From mass production to mass collaboration: institutionalized hindrances to social platforms in workplace

Abstract

This article addresses the importance of institutionalized practices when social media are introduced as collective platforms for the workplace. It examines why the great engagement envisioned for these tools has yet to be realized in organizational settings. The dynamics in the workplace and in distributed networks (e.g., Wikipedia, Linux) are compared and found to operate with different social structures and different practices at play. However, with the introduction of social platforms, collective and engaged actions are expected from employees. The nature of our notion of work in the workplace is colored by individual organization (employee-employer contract) and measurement of time (work hours) and money (wage) derived from a capitalist paradigm, whereas drivers at play in distributed networks are not measured in terms of quantity but quality (e.g., good work, strong reputation, high social status). The article presents a comprehensive qualitative and longitudinal case study of knowledge workers employed at a knowledgeintensive organization that operates in twenty-three countries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Many of the employees in the study explained that the company’s social media platform becomes just another object to track in an already hectic workday in which individual drivers triumph over collective priorities. Keywords: