Twitter and corporate social responsibility
Purpose – To examine the use of Twitter by companies for corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications and the management of relationships with stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – Defines three communication strategies for one-way or two-way communication and assesses their value for relationship management. Uses social network analysis to evaluate Twitter use for CSR communication. Findings – Isn’t technology marvelous? Once upon a time – a decade or so ago – companies mainly talked to stakeholders as a whole, usually about the things they wanted to tell them. Now social media have given each of us the opportunity to have individual discussions with them about things that matter to us. But just because the technology’s available, doesn’t mean companies have to use it – and some seem strangely reluctant to engage in one-to-one dialogue, particularly in areas like CSR. Practical implications – Concludes that companies remain cautious in their use of social media to communicate their CSR activities and that few exploit Twitter’s full potential for relationship management. Social implications – Asks if more corporations will use social media for interactive dialogue and relationship management or if they will continue to treat Twitter as a news medium rather than a social network. Originality/value – Presents empirical evidence showing how – and how intensively – companies are using Twitter to communicate with stakeholders interested in CSR.