Knowledge and Knowledge Management in the Social Media Age

Social media comprise the set of tools identified as blogs, wikis, and other social networking platforms that “enable people to connect, communicate, and collaborate.” These tools create a dynamic, complex information infrastructure that enables easier, faster, and more widespread sharing of information. These affordances make possible phenomena such as viral processes, and they can change how we are able to work and organize. This article explores the impact of this emerging knowledge ecosystem (KE) on some prominent characteristics of knowledge and knowledge management (KM) models through an exploratory critical review of popular epistemological perspectives and conceptual foundations underlying KM models. We find that this emerging KE requires a revisiting of both the social aspects of knowledge creation and some popular notions of enterprise knowledge management.

[1]  B. Kogut,et al.  What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning , 1996 .

[2]  Key Pousttchi,et al.  Mobile word-of-mouth – A grounded theory of mobile viral marketing , 2009, J. Inf. Technol..

[3]  Jock Given,et al.  The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom , 2007, Inf. Econ. Policy.

[4]  Danah Boyd,et al.  Tweet, Tweet, Retweet: Conversational Aspects of Retweeting on Twitter , 2010, 2010 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[5]  Karl M. Wiig.  Expert systems : a manager's guide , 1990 .

[6]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[7]  Dietram A. Scheufele,et al.  Framing, Agenda Setting, and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models , 2007 .

[8]  S. Winter,et al.  An evolutionary theory of economic change , 1983 .

[9]  Murray E. Jennex.  Re-Visiting the Knowledge Pyramid , 2009 .

[10]  James F. Courtney,et al.  Decision making and knowledge management in inquiring organizations: toward a new decision-making paradigm for DSS , 2001, Decis. Support Syst..

[11]  Chris Arney.  Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives - How Your Friends' Friends' Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do , 2014 .

[12]  Mark S. Granovetter.  T H E S T R E N G T H O F WEAK TIES: A NETWORK THEORY REVISITED , 1983 .

[13]  J. R. Moore,et al.  The theory of the growth of the firm twenty-five years after , 1960 .

[14]  Dee T. Allsop,et al.  Word-of-Mouth Research: Principles and Applications , 2007, Journal of Advertising Research.

[15]  C. Prahalad,et al.  The Core Competence of the Corporation , 1990 .

[16]  Kaye D. Sweetser,et al.  YouTube-ification of Political Talk: An Examination of Persuasion Appeals in Viral Video , 2011 .

[17]  S. Winter,et al.  An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change.by Richard R. Nelson; Sidney G. Winter , 1987 .

[18]  Simon Garnier,et al.  Visual attention and the acquisition of information in human crowds , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[19]  Sharon L. Milgram,et al.  The Small World Problem , 1967 .

[20]  A. Giddens.  The Constitution of Society , 1985 .

[21]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[22]  K. Barzilai-Nahon.  Toward a theory of network gatekeeping , 2008 .

[23]  D. Barton.  Wellsprings of knowledge: building and sustaining the sources of innovation , 1995 .

[24]  Charles Heckscher,et al.  The firm as a collaborative community : reconstructing trust in the knowledge economy , 2009 .

[25]  M. Castells.  Communication Power: Mass Communication, Mass Self-Communication and Power Relationships in the Network Society , 2009, Media and Society.

[26]  Murray E. Jennex.  Re-Visiting the Knowledge Pyramid , 2009, 2009 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[27]  E. Hargittai,et al.  Cross-ideological discussions among conservative and liberal bloggers , 2007 .

[28]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[29]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  With a Little Help From My Friends: How Social Network Sites Affect Social Capital Processes , 2010 .

[30]  Clyde W. Holsapple,et al.  The knowledge chain model: activities for competitiveness , 2001, Expert Syst. Appl..

[31]  R. Grant.  Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (17), pp. , 1996 .

[32]  S. Carlsson.  Knowledge managing and knowledge management systems in inter-organizational networks , 2003 .

[33]  S. Milgram,et al.  Note on the drawing power of crowds of different size. , 1969 .

[34]  M. McPherson,et al.  Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks , 2001 .

[35]  R. Burt.  Structural Holes and Good Ideas1 , 2004, American Journal of Sociology.

[36]  Jan Schmidt,et al.  Blogging Practices: An Analytical Framework , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[37]  E. Wenger.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[38]  Jie Yang,et al.  Knowledge value chain , 2000 .

[39]  Ron Herrema.  Flickr, communities of practice and the boundaries of identity: a musician goes visual , 2011 .

[40]  K. D. Joshi,et al.  An investigation of factors that influence the management of knowledge in organizations , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[41]  M. Crossan.  The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation , 1996 .

[42]  A. Jue,et al.  Social Media at Work: How Networking Tools Propel Organizational Performance , 2009 .

[43]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[44]  Chad Raphael,et al.  Interpersonal divide: The search for community in a technological age ‐ by Michael Bugeja , 2006 .

[45]  Didier Sornette,et al.  Robust dynamic classes revealed by measuring the response function of a social system , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[46]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Studying Knowledge Management in Information Systems Resarch: Discourses and Theoretical Assumptions , 2002, MIS Q..

[47]  Brian Harmer,et al.  YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture , 2010 .

[48]  Kevin Wallsten,et al.  “Yes We Can”: How Online Viewership, Blog Discussion, Campaign Statements, and Mainstream Media Coverage Produced a Viral Video Phenomenon , 2010 .

[49]  Tom Broxton,et al.  Catching a viral video , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining Workshops.

[50]  Renee Clary,et al.  How Big is Big?: The Translation of the Enormity of Geologic Time in an Informal Learning Environment , 2008 .

[51]  D. Watts,et al.  Influentials, Networks, and Public Opinion Formation , 2007 .

[52]  S. Jurvetson.  What exactly is viral marketing , 2000 .

[53]  Dianne Hall,et al.  Citation Analysis and Trends in Knowledge Management , 2010, AMCIS.

[54]  Jure Leskovec,et al.  Modeling Information Diffusion in Implicit Networks , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining.

[55]  Tony Holden,et al.  From knowledge theory to management practice: towards an integrated approach , 2001, Inf. Process. Manag..

[56]  David K. Perry,et al.  Viral Marketing or Electronic Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email , 2004, Journal of Advertising Research.

[57]  Limor Shifman,et al.  An anatomy of a YouTube meme , 2012, New Media Soc..

[58]  Ilkka Tuomi,et al.  Data is more than knowledge: implications of the reversed knowledge hierarchy for knowledge management and organizational memory , 1999, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. 1999. HICSS-32. Abstracts and CD-ROM of Full Papers.

[59]  Lada A. Adamic,et al.  The role of social networks in information diffusion , 2012, WWW.

[60]  E. Rogers,et al.  Diffusion of innovations , 1964, Encyclopedia of Sport Management.

[61]  Hans-Georg Elias,et al.  How Big is Big , 1987 .

[62]  Michael H. Zack,et al.  Managing Codified Knowledge , 1999 .

[63]  Christos Faloutsos,et al.  Cascading Behavior in Large Blog Graphs , 2007 .

[64]  Monica Ancu.  Viral politics: The credibility and effects of online viral political messages. , 2011 .

[65]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[66]  Andrea Hemetsberger,et al.  SHARING AND CREATING KNOWLEDGE IN OPEN-SOURCE COMMUNITIES - THE CASE OF KDE , 2004 .

[67]  Kevin Wallsten,et al.  Many Sources, One Message: Political Blog Links to Online Videos During the 2008 Campaign , 2011 .

[68]  Robert J. McQueen,et al.  Four Views of Knowledge and Knowledge Management , 1998 .

[69]  R. Grant.  Chapter 8 – Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration , 1999 .

[70]  Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi,et al.  P ERSPECTIVE M AKING AND P ERSPECTIVE T AKING IN C OMMUNITIES OF K NOWING , 2000 .

[71]  Tom Lloyd,et al.  Managing Knowhow: Add Value...by Valuing Creativity , 1989 .

[72]  Kenneth J. Arrow,et al.  Information Dynamics in the Networked World , 2003, Inf. Syst. Frontiers.

[73]  R. Spinello.  The knowledge chain , 1998 .

[74]  Fritz Machlup.  The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States , 1962 .

[75]  Robert M. Mason,et al.  On the Nature of Knowledge: Rethinking Popular Assumptions , 2006, Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'06).

[76]  D. Leonard-Barton,et al.  Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation , 1995 .

[77]  M. Gordon,et al.  PUBLICATION RECORDS AND TENURE DECISIONS IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1996 .

[78]  J. Spender.  Organizational knowledge, learning and memory: three concepts in search of a theory , 1996 .

[79]  Sarah J. S. Wilner,et al.  Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities , 2009 .

[80]  Larry E. Greiner.  Steve Kerr and His Years with Jack Welch at GE , 2002 .

[81]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage , 1998 .

[82]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues , 2001, MIS Q..

[83]  Karine Nahon,et al.  Democracy.com: A Tale of Political Blogs and Content , 2011, 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[84]  Bernardo A. Huberman,et al.  Trends in Social Media: Persistence and Decay , 2011, ICWSM.

[85]  Shawn Walker,et al.  Fifteen Minutes of Fame: The Power of Blogs in the Lifecycle of Viral Political Information , 2011, Policy & Internet.

[86]  Robert M. Mason,et al.  Culture-Free or Culture-Bound? A Boundary Spanning Perspective on Learning in Knowledge Management Systems , 2003, J. Glob. Inf. Manag..

[87]  Karine Nahon,et al.  Gatekeeping: A critical review , 2009, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[88]  Georg von Krogh,et al.  Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation , 2000 .

[89]  D. Teece.  Capturing Value from Knowledge Assets: The New Economy, Markets for Know-How, and Intangible Assets , 1998 .

[90]  Salvatore Rizzello.  Knowledge as a Path-Dependence Process , 2004 .

[91]  Keith Mattacks,et al.  Managing Knowledge Work , 2003 .

[92]  I. Nonaka,et al.  Enabling Knowledge Creation , 2000 .

[93]  K. R. Conner,et al.  A Resource-Based Theory of the Firm: Knowledge Versus Opportunism , 1996 .

[94]  Clay Shirky.  Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations , 2008 .

[95]  Robert A. Peterson,et al.  Models for innovation diffusion , 1985 .

[96]  Alessandro Vespignani,et al.  Epidemic spreading in scale-free networks. , 2000, Physical review letters.

[97]  Thomas W. Valente.  Network models of the diffusion of innovations , 1996, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[98]  Danah Boyd,et al.  Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[99]  L. Verbrugge.  Multiplexity in Adult Friendships , 1979 .

[100]  Marco Rosa,et al.  Four degrees of separation , 2011, WebSci '12.

[101]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology , 1992 .

[102]  Duncan J. Watts,et al.  Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age , 2003 .

[103]  Mark S. Granovetter.  The Strength of Weak Ties , 1973, American Journal of Sociology.

[104]  Hosung Park,et al.  What is Twitter, a social network or a news media? , 2010, WWW '10.

[105]  Gabriela Avram,et al.  At the Crossroads of Knowledge Management with Social Software , 2005, ECKM.

[106]  Paul R. Carlile,et al.  Transferring, Translating, and Transforming: An Integrative Framework for Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[107]  Alan Fowler,et al.  The role of AI-based technology in support of the knowledge management value activity cycle , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[108]  P. Drucker.  Landmarks of tomorrow , 1959 .

[109]  K. D. Joshi,et al.  Description and analysis of existing knowledge management frameworks , 1999, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. 1999. HICSS-32. Abstracts and CD-ROM of Full Papers.

[110]  Chris Higgins,et al.  Information Acquisition and Mental Models: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Behaviour and Learning , 1996, Inf. Syst. Res..

[111]  Gabriela Avram,et al.  At the Crossroads of Knowledge Management and Social Software , 2005 .

[112]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation , 2008, Inf. Manag..

[113]  K. Weick.  FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[114]  Mark Wallace,et al.  The Effects of the Social Structure of Digital Networks on Viral Marketing Performance , 2008, Inf. Syst. Res..

[115]  C. P. Goodman,et al.  The Tacit Dimension , 2003 .

[116]  M. Porter.  Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance , 1985 .

[117]  K. D. Joshi,et al.  A formal knowledge management ontology: Conduct, activities, resources, andinfluences , 2004, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[118]  J. Spender.  Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm , 1996 .

[119]  E. Shils.  The Constitution Of Society , 1982 .

[120]  Chun Wei Choo,et al.  The knowing organization , 2005 .

[121]  Karine Nahon,et al.  Toward a theory of network gatekeeping: A framework for exploring information control , 2008, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[122]  野中 郁次郎,et al.  The Knowledge-Creating Company: How , 1995 .

[123]  R. Ackoff.  From Data to Wisdom , 2014 .

[124]  Fang Wu,et al.  Novelty and collective attention , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[125]  J. Walther,et al.  Interaction of Interpersonal, Peer, and Media Influence Sources Online: A Research Agenda for Technology Convergence , 2010 .

[126]  Dianne Hall,et al.  Knowledge Management and the Leading IS Journals: An Analysis of Trends and Gaps in Published Research , 2005, Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[127]  Kevin Wallsten.  Beyond Agenda Setting: The Role of Political Blogs as Sources in Newspaper Coverage of Government , 2011, 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[128]  Xuan Guo-liang,et al.  Knowledge Value Chain , 2006 .

[129]  R. Mason,et al.  HOW EXECUTIVES PERCEIVE THE NET GENERATION , 2010 .

[130]  Duncan J. Watts,et al.  Everyone's an influencer: quantifying influence on twitter , 2011, WSDM '11.

[131]  G. Hedlund.  A model of knowledge management and the N‐form corporation , 2007 .

[132]  Richard J. Varey.  The Knowing Organization: : How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions , 2013 .

[133]  Alexander Galloway,et al.  Protocol, or, How Control Exists after Decentralization , 2001 .

[134]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Book review:Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. $29.95US. ISBN 0‐87584‐655‐6 , 1998 .