orpart-time employment, race, and whether the organization they work at has a formalsocial networking site use policy. Using these controls variables enhances ourconfidence that the results reported above regarding job performance hold irrespectiveof age, gender, years of work experience, etc. Moreover, no significant effects have beenobserved in connection with any of these control variables.

Control variables:- Age- Gender- Experience- Education- Full-time/Part-time- Race/Hispanic- Policy

JobSatisfaction

JobPerformance

OrganizationalCommitment

SocialNetworking Site

Use Intensity

H6(�=0.08NS)

H1(�=–0.06NS)

H2(�=0.22**)

H4(�=0.65***)

H3(�=0.31**)

H5(�=0.23**)

R2=0.05

R2=0.45

R2=0.27

Notes: **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; NS statistically non-significant; all control variableswere statistically non-significant

Figure 2.Hypotheses and

related results

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The results suggest a strong mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationshipbetween social networking site use intensity and job performance. We employed a testof significance of mediation using the approach proposed by Preacher and Hayes(2004), a nonparametric approach that uses b coefficients and standard errors obtainedthrough resampling. This test yielded a p-value of 0.033, suggesting that the mediatingeffect of job satisfaction on the relationship between social networking site useintensity and job performance was statistically significant at the 0.05 level.

This is a puzzling finding, given that the correlation between social networking siteuse intensity and job performance, reported earlier in the validation section, wasindistinguishable from zero (�0.011). The classic criteria for mediation assessmentdiscussed by Baron and Kenny (1986) include the assumption that the correlationamong the independent variable and the dependent variable be significant (path c inBaron and Kenny, 1986). This conundrum can be resolved by an inspection of the shapeof the relationship between social networking site use intensity (independent variable)and job performance (dependent variable), which seems to be nonlinear (see Figure 3).That is, for part of the data set, the area on the left in the figure, the gradient (which isreflected in the path coefficient) is negative. For the other part of the data set, thegradient is positive. Since the Preacher and Hayes (2004) test uses parts of the data set(via resampling), this leads to the conclusion of significant mediation effects using thistest. On the other hand, the Baron and Kenny (1986) test uses the entire data set for asingle computation of the coefficients. We conclude that the mediation is indeedsignificant, but not in a classic (linear) sense, as the effects of different signs canceleach other out when the whole data set is considered. We discuss this interestingfinding further in the limitations and opportunities for future research section below.

At the same time, the link between job satisfaction and job performance wasmediated by organizational commitment. When applying the Preacher and Hayes(2004) mediation test of significance, organizational commitment’s mediating effectwas statistically significant at the po0.01 significance level. That is, while jobsatisfaction plays a role of a mediator between the social networking site use andjob performance link, organizational commitment also mediates the link betweenjob satisfaction and job performance. In other words, there is a nested mediatingeffect – i.e. job satisfaction mediating the relationship between social networking sitesuse and job performance, and within this mediating effect, organizational commitmentmediates the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance.

4.74.6

PE

RF

4.54.44.34.24.1

43.93.83.7

1.0-1.8

Notes: PERF, performance; SNSUI, social networking site use intensity

1.8-2.6 2.6-3.4

SNSUI

3.4-4.2 4.2-5.0

Figure 3.Relationship betweensocial networking siteuse and job performancein quintiles

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Figure 4 shows the non-standardized data charts for all latent variables used in thisstudy. Since latent variable scores are standardized measures, this figure was createdusing the highest loading indicator of each latent variable, as recommended by Kock(2010, 2011). This figure shows the percentage difference for each pair of latentvariables, from the lowest to the highest quintile of another variable.

For example, the first two bars from the left of Figure 4 show that there isa 7 percent increase in the level of job satisfaction from the lowest to the highestquintile of social networking site use intensity. The above results complement theSEM analysis results discussed.

Model fit was assessed through the following measures: average path coefficient(APC), average R2 (ARS), and average variance inflation factor (AVIF). It isrecommended that the values for both the APC and ARS be significant at least at the0.05 level, while the AVIF should be lower than 5 (Hair et al., 2010; Kline, 2005; Kock,2011). Table IV shows that our model meets these requirements, suggesting a good fitof the proposed model with the data.

Discussion and conclusionThere is an ongoing debate about the use social networking sites (e.g. Facebook,Googleþ , and Twitter) by employees while at work since such use is often seen bymanagers as a waste of time. There is a tendency to think that using these sites atthe workplace is not productive and that employees’ time can be better utilized toenhance performance. The notion of presenteeism is apt in this context as it is usedto describe employees who are physically present at the workplace but are notoperating at maximum capacity because they are occupied with nonwork-relatedissues. Yet, it is important to acknowledge that employees spend many hours in theoffice, away from their friends and family, and using those sites may be a usefulway to access and maintain social relationships that can balance the demandsand pressures of the workplace. It has been shown in the past that more satisfiedemployees are also more effective and productive employees. Accordingly, the goalof this exploratory study was to construct and test a preliminary research model

54.5

43.5

32.5

21.5

SAT

PE

RF

CO

M

PE

RF

10.5

0

54.5

43.5

32.5

21.5

10.5

0

54.5

43.5

32.5

21.5

10.5

0

54.5

43.5

32.5

21.5

10.5

0

SNSUI

Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networkingsite use intensity

1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5

SAT SAT COM

20% Difference 20% Difference47% Difference7% Difference

Figure 4.Non-standardized data

chart showing thedifference between

the highest and thelowest quintiles

APC ARS AVIF

0.26*** 0.251*** 1.318

Note: ***po0.001

Table IV.Model fit indices

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that could explain the connection between social networking site use intensity andjob performance. The proposed research model used for this study had a good fitwith the data collected. The three main explanatory latent variables, namely: socialnetworking site use intensity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitmentexplained 27 percent of the variance in job performance.

From a theoretical point of view, this study contributes to the social networking, jobsatisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance literatures. To the bestof our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze, in an integrated way, therelationship between those theoretical constructs.

Table V summarizes the support, or lack thereof, for each of the hypotheses based onthe SEM analysis. This study found that social networking site use intensity enhancesemployees’ job satisfaction. One possible mechanism through which this could havehappened would be the employees’ ability to balance the three realms – work, home,and leisure – while at work through the use of social networking sites. This improvedwork-life balance could in turn have helped enhance the employees’ satisfaction with theirjobs (Malik et al., 2010).

In practical terms, job satisfaction increased by 2.2 percent with every 10 percentincrease in social networking site use intensity. Moreover, consistent with previousstudies, this research found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment weresignificant in explaining the employees’ job performance (Zhang and Zheng, 2009). Inpractical terms, for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction and organizationalcommitment, job performance of employees increased 3.1 and 2.3 percent, respectively.

We found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are two possiblemediators of the relationship between social networking site use intensity and jobperformance. This means that social networking site use intensity can increase thelevel of job satisfaction of employees. Job satisfaction in turn enhances the employees’emotional attachment as well as identification with their organizations. This emotionalattachment to their organizations positively affects the employees’ performance attheir jobs. In addition, job satisfaction has a direct positive impact on job performance.

The findings of this study solidify the belief that happy workers work better.The use of social networking sites provides employees with a way to socialize withfriends, family members, as well as with fellow coworkers and to keep up-to-date withwhat is going on in their social networks, ultimately leading to better work-life balance.

Hypothesis Path coefficient Supported?

H1. Social networking site use intensity isassociated with job performance �0.06a No

H2. Social networking site use intensity is positivelyassociated with job satisfaction 0.22** Yes

H3. Job satisfaction is positively associated with jobperformance 0.31** Yes

H4. Job satisfaction is positively associated withorganizational commitment 0.65*** Yes

H5. Organizational commitment is positivelyassociated with job performance 0.23** Yes

H6. Social networking site use intensity is positivelyassociated with organizational commitment 0.08a No

Note: aNS, not statistically significant. **,***po0.01 and 0.001, respectively

Table V.Support for thehypotheses basedon the results

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This sense of maintaining work-life balance has the potential to positively influenceemployees’ satisfaction with their jobs. Consistent with the literature, our findingsshow that achieving work-life balance through the use of social networking influencesjob satisfaction (DiMicco et al., 2008).

Our findings show that there is no significant direct effect of the use of socialnetworking sites on job performance (coefficient¼�0.06, ns). However, our findingsshow that there is a significant indirect effect of social networking site use intensity onjob performance through mediating effects of job satisfaction and organizationalcommitment. Job satisfaction could “transmit” the effect of social networking site useintensity into both job satisfaction and organizational commitment; and, in turn,organizational commitment could “transmit” job satisfaction into job performance.

This study suggests several implications for organizations in general, and theirhuman resource departments in particular. First, it is reasonable to conclude thatprofessionals in charge of human resources would benefit from understanding theassociations uncovered by this study. In terms of organizational commitment,organizations that seek a long-term relationship with employees may reap the benefitsin financial terms through higher performance of their employees.

Second, based on this study, it seems that paying employees for a few minutes ofwork time spent on social networking sites does not translate into a financial loss. Itmay well be seen as an investment for a greater long-term bottom line. In terms of jobsatisfaction, just as compensation packages may have a direct positive impact on jobsatisfaction to enhance productivity of the organization (Beer, 1984), so may the use ofsocial networking sites have positive effect on job satisfaction.

Third, job satisfaction appears to mediate the effect of social networking site useintensity on organizational commitment, and organizational commitment mediates theeffect of social networking site use intensity on job performance. This suggests that theuse of social networking sites can help enhance job satisfaction directly andorganizational commitment indirectly, ultimately leading to better job performance.

Finally, this study demonstrates empirically that managers’ concerns regarding thepossibility of presenteeism associated with employees using social networking sites,while not baseless, may be partly alleviated by knowing that such use enhancesjob satisfaction and organizational commitment which are positively linked to jobperformance. At the very least, this finding suggests that organizations should considertheir policies regarding the use of those sites at the workplace since the apparent “wasteof time” is likely used to restore and maintain work-life balance, which fosters positivefeelings and attitudes toward the organization and produces better employees.

In conclusion, the findings suggest that social networking site use, rather thanindicating presenteeism, may be an important mechanism through which employeesbalance their work-life realms, in turn benefitting their organizations. Therefore, it isrecommended that organizations approach the possibility of adding the use of socialnetworking sites to their arsenal of practices without pre-conceived biases because, asthis study demonstrates, such IT usage can enhance organizational commitment, jobsatisfaction, and ultimately job performance.

Limitations and opportunities for future researchLike all studies, this study is not exempted from limitations. First, one potentiallimitation is not examining whether social networking site use reduces the negativework-related behaviors such as absenteeism, burnout, and turnover. Future studies areencouraged to incorporate such measures in order to further examine the effects of

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social networking site use. Second, the design of this study was cross-sectional whichdoes not allow for causality conclusions. It should be noted that the generally acceptedrelationship between job satisfaction and job performance suggested first by thehuman relationists, and supported by this study, has not gone unchallenged. Thisshould be recognized as a possible limitation of this study, and further explored infuture research. For instance, the expectancy-based theorists of motivation haveargued that satisfaction is a result of the rewards produced by performance (Lawlerand Porter, 1967; Naylor et al., 1980; Vroom, 1964). This argument is based on theassumption that performance leads to outcomes that are satisfying to individuals.Similarly, Locke (1970) argued that job satisfaction is an outcome of performancebecause performance leads to the attainment of important job values. Furthermore,self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985) proposes that performance would leadto job satisfaction because satisfaction results from the rewards gained fromperformance. Third, this research does not directly measure social support, work-lifestressors such as overload, role conflict and work-life balance, which may be impactedby the use of social networking sites by organizational members and, in turn, impactjob performance. Therefore, we encourage future research on the topic to considerexamining the effect of social networking site use on these potentially relevantintermediary outcomes. Fourth, this study examined the effect of social networking siteuse intensity on job performance rather than productivity. Future research couldcomplement the findings reported in this paper by studying the impact of socialnetworking site use on work productivity. Fifth, this study used social networking siteuse intensity as an omnibus measure of the main antecedent. Future studies areencouraged to scrutinize this variable further, separating it into fine gradedcomponents such as use for gaming, for socializing and for information seeking, inorder to enhance our understanding of the relationship between social networking siteuse and job performance. Sixth, we note that in this exploratory study the notion ofpresenteeism was used to provide a theoretical background and context but it was notexplicitly incorporated into the research model. We believe that explicitly theorizingthe role of presenteeism (perceived or real) and subsequently measuring its impact onjob performance could shed additional light on the phenomenon of social networkinguse by workers, and we encourage future researchers to expand our model in thisdirection. Seventh, our analysis of the mediation effect of job satisfaction discoveredthe potential presence of nonlinearities in the relationship between social networkingsite use and job performance. We encourage future research to further explore thisinteresting finding and to put forward theory-driven hypotheses that may explain thephenomenon. Finally, using self-reports from a single respondent for job performancecould make one of the limitations of this study. However, even when done bypractitioners for internal purposes, job performance is usually measured usingsubjective measures such as self-reports and supervisory ratings. For example, in theirmeta-analytic study, Mabe and West (1982) suggested that self-report measures may bea more valid indicator of performance than typically believed. In fact, Iaffaldano andMuchinsky (1985) did not find much difference in the correlations between jobsatisfaction and job performance when performance was measured in either objectiveor subjective ways. In addition, employees were requested to report their last annualperformance evaluation from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). When analyzing this variable interms of the job performance latent variable scores, there was high correlation betweenthe two variables (r¼ 0.50, po0.001), indicating strong validity of the self-reportedperformance measurement and the supervisor-based evaluation.

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Further reading

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Appendix. Measurement instrumentThe questions below were answered on a Likert-type scale ranging from “1 – very stronglydisagree” to “5 – very strongly agree.”

Social networking site use intensity (SNSUI)

. SNSUI1: My social networking sites’ account/s are/is a part of my everyday activity

. SNSUI2: I am proud to tell people I’m on social networking sites such as Facebook (FB)

. SNSUI3: Social networking sites have become part of my daily routine

. SNSUI4: I feel out of touch when I haven’t logged onto social networking sites for a while

. SNSUI5: I feel I am part of the social networking site community

. SNSUI6: I would be sorry if social networking sites shut down

Job satisfaction (SAT)

. SAT1: I am very satisfied with my current job

. SAT2: My present job gives me internal satisfaction

. SAT3: My job gives me a sense of fulfilment

. SAT4: I am very pleased with my current job

. SAT5: I will recommend this job to a friend if it is advertised/announced

Organizational commitment (COM)

. COM1: I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization

. COM2: I feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization

. COM3: I feel “emotionally attached” to this organization

. COM4: Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right to leave myorganization

. COM5: I would feel guilty if I left my organization now

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Job performance (PERF)

. PERF1: My performance in my current job is excellent

. PERF2: I am very satisfied with my performance in my current job

. PERF3: I am very happy with my performance in current job

The additional questions below were not answered on a Likert-type scale

. Gender: (male/female options were provided)

. Age

. Job type: (full-time/part-time)

. Years of work experience: (leave blank if non-applicable)

. Education: (High school, 2-year college, 4-year college, Master, doctorate)

. Ethnicity: (Hispanic, other options were provide)

. Policy: (whether the organization has a social networking site policy)

About the authors

Murad Moqbel is an Assistant Professor at University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City,Kansas. He holds a PhD degree in International Business Administration and ManagementInformation Systems from Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX. He received aBachelor of Science degree with honor in Business Administration and Computer InformationSystems, and MBA with Information Systems concentration from Emporia State University,Emporia, Kansas. He is the editorial assistant of the International Journal of e-Collaboration. Hewon best student paper award at Southwest Decision Science Conference 2012. He has authoredand co-authored many papers and his work was accepted or appeared in: Public Organization

Review, Journal of International Business Research ( JIBR), International Journal of Business

Strategy (IJBS), Advances in Accounting Incorporating Advances in International Accounting,Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly, and International Journal of Business and Management. Hisresearch interests include social networking, software development performance, informationsecurity and privacy, health information management, information and communicationtechnology, cloud computing, e-collaboration, international business, and business processimprovement. Murad Moqbel is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:muradmoqbel@gmail.com

Saggi Nevo is an Assistant Professor of Information Technology Management at theUniversity at Albany. He received his PhD from York University. His current research interestsinclude the business value of IT, IS post-adoption, open source software, and electronicallymediated communication. Saggi’s research has appeared in journals such as Journal of the

Association for Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, MIS Quarterly,and Sloan Management Review.

Ned Kock is Professor and Founding Chair of the Division of International Business andTechnology Studies at Texas A&M International University. He holds degrees in electronicsengineering (B.E.E.), computer science (M.S.), and management information systems (PhD). Nedhas authored and edited several books, including the bestselling Systems Analysis and Design

Fundamentals: A Business Process Redesign Approach. Ned has published his research in a

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number of high-impact journals including Communications of the ACM, Decision Support

Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, IEEE Transactions, Information &

Management, Journal of the AIS, MIS Quarterly, and Organization Science. He is the FoundingEditor-in-Chief of the International Journal of e-Collaboration, Associate Editor of the Journal of

Systems and Information Technology, and Associate Editor for Information Systems of thejournal IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. His research interests include actionresearch, ethical and legal issues in technology research and management, e-collaboration, andbusiness process improvement.

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