“Influence of social media on organizational communication and organizational culture at the South African Social Security Agency in South Africa”

Social media is a potent drive in the modern landscape of organizational dynamics, influencing cultural norms and communication styles. The purpose of this study is to investigate the complex effects of social media on organizational culture and communication. The paper explores how social media platforms have changed communication channels, interaction dynamics, and organizational culture, drawing on a mixture of previous research and pragmatic studies. A quantitative research paradigm was employed and a sample of 140 sample respondents was selected using simple random sampling. The sample respondents were employees at a selected South African Social Security Agency branch in South Africa. The results revealed that Facebook was the most used platform and that employees use social media for both work and non-work related purposes. The study concluded a positive and significant relationship between social media usage and social media enhancing the organizational culture ( r = 0.227; p < 0.05). Moreover, the study found no relationship between social media usage influencing employee behavior and social media restrictions impacting employee morale negatively ( r = 0.036; p > 0.05). The findings highlight valuable insights on the role of social media and its effect on organizational culture and communication. It is also evident from the results that social media usage presents opportunities and challenges for organizations. Hence, the paper concludes that organizations can use social media to create a communicative, flexible, and resilient organizational culture in digital time by recognizing the dynamics at work and taking proactive measures.


INTRODUCTION
The workplace is only one of the many spheres of daily life into which social media has made significant inroads.Social media networks are a common way for co-workers to communicate with one another (Awolusi, 2012;Bolton et al., 2013;Deters, 2015).Many organizations, mainly government agencies, utilize social media networks for different purposes, such as internal and external communication and information gathering.Social media stimulates brands and organizational image; thus, messaging, content, and distribution need to be focused at customer and brand engagement (Berz, 2016).Particularly noteworthy is the increase in the amount of time adolescents and young adults spend on social networking sites, online games, texting, and other types of social media (Twenge & Campbell, 2019).Dhir et al. (2018) and Tateno et al. (2019) have theorized that globally, social me-dia users' habits have changed, as have the ways in which people communicate with one another.As a result, there are more concerns about the probable harmful effects of social media addiction, particularly on psychological well-being (Swar & Hameed, 2017;Kircaburun et al., 2020;Chotpitayasunondh & Douglas, 2016;Jiao et al., 2017;Choi & Noh, 2020;Chatterjee, 2020).Glucksman (2017) states that social media platforms are rapidly changing organizational communication and culture.
In the context of communication and culture, organizations are vulnerable to reputational damages (Van Den Berg & Struwig, 2016).Utilizing social media tools to interact with customers provides information in real time and allows employees to access information equally.Cyber security issues, reputation management, engaging in two-way dialogue, and issues surrounding organizational culture, such as conflict of interest, breach of confidentiality, and language, may influence the extent to which employees use social media.Despite various research studies on the effect of social media usage on communication, Roshan et al. (2016) and Schlagwein and Hu (2017) highlight limited studies investigating social media, organizational culture, and organizational communication.
Apart from low budgets and low priority given to service delivery, most government departments in South Africa use traditional media, such as radio and newspapers, to communicate with its targeted audience and the public (Thatcher, 2004).This one-way communication channel is attributed to the government's low feedback and low participation among its targeted audience and the public.Moreover, the non-regulation of social media at local, provincial, and national government levels, as well as the underutilization of social media, have often resulted in a failure to communicate adequately between the organization and its beneficiaries.Fraud, fake advertising of vacancies, and misleading announcements have also become a prominent issue (Nair, 2021;Kahla, 2023).Therefore, the study seeks to investigate the influence of social media on organizational communication and organizational culture at a South African Social Security Agency in South Africa.(Reichers, 1985).Social media networks are used expansively in most walks of life and many different disciplines for various purposes.Social media serves as a bridge between an organization and its intended audience, raising knowledge of the latter while having the potential to have a positive effect on the target group.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES
As a result of their ability to connect with their audience, organizations are able to gain public support.Through social media, organizations can learn more about their markets, rivals, and key customers.The importance of social media continues to grow for people and organizations.These technologies have changed the role of web administration from being consumption-based to becoming collective and collaborative, building opportunities for communication between the open public and organizations (Henderson & Bowley, 2010).Employees post what is trending in their office, professional obstacles, and stress all the time.Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook are frequently utilized as news sources to monitor rivals and market trends.The line between social and proficient life is virtually eradicated.Social media has changed the way employees and managers interconnect, do business, and form relationships (Henderson & Bowley, 2010).
Despite no accepted definition of organizational communication, researchers have acknowledged that organizational communication comprises a process of interaction between two people or more within an environment.McCroskey et al. (2006) highlight that communication evokes meaning in the minds of others through spoken and non-verbal exchanges within a formal setting of a specific organization.Despite face-toface interaction being necessary for conventional communication, communication via social media platforms involves replying to someone else's status update, making comments, or even striking up a dialogue with another user.In an organizational setting, employees must communicate more frequently and efficiently with one another using existing internal communication structures.
Organizational communication comprises internal communication within the organization and external communication between the organization and its stakeholders through various modes and channels.Employees' behavior inside and outside the organization is influenced/shaped by how the organization manages communication.
For instance, interpersonal communication helps management in ensuring that employees in a team get along with one another, as well as facilitating effective operations among the different parts of the organization (Ali & Bhasin, 2019).In addition, effective organizational communication assists management in executing their primary role of setting policies and providing guidance, thereby enhancing effectiveness and efficiency.Therefore, this study aims to analyze the role of social media usage in organizational communication and organizational culture.Accordingly, the following hypotheses are developed: There is a relationship between social media being an effective communication tool and the organization sharing business results regularly.
H 2 : There is a relationship between social media being an effective communication tool and social media raising awareness about new developments.
H 3 : There is a relationship between social media usage improving the image of the organization and social media being essential in strengthening personal relations and organizational culture among employees.
H 4 : There is a relationship between social media usage improving the image of the organization and social media bringing positive changes to the workplace.
H 5 : There is a relationship between social media usage and employees' commitment to innovation and development.
H 6 : There is a relationship between restrictions on social media usage and employee morale.

METHOD
A quantitative approach entails the collection of numerical data and generalizing them across groups of people or clarifying a specific concept.A closed-ended structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from a sample size of 140 respondents.The sample size was calculated via systematic random sampling from a target population of 210 employees using Sekaran and Bougie's approach (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013).
A structured closed-ended questionnaire was adopted as it is less costly, easier to analyze and administer, and provides respondents with simplicity (Polit & Hungler, 2016;Bryman & Bell, 2015).The structured closed-ended questionnaire comprised two sections.Section A comprised the cover letter and biographical questions.Section B comprised questions/statements related to social media, organizational communication, and organizational culture.Furthermore, the closed-ended questionnaire also offered a cover letter and consent form that ensured that respondents voluntarily participated, ensuring their confidentiality and anonymity.
A letter of permission to conduct the study was obtained from the selected government department in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and the Institutional Research Ethics Committee.After the data collection, the study applied the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.Moreover, the quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS
The gender breakdown of the sample respondents shows that 36% were males, while 64% were females.The sample population is relatively young, as the majority are 35 1, there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between social media being an effective communication tool and the organization regularly sharing business results (r = 0.207, p < 0.05).
Therefore, H 1 is accepted.In addition, there is a statistically significant correlation between social media being an effective communication tool and social media being a useful tool in in-creasing awareness about new developments in the organization (r = 0.340, p < 0.05).Therefore, H 2 is accepted.
Table 2 illustrates the empirical findings on the role of social media in organizational culture and reputation.Based on Table 2, p = 0.007 (p < 0.05).
Therefore, H 3 is accepted: there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between social media usage improving the image of the organization and social media being essential in strengthening personal relations among employees and enhancing organizational culture.Furthermore, Table 2 depicts a statistically insignificant relationship between social media usage improving the image of the organization and social media usage bringing positive changes to the workplace, as p = 0.378 (p > 0.05).Therefore, H 4 is rejected.
Table 3 analyzes the relationship between social media usage and employees' commitment to innovation and development.Table 3 illustrates a positive and statistically significant relationship between the presence of social media at work and employees being committed to innovation and development, as p = 0.006 (p < 0.05).Therefore, H 5 is accepted.Table 4 analyzes the relationship between social media usage and employee morale.Based on Pearson correlations in Table 4, p = 0.670 (p > 0.05).Thus, H 6 is rejected as there is no statistically significant relationship between employee behavior being influenced by social media usage and social media restrictions impacting negatively on employee morale.

DISCUSSION
The study found that Facebook is the most commonly used social media platform.This finding concurs with Tulu (2017), who found that Facebook is the most-used social media platform in the workplace.Next, the study concluded a relationship between social media being an effective communication tool and raising awareness within the organization, as well as the organization being able to share organizational results with employees.Jafar et al. (2019) found that personal and work-related use of social media has the potential to enhance employee effectiveness and performance through knowledge-sharing.According to Siddiqui and Singh (2016), social media has enhanced two-way communication and transformed communication by bringing knowledge and information to those previously faced with limited or no access, as well as those in remote areas.This is because social media has a significant influence on the organization as it can be a source of educational and non-educational information, facilitating quick interactions and allowing information to be easily conveyed (Davis, 1989;Dixon, 2024;Tulu, 2017).
Third, the study found a relationship between social media usage improving the image of the organization and social media strengthening relations among employees as well as organizational culture.According to Arslan  visor support, and job demands explain why employees feel a greater or lesser attachment to social media at work.Social media usage at work may not necessarily be associated with negative job-related outcomes.Despite frequency and du-ration affecting employee productivity negatively, Tulu (2017) also found that social media usage for work and non-work-related activities has the potential to positively influence employee productivity.

CONCLUSION
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of social media usage on organizational communication and organizational culture at the selected government department in South Africa.The study found that social media usage among employees positively influences organizational image and organizational culture.It is evident that social media plays a significant role in organizational communication, as well as in shaping the organizational culture.Based on the findings, the organization should adopt a comprehensive and structured social media framework and include social media in the organization's communication strategy.The integration of social media as part of the organization's communication methods is vital in enhancing effective communication.Furthermore, a structured and well-communicated social media policy is of paramount consideration.The ability to handle social media is vital in addressing the risks associated with work and non-work-related social media usage.
The study contributes to theory and practice on the relationship among social media usage, organizational communication, and organizational culture in public enterprises in South Africa.Future research may adopt a mixed or qualitative methodology since the adopted methodology did not provide a detailed narrative analysis.Since the study was conducted at a selected government department in South Africa, the empirical findings cannot be generalized to other government departments in South Africa as situations and circumstantial factors may differ.

Table 1 .
Social media as an effective communication tool

Table 2 .
The role of social media in organizational culture and organizational reputation

Table 3 .
The relationship between social media and innovation and development

Table 4 .
Social media usage and employee morale