The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0959-3845.htm

ITP
26,3
Organizational members use
of social networking sites
and job performance
240 An exploratory study
Received 12 October 2012
Revised 22 February 2013
Murad Moqbel
16 April 2013 Health Information Management & Health Informatics Departments,
18 April 2013 University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
19 April 2013
Accepted 19 April 2013 Saggi Nevo
Department of Information Technology Management,
University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA, and
Ned Kock
Division 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 of
the use of social networking by organizational members. Some, fearing presenteeism (i.e. being at
the workplace but working below peak capacity), claim that the use of social networking sites
by organizational members is a waste of time, while others believe it leads to improvements in job
performance, partly due to employees successful efforts to balance work-life realms. This paper aims
to inform this debate by examining the use of social networking sites by organizational members and
its 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 was
evaluated using variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM), a latent variable-based multivariate
technique enabling concurrent estimation of structural and measurement models under nonparametric
assumptions. 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 effect
on job performance through the mediation of job satisfaction, and that this mediating effect is itself
mediated in a nested way via organizational commitment. The findings suggest that social
networking site use, rather than causing presenteeism, may be a new way through which employees
balance 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 an
integrated 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

Introduction
Information Technology & People
Vol. 26 No. 3, 2013
The technological advances and the increased use of the internet in recent years have
pp. 240-264 led to a communication revolution (Massari, 2010; Moqbel, 2012). This communication
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-3845
revolution as well as the more technologically empowered lifestyle of the individual
DOI 10.1108/ITP-10-2012-0110 users has changed the way people communicate and connect with each other
(Coyle, 2008; OMurchu et al., 2004). Social networking sites are a recent trend of this Use of social
revolution. Social networking sites are defined by Boyd and Ellison (2007, p. 211) as networking sites
web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public
profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they
share a connection with, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those
made by others within the system. Rooksby et al. (2009) divide social networking sites
into two main types: public social networking sites and internal social networking 241
sites. Public social networking sites are run by commercial providers and are often free.
Examples are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (for basic accounts). Internal social
networking sites are owned by organizations for their own internal use. Examples are
Watercooler at HP, Beehive at IBM, Harmony at SAP, D Street at Deloitte, and Town
Square at Microsoft. This study looks at the use of public social networking sites by
employees for several reasons. First, those sites have experienced exponential growth
in the past few years and are now all but omnipresent. Second, their use in the
workplace has been controversial, unlike that of their private counterparts. Third, the
use of public social networking sites does not only enable employees to communicate
and connect with coworkers, but also with family members and friends. This latter
aspect of public social networking sites is posited to be especially important in helping
employees balance their work-life realms.
Like several emerging technologies, social networking sites, and their use by
organizational members, have been controversial. Some argue that the use of social
networking sites by members of an organization leads to better employee productivity
through effects on intermediate variables, such as higher morale (AT&T, 2008; Bennett
et 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
(DAbate and Eddy, 2007), argue that organizational members use of social networking
sites causes loss of labor productivity as a result of time wasted at work (Nucleus, 2009;
OMurchu et al., 2004; Rooksby et al., 2009; Shepherd, 2011; Wavecrest, 2006).
In support of the opponents of social networking site use by organizational
members, a study by Nucleus Research (2009) suggested that full access to Facebook
alone 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 was
a great incentive for retention and organizational commitment particularly of new
hires, as they can be socially connected with family, friends, and other coworkers in the
workplace, leading to a better work-life balance. In addition, a European study
commissioned by AT&T (2008) found that 65 percent of employees believed that the
use 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 OBrien, 2010; North, 2010), which, could create external validity
problems when attempting to extrapolate the results to business settings. In this study,
we are collecting data from working professionals to test our hypotheses of whether
the use of social networking sites has effects on job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, and ultimately job performance.
This study is partly motivated by Norths (2010) call to investigate whether social
networking site use by organizational members influences their productivity. It has
been noted that social networking site use could lead to role conflicts (Baker et al.,
2011), which negatively affect work-related attitudinal outcomes such as job
satisfaction and organizational commitment (Koch et al., 2012). One the other hand,
ITP anecdotal evidence suggests that social networking site use by organizational
26,3 members can improve organizational commitment (Leidner et al., 2010). Hence, this
study was further motivated by the lack of empirical studies examining the impact of
social 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 the
productivity paradox of social networking site use by studying whether the use of
242 social networking sites by organizational members leads to work-life balance or
presenteeism. Therefore, the research question motivating this paper is, whether, and
under what conditions, the use of social networking sites by organizational members
can lead to improved job performance?

Research background and hypotheses

The hypotheses introduced in this section are depicted in the research model in
Figure 1. Each main construct was included in the model as a latent variable, shown
within an oval symbol. Hypotheses are represented by arrows connecting pairs of
latent variables. Several control variables were included in the analysis; these are
shown at the top-right area of the figure.
Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon that has not yet been fully
investigated (North, 2010). The effect of the use of social networking by organizational
members 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 it
can be a waste of time, likely reflecting employers fear of the adverse effects of nonwork-
related presenteeism (DAbate and Eddy, 2007). Alternatively, it may be seen as a source of
performance 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 balancing
act they may exhibit increased job satisfaction, stronger organizational commitment,
and ultimately performance better at their job. Investigating whether social networking
site 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

Job
Social H1
Performance
Networking Site
Use Intensity H2 H3
Job
Satisfaction
H5
H6 H4

Figure 1.
Research model and Organizational
hypotheses Commitment
productivity paradox of social networking. In other words, when social networking site Use of social
use promotes work-life balance, positive impacts on employee work-related outcomes, networking sites
specifically employee performance, would likely be established. If work-life balance is not
achieved, the use of social networking sites by organizational members could instead
produce negative work-related outcomes. Next, we elaborate on the potential downside
and upside of social networking site use by organizational members by building on the
literatures on presenteeism and work-life balance, respectively. 243
Presenteeism and work-life balance
Employers concerns regarding social networking site use by their employees are not
baseless as the evidence shows that employees spend, on average, 80 minutes per day
engaging in nonwork-related activities, such as sending and receiving e-mail from
friends and family, talking on the phone for personal business, and surfing the internet
(DAbate and Eddy, 2007). Thus, although they are present at work, employees might
not perform to the best of their ability due to lack of concentration or
absentmindedness, thus exhibiting presenteeism (DAbate and Eddy, 2007).
Presenteeism was originally proposed as a term for describing situations where
employees come to work when they are ill or injured and due to their illness or injury
they perform below peak levels, such as producing lower quantity of output or lower
quality of work, making mistakes, and repeating tasks (Hemp, 2004; Zengerle, 2004).
The term presenteeism was later expanded to describe situations in which employees
underperform because of lack of concentration (Simpson, 1998). Most recently,
presenteeism has been suggested as a term for describing employees who engage in
nonwork-related activities such as personal business for a portion of the workday
(DAbate and Eddy, 2007). Employees may engage in myriad nonwork-related
activities, including surfing the internet, sending and receiving e-mails from friends,
shopping online, having social conversation, and getting visits from family (DAbate
and Eddy, 2007). Cleary, employers have grounds for being concerned about such
activities, which can be linked to lost productivity.
However, when we consider the reasons behind the apparent nonwork-related
presenteeism, it is possible to identify problems which such activities may help to
alleviate. A key reason for presenteeism in the form of nonwork-related activities is
to achieve better work-life balance (DAbate, 2005). Work cannot be separated from
employees other lifes realms that is, home and leisure (Crouter, 1984; Hochschild,
1997; Watkins and Subich, 1995). In fact, individuals consciously cross the permeable
boundaries of these realms in an effort to balance their roles within them (Ashforth
et al., 2000). For example, employees often use the telephone to get in touch with a sick
relative, congratulate a friend on the birth of a new child, and set plans for after work
events. On the other hand, employees often check their work e-mail from home and
discuss work-related problems with friends and family. Thus, the three realms work,
home, and leisure are intertwined, and imbalance and conflict among them could
have negative impact on employees and, consequently, their workplace (Greenhaus and
Beutell, 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 unresolved
home issue could cause an emotional strain and become a distraction at work, thereby
impacting her job satisfaction and performance. If she is able to pick up the phone or
discuss this issue with a friend or a family member via a social networking site and
restore balance to her home realm, this employee is likely to regain emotional stability
and perform at higher levels.
ITP Employees who are given opportunities to balance work-life are more likely to
26,3 express higher commitment levels, perform at higher levels, and report greater levels
of job satisfaction (Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000). Accordingly, in this paper we
empirically explore the proposition that social networking site use by organizational
members, which might be interpreted as a form of presenteeism by concerned
employers and seen as having detrimental consequences for organizations, can in fact
244 promote higher commitment to the organization and induce higher job satisfaction
evaluations, and ultimately enhance employee job performance.

Social networking site use: relationships with job performance and job satisfaction
Several studies have been conducted on social networking sites, examining a variety of
important aspects. For instance, North (2010) explored the benefits as well as the risks
of the use of social networking sites in the workplace and concluded that employees
believe that social networking site use in the workplace is worthwhile. This finding is
not surprising, given that one of the primary objectives of using social networking sites
is to develop new relationships as well as to maintain existing relationships. Ellison
et al. (2007) found a strong association between the intensity of use of Facebook and
social capital and that using this social networking site can help certain users to deal
with low self-esteem and low life satisfaction. Leidner et al. (2010) report that the use of
an internal social networking system at a particular organization helped new hires
better acclimate into the IT department. Some of the benefits Leidner and her
colleagues found include stronger sense of cultural belonging, higher morale, and a
more exciting environment for entry-level IT workers. The same study found that the
ability of employees to access Facebook at work was a great incentive for the retention
and organizational commitment of new hires as they can be socially connected with
family, friends, and other coworkers in the workplace. In addition, a study
commissioned by AT&T (2008) found that 65 percent of employees believed that the
use of social networking helped them be more productive. Moreover, Ali-Hassan et al.
(2011) found that using social computing at the workplace increases employees job
performance by enhancing first their social capital. Furthermore, Bennett et al. (2010)
report that the benefits of social networking site use in the workplace can include
enhanced collective knowledge, improved knowledge, increased productivity, and
improved morale. In sum, the use of social networking sites by organizational members
could lead to benefits to both the employee and the organization.
On the other hand, some studies suggest that the use of social networking in the
workplace might lead to loss in worker productivity (Nucleus, 2009; OMurchu et al.,
2004; Rooksby et al., 2009; Shepherd, 2011; Wavecrest, 2006). Indeed, it was found that
full 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 than
their peers (Kirschner and Karpinski, 2010). In addition, by blurring the boundaries
between life and work realms, social networking site use by organizational members
might cause home and leisure issues to interfere with job responsibilities, thereby
resulting 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 social
networking site use on job performance we expect the effect to be mainly positive by
arguing that social networking site use by employees can be seen as a tool for
enhancing work-life balance. Extant literature indicates that work-life balance
practices positively influence organizational member productivity. For instance, Use of social
research found that allowing employees to take care of personal business at work networking sites
was a significant factor behind their outstanding performance (Ioan et al., 2010).
Organizations have utilized work-life balance practices as a strategic human resource
management practice that resulted not only in improved individual performance, but
also reduced absenteeism, job stress, and turnover rate (Ioan et al., 2010). This, in
turn, eventually results in enhanced job performance. Since organizational members 245
may 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 positively

associated with increased job performance.

The conflicting evidence regarding the impact of social networking sites on job
performance may be further explained by the absence of relevant mediators from past
models. In this paper we identify two relevant variables i.e. job satisfaction and
organizational commitment that appear to play an important role as mediators in the
relationship between social networking site use and job performance. We discuss these
variables 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 was
found to enhance job satisfaction (Kanwar et al., 2009). Research has shown that
employees who have better work-life balance tend to be more satisfied with their jobs
and have less burnout (Malik et al., 2010). A recent research showed that work-life
balance is a key factor in attracting quality employees (Converge International, 2008).
Social networking sites may serve as a mechanism for achieving balance by extending
ones virtual presence into the other realms and maintaining ones roles and
responsibilities in absentia (DiMicco et al., 2008). Also, social networking site use can
serve 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 social
support, which was found to positively affect job satisfaction (Hurlbert, 1991). Thus,
a work-balance environment is a significant driving force behind employees job
satisfaction (Clark, 2001). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H2. Organizational members social networking site use intensity is positively

associated with job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction: relationships with job performance and organizational commitment

Job satisfaction refers to the extent to which employees have positive and pleasurable
emotions 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 employee
attitude (Saari and Judge, 2004). We note that the terms job satisfaction, job attitude, and
morale are often used interchangeably in the literature because they tend to measure
the same concept organizational members happiness at work (Organ and Near, 1985).
In line with this tradition, we often refer to employee attitude or morale broadly in this
paper, although our specific theorizing and subsequent measurement will concern
job 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
ITP Muchinsky, 1985) believed to have a positive effect on job performance ( Judge et al.,
26,3 2001). Those findings are consistent with the widely accepted notion that attitude,
which could be favorable or unfavorable, is a precursor to behavior (Fishbein and
Ajzen, 1975; Judge et al., 2001). This leads to the following hypothesis:

H3. Greater job satisfaction is positively associated with higher job performance.
246
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 defined
by Porter et al. (1974) as the relative strength of an individuals identification with
and involvement in a particular organization (p. 604). Similar to the relationship
between job satisfaction and job performance, the direction of the relationship between
job satisfaction and organizational commitment has been debated (Bluedorn, 1982). Yet
the majority of the literature (see, e.g. Brown and Peterson, 1993) agrees that job
satisfaction is a precedent of organizational commitment. In line with that we propose
the following:

H4. Job satisfaction is positively associated with organizational commitment.

Organizational commitment: relationships with job performance and social networking

site use
Organizational commitment has been conceptualized as having three dimensions:
affective, continuance, and normative (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Workers with
strong affective commitment have a strong emotional attachment to the organization
they work in, and are generally disinclined to leave the organization. Those with strong
normative commitment feel they ought to stay at the organization, but not necessarily
because of emotional attachment; and those with strong continuance commitment stay
because they need to (Allen and Meyer, 1990).
Employees who identify with and feel attached to their organizations tend to work
harder (Riketta, 2002). This refers primarily to affective commitment, which in the context
of this study is the most relevant dimension of organizational commitment, and one for
which measurement instruments have been widely used and validated by various
researchers (OReilly and Chatman, 1986; Price and Mueller, 1981). We therefore use
affective commitment in this study, as a way of measuring organizational commitment.
It has been shown that job performance is positively influenced by organizational
commitment (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 organizational
commitment. The use of social networking sites by organizational members may
provide employees with a sense of social interaction. Social interaction serves as a
resource to employees in the organization which, in turn, may enhance the employees
affective attachment to the organization. For instance, Leidner et al. (2010) found that
the use of an internal social networking site at one organization provided new hires
with supporting resources that led to high commitment to the IT department in
particular, and the organization in general.
 The provision of work-life balance by employers produces a sense of assurance for Use of social
employees that their employer is supportive of their well-being and nonwork-related networking sites
needs. Employees who feel supported by their organization express positive attitudes
toward the organization (Blau, 1964; Eisenberger et al., 1986) and tend to exert
additional effort (Lambert, 2000). Social networking site use is a means through which
employees can reach work-life balance (DiMicco et al., 2008), which in turn promote
higher level of organizational commitment (Kopelman et al., 2006). This leads to the 247
following hypothesis:

H6. Employees social networking site use intensity is positively associated with
organizational commitment.

In this study, we argue that job satisfaction and organizational commitment play
important roles as mediators of the relationships between work-life balance provided
through social networking site use and job performance. This mediational role is
consistent with several theoretical frameworks that focus on the manner in which an
individuals behaviors toward a social entity are influenced by the manner in which the
entity is perceived to have acted toward the individual. Examples of such theoretical
frameworks include social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), perceived organizational
support (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002), and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960).
These theories can be used to predict that organizational members would tend to hold
positive feelings, feel indebted, and be inclined to respond in kind when treated
favorably by their organizations. In the context of this paper, this rationale suggests
that job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment would be enhanced
when organizational members are afforded opportunities to maintain work-life balance
via the use of social networking sites. Ultimately, job satisfaction and affective
organizational commitment are hypothesized to enhance job performance, thus
implicating their role as mediators of the relationship between social networking site
use and job performance.

Research method
We adopted indicators for the social networking site use intensity latent variable
from Ellison et al. (2007) after making some wording modifications, such as replacing
Facebook with social networking. The survey questions included Facebook and
MySpace as examples clarifying the public type of social networking sites used in the
study. Indicators for the organizational commitment latent variable were adapted
from Mowday et al. (1982). Indicators for job satisfaction and job performance were
adopted from Rehman (2011) and Rehman and Waheed (2011). All latent variables
were 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 latent
variable was measured using six indicators; job satisfaction was measured using five
indicators; organizational commitment was measured using five indicators; and job
performance was measured using three indicators (see Appendix for a description of
the complete measurement instrument used).
We surveyed professionals both via online and mail questionnaires. The
online respondents were employees from different states in the USA, while the
offline respondents were employees from multiple organizations in a metropolitan
border town in southern Texas. Totally, 200 invitations to participate in the online
ITP version of the questionnaire were sent and 79 completed questionnaires were received (39.5
26,3 percent response rate). Totally, 160 invitations for the offline version of the questionnaire
were 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 were
male (47 percent) and 103 were female (53 percent). Their average respondent age was
248 27 (SD 7.97). In all, 41 percent (80) of the respondents were employed full-time and the
average years of experience were 5.5 (SD 5.6).

Measurement instrument validation

Our proposed model was evaluated using variance-based structural equation modeling
(SEM), a latent variable-based multivariate technique enabling concurrent estimation of
structural and measurement models under nonparametric assumptions (Chin, 1998;
Lohmoller, 1989). Variance-based SEM is a multivariate analysis technique that shares
similarities 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 (Diaconis
and Efron, 1983; Lohmoller, 1989; Rencher, 1998). Variance-based SEM is more suitable
when the criterion of multivariate normality is not met in a data set (Chin, 1998; Siegel
and Castellan, 1988), which is the case in this study.
The structural model was used to examine the strength and statistical significance
of the relationships among theoretical latent variables. The measurement model was
tested using confirmatory factor analysis and related techniques to examine whether
the latent variables had acceptable reliability and validity. This study used WarpPLS
2.0 to assess both the measurement and the structural model (Kock, 2010, 2011).
We started by assessing the measurement model for latent variable validity and
reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using principal components
as the means of extraction. The confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to
establish whether widely accepted criteria for acceptable discriminant and convergent
validity were met. The loadings of all indicators should be 0.50 or above on their
expected latent variable (Hair et al., 1992) and they should be significant at least at the
0.05 level (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988; Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Sujan et al., 1994).
Loadings, cross-loadings, and p-values obtained from the confirmatory factor
analysis for the four latent variables used in this study are shown on Table I. All of the
factor loadings and cross-loadings are after an oblique rotation (Ehrenberg, 1976;
Thompson, 2004). This type of rotation is recommended in SEM as latent variables are
anticipated to be correlated with one another (Kline, 2005; Schumacker and Lomax,
2004). To the right of Table I, the composite reliability (CR) and the Cronbachs a (CA)
coefficients for each latent variable are shown.
All of the standardized factor loadings for our study were significant at po0.001
level. They ranged from 0.613 to 0.969. These results suggest that our instrument has
acceptable convergent validity (Hair et al., 2010).
We tested discriminant validity by comparing the inter-construct correlations with
the square roots of their respective average variances extracted (AVEs), shown on
Table II. The square roots of the AVEs for the latent variables are shown along the
diagonal and within parentheses. When we compare the square roots of the AVEs with
the other values on each column, we find that the square roots of the AVEs for each
latent variable are greater than any correlation involving the latent variables. Thus we
conclude that the measurement model has acceptable discriminant validity (Fornell
and Larcker, 1981).
 PERF COM SAT SNSUI p-value CR CA
Use of social
networking sites
PERF1 (0.901) 0.079 0.104 0.007 o0.001 0.952 0.924
PERF2 (0.961) 0.071 0.059 0.008 o0.001
PERF3 (0.935) 0.002 0.037 0.014 o0.001
COM1 0.090 (0.742) 0.133 0.050 o0.001 0.902 0.865
COM2 0.029 (0.613) 0.240 0.005 o0.001 249
COM3 0.087 (0.827) 0.075 0.017 o0.001
COM4 0.011 (0.889) 0.186 0.013 o0.001
COM5 0.041 (0.969) 0.123 0.076 o0.001
SAT1 0.021 0.166 (0.936) 0.068 o0.001 0.949 0.932
SAT2 0.002 0.109 (0.887) 0.010 o0.001
SAT3 0.021 0.089 (0.915) 0.062 o0.001
SAT4 0.019 0.034 (0.888) 0.009 o0.001
SAT5 0.022 0.098 (0.819) 0.024 o0.001
SNSUI1 0.007 0.019 0.095 (0.841) o0.001 0.931 0.911
SNSUI2 0.008 0.011 0.034 (0.779) o0.001
SNSUI3 0.023 0.018 0.060 (0.883) o0.001
SNSUI4 0.010 0.017 0.016 (0.869) o0.001
SNSUI5 0.015 0.001 0.006 (0.848) o0.001
SNSUI6 0.038 0.010 0.128 (0.769) o0.001
Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networking site use Table I.
intensity; CR, composite reliability coefficient for latent variable; CA, Cronbachs a coefficient for latent Loadings and cross-
variable. Loadings are shown within parentheses; loadings and cross-loadings are oblique-rotated; loadings for latent
p-values refer to loadings and were obtained through bootstrapping variables

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)
Table II.
Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networking site use Correlation between
intensity; AVE, average variance extracted. Square roots of AVEs are shown on diagonal within latent variables and
parentheses square roots of AVEs

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 order
to display good reliability, a latent variables CR should generally be 0.70 or higher
(Hair et al., 1992; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). The CR estimate, unlike the CA, takes
into consideration the indicators different loadings. As shown in Table I, the CRs for all
latent variables have exceeded the threshold mentioned.
In addition, we ran a full collinearity test to examine whether there was
multicollinearity among all of the latent variables. This test relies on the variance
inflation factors (VIFs) calculated for each latent variable, in relation to all of the other
ITP latent variables (Kline, 2005). The full collinearity test was conducted by building a
26,3 new model including all latent variables and manifest variables in the model pointing
at a dummy variable storing random values. We found that the VIF values for all latent
variables were less than the threshold of 5 as suggested by Hair et al. (2010). The
highest VIF value was 3.131 for age, as shown in Table III. This means that collinearity
can be ruled out as a significant source of bias.
250 In summary, the measurement model passes several strict tests of convergent
validity, discriminant validity, reliability, and absence of collinearity. These results
show that our model meets widely accepted data validation criteria, suggesting that
the results of the SEM can be generally trusted not to be due to data measurement
problems (Kline, 2005; Schumacker and Lomax, 2004).

Results
Figure 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 control
variables. The latent variables are reduced to individual scores using a PLS regression
algorithm. b coefficients, which are standardized partial regression coefficients, denote
the strengths of the multivariate associations among latent variables in the model. The
symbol * 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 are
presented under the under endogenous variables and show the percentage of variance
explained 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 six
proposed hypotheses were supported, and that the model explained 27 percent of
the variance in job performance. Social networking site use intensity did not have
a statistically significant association with job performance (b 0.06, ns),
indicating that there is no direct effect on job performance by social networking site
use intensity, when one controls for the mediating roles of job satisfaction and
organizational commitment.
On the other hand, social networking site use intensity had a significant positive
association with job satisfaction (b 0.22, po0.01), indicating that the more intense the
use of social networking site by employees, the higher their level of job satisfaction. In
practical terms, this result means that for every 10 percent increase in social networking
site use intensity, there is an expected 2.2 percent increase in job satisfaction.

Performance 1.380
Social-networking-site-use intensity 1.112
Satisfaction 2.250
Organizational commitment 2.025
Gender 1.158
Job type 1.582
Race 1.578
Experience 2.218
Age 3.131
Education 1.433
Policy 1.175
Table III.
Variance inflation factors Notes: Variance inflation factors (VIFs) obtained through a full collinearity test. A VIF lower than
for all variables 5 suggests no collinearity between a variable and other variables
 Control variables: Use of social
- Age
- Gender networking sites
- Experience
- Education
- Full-time/Part-time
- Race/Hispanic
- Policy
251
H1
Social (=0.06NS) Job
Networking Site H2 H3
Performance
(=0.22**) (=0.31**)
Use Intensity
Job R2=0.27
Satisfaction
H4 H5
H6 (=0.65***) (=0.23**)
R2=0.05
(=0.08NS)

Organizational
Commitment

R2=0.45
Figure 2.
Hypotheses and
Notes: **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; NS statistically non-significant; all control variables related results
were statistically non-significant

Job satisfaction had a significant positive association with job performance (b 0.31,
po0.01), which could suggest that the more satisfied employees are with their jobs, the
higher is their job performance. This result can be interpreted practically by saying
that for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction, there is a 3.1 percent increase in
job performance.
In addition, job satisfaction had a significant positive association with organizational
commitment (b 0.65, po0.001), suggesting that the more satisfied employees are with
their jobs, the higher the level of organizational commitment they have. Similarly, the
practical interpretation of this result is that there is an expected 6.5 percent increase in
organizational commitment for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction.
Organizational commitment had a significant positive association with job
performance (b 0.23, po0.01), implying that the more emotionally attached
employees are with their organizations, the higher the level of job performance
they exert. The practical interpretation of this result is that for every 10 percent
increase in organizational commitment, there is a 2.3 percent increase in
job performance.
On the other hand, the social networking site use intensity did not have a significant
association with organizational commitment (b 0.08, ns), indicating that job
satisfaction plays a more prominent role as a mediator between social networking site
use and job performance than organizational commitment.
The following control variables were included in the analysis, with respect to job
performance: age, gender, years of work experience, level of education, full-time or
part-time employment, race, and whether the organization they work at has a formal
social networking site use policy. Using these controls variables enhances our
confidence that the results reported above regarding job performance hold irrespective
of age, gender, years of work experience, etc. Moreover, no significant effects have been
observed in connection with any of these control variables.
ITP The results suggest a strong mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship
26,3 between social networking site use intensity and job performance. We employed a test
of significance of mediation using the approach proposed by Preacher and Hayes
(2004), a nonparametric approach that uses b coefficients and standard errors obtained
through resampling. This test yielded a p-value of 0.033, suggesting that the mediating
effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between social networking site use
252 intensity and job performance was statistically significant at the 0.05 level.
This is a puzzling finding, given that the correlation between social networking site
use intensity and job performance, reported earlier in the validation section, was
indistinguishable from zero (0.011). The classic criteria for mediation assessment
discussed by Baron and Kenny (1986) include the assumption that the correlation
among the independent variable and the dependent variable be significant (path c in
Baron and Kenny, 1986). This conundrum can be resolved by an inspection of the shape
of 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 is
reflected in the path coefficient) is negative. For the other part of the data set, the
gradient 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 this
test. On the other hand, the Baron and Kenny (1986) test uses the entire data set for a
single computation of the coefficients. We conclude that the mediation is indeed
significant, but not in a classic (linear) sense, as the effects of different signs cancel
each other out when the whole data set is considered. We discuss this interesting
finding further in the limitations and opportunities for future research section below.
At the same time, the link between job satisfaction and job performance was
mediated by organizational commitment. When applying the Preacher and Hayes
(2004) mediation test of significance, organizational commitments mediating effect
was statistically significant at the po0.01 significance level. That is, while job
satisfaction plays a role of a mediator between the social networking site use and
job performance link, organizational commitment also mediates the link between
job satisfaction and job performance. In other words, there is a nested mediating
effect i.e. job satisfaction mediating the relationship between social networking sites
use and job performance, and within this mediating effect, organizational commitment
mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance.

4.7
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.3
PERF

4.2
4.1
4
3.9
Figure 3. 3.8
Relationship between 3.7
social networking site 1.0-1.8 1.8-2.6 2.6-3.4 3.4-4.2 4.2-5.0
use and job performance
SNSUI
in quintiles
Notes: PERF, performance; SNSUI, social networking site use intensity
Figure 4 shows the non-standardized data charts for all latent variables used in this Use of social
study. Since latent variable scores are standardized measures, this figure was created networking sites
using the highest loading indicator of each latent variable, as recommended by Kock
(2010, 2011). This figure shows the percentage difference for each pair of latent
variables, 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 is
a 7 percent increase in the level of job satisfaction from the lowest to the highest 253
quintile of social networking site use intensity. The above results complement the
SEM 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 is
recommended that the values for both the APC and ARS be significant at least at the
0.05 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 fit
of the proposed model with the data.
Discussion and conclusion
There is an ongoing debate about the use social networking sites (e.g. Facebook,
Google , and Twitter) by employees while at work since such use is often seen by
managers as a waste of time. There is a tendency to think that using these sites at
the workplace is not productive and that employees time can be better utilized to
enhance performance. The notion of presenteeism is apt in this context as it is used
to describe employees who are physically present at the workplace but are not
operating at maximum capacity because they are occupied with nonwork-related
issues. Yet, it is important to acknowledge that employees spend many hours in the
office, away from their friends and family, and using those sites may be a useful
way to access and maintain social relationships that can balance the demands
and pressures of the workplace. It has been shown in the past that more satisfied
employees are also more effective and productive employees. Accordingly, the goal
of this exploratory study was to construct and test a preliminary research model
7% Difference 47% Difference 20% Difference 20% Difference
5 5 5 5
4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5
4 4 4 4
3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
3 3 3 3
PERF

PERF
COM
SAT

2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5

2 2 2 2
1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
1 1 1 1 Figure 4.
0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Non-standardized data
0 0 0 0
1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5 1-1.8 4.2-5 chart showing the
SNSUI SAT SAT COM difference between
the highest and the
Notes: PERF, performance; COM, commitment; SAT, satisfaction; SNSUI, social networking lowest quintiles
site use intensity

APC ARS AVIF

0.26*** 0.251*** 1.318

Table IV.
Note: ***po0.001 Model fit indices
ITP that could explain the connection between social networking site use intensity and
26,3 job performance. The proposed research model used for this study had a good fit
with the data collected. The three main explanatory latent variables, namely: social
networking site use intensity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment
explained 27 percent of the variance in job performance.
From a theoretical point of view, this study contributes to the social networking, job
254 satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance literatures. To the best
of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze, in an integrated way, the
relationship between those theoretical constructs.
Table V summarizes the support, or lack thereof, for each of the hypotheses based on
the SEM analysis. This study found that social networking site use intensity enhances
employees job satisfaction. One possible mechanism through which this could have
happened 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 improved
work-life balance could in turn have helped enhance the employees satisfaction with their
jobs (Malik et al., 2010).
In practical terms, job satisfaction increased by 2.2 percent with every 10 percent
increase in social networking site use intensity. Moreover, consistent with previous
studies, this research found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment were
significant in explaining the employees job performance (Zhang and Zheng, 2009). In
practical terms, for every 10 percent increase in job satisfaction and organizational
commitment, job performance of employees increased 3.1 and 2.3 percent, respectively.
We found that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are two possible
mediators of the relationship between social networking site use intensity and job
performance. This means that social networking site use intensity can increase the
level of job satisfaction of employees. Job satisfaction in turn enhances the employees
emotional attachment as well as identification with their organizations. This emotional
attachment to their organizations positively affects the employees performance at
their 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 with
friends, family members, as well as with fellow coworkers and to keep up-to-date with
what is going on in their social networks, ultimately leading to better work-life balance.

Hypothesis Path coefficient Supported?

H1. Social networking site use intensity is

associated with job performance 0.06a No
H2. Social networking site use intensity is positively
associated with job satisfaction 0.22** Yes
H3. Job satisfaction is positively associated with job
performance 0.31** Yes
H4. Job satisfaction is positively associated with
organizational commitment 0.65*** Yes
H5. Organizational commitment is positively
Table V. associated with job performance 0.23** Yes
Support for the H6. Social networking site use intensity is positively
hypotheses based associated with organizational commitment 0.08a No
on the results a
Note: NS, not statistically significant. **,***po0.01 and 0.001, respectively
This sense of maintaining work-life balance has the potential to positively influence Use of social
employees satisfaction with their jobs. Consistent with the literature, our findings networking sites
show that achieving work-life balance through the use of social networking influences
job satisfaction (DiMicco et al., 2008).
Our findings show that there is no significant direct effect of the use of social
networking sites on job performance (coefficient 0.06, ns). However, our findings
show that there is a significant indirect effect of social networking site use intensity on 255
job performance through mediating effects of job satisfaction and organizational
commitment. Job satisfaction could transmit the effect of social networking site use
intensity 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 their
human resource departments in particular. First, it is reasonable to conclude that
professionals in charge of human resources would benefit from understanding the
associations uncovered by this study. In terms of organizational commitment,
organizations that seek a long-term relationship with employees may reap the benefits
in financial terms through higher performance of their employees.
Second, based on this study, it seems that paying employees for a few minutes of
work time spent on social networking sites does not translate into a financial loss. It
may well be seen as an investment for a greater long-term bottom line. In terms of job
satisfaction, just as compensation packages may have a direct positive impact on job
satisfaction to enhance productivity of the organization (Beer, 1984), so may the use of
social networking sites have positive effect on job satisfaction.
Third, job satisfaction appears to mediate the effect of social networking site use
intensity on organizational commitment, and organizational commitment mediates the
effect of social networking site use intensity on job performance. This suggests that the
use of social networking sites can help enhance job satisfaction directly and
organizational commitment indirectly, ultimately leading to better job performance.
Finally, this study demonstrates empirically that managers concerns regarding the
possibility of presenteeism associated with employees using social networking sites,
while not baseless, may be partly alleviated by knowing that such use enhances
job satisfaction and organizational commitment which are positively linked to job
performance. At the very least, this finding suggests that organizations should consider
their policies regarding the use of those sites at the workplace since the apparent waste
of time is likely used to restore and maintain work-life balance, which fosters positive
feelings and attitudes toward the organization and produces better employees.
In conclusion, the findings suggest that social networking site use, rather than
indicating presenteeism, may be an important mechanism through which employees
balance their work-life realms, in turn benefitting their organizations. Therefore, it is
recommended that organizations approach the possibility of adding the use of social
networking sites to their arsenal of practices without pre-conceived biases because, as
this study demonstrates, such IT usage can enhance organizational commitment, job
satisfaction, and ultimately job performance.

Limitations and opportunities for future research

Like all studies, this study is not exempted from limitations. First, one potential
limitation is not examining whether social networking site use reduces the negative
work-related behaviors such as absenteeism, burnout, and turnover. Future studies are
encouraged to incorporate such measures in order to further examine the effects of
ITP social networking site use. Second, the design of this study was cross-sectional which
26,3 does not allow for causality conclusions. It should be noted that the generally accepted
relationship between job satisfaction and job performance suggested first by the
human relationists, and supported by this study, has not gone unchallenged. This
should be recognized as a possible limitation of this study, and further explored in
future research. For instance, the expectancy-based theorists of motivation have
256 argued that satisfaction is a result of the rewards produced by performance (Lawler
and Porter, 1967; Naylor et al., 1980; Vroom, 1964). This argument is based on the
assumption that performance leads to outcomes that are satisfying to individuals.
Similarly, Locke (1970) argued that job satisfaction is an outcome of performance
because performance leads to the attainment of important job values. Furthermore,
self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985) proposes that performance would lead
to job satisfaction because satisfaction results from the rewards gained from
performance. Third, this research does not directly measure social support, work-life
stressors such as overload, role conflict and work-life balance, which may be impacted
by the use of social networking sites by organizational members and, in turn, impact
job performance. Therefore, we encourage future research on the topic to consider
examining the effect of social networking site use on these potentially relevant
intermediary outcomes. Fourth, this study examined the effect of social networking site
use intensity on job performance rather than productivity. Future research could
complement the findings reported in this paper by studying the impact of social
networking site use on work productivity. Fifth, this study used social networking site
use intensity as an omnibus measure of the main antecedent. Future studies are
encouraged to scrutinize this variable further, separating it into fine graded
components such as use for gaming, for socializing and for information seeking, in
order to enhance our understanding of the relationship between social networking site
use and job performance. Sixth, we note that in this exploratory study the notion of
presenteeism was used to provide a theoretical background and context but it was not
explicitly incorporated into the research model. We believe that explicitly theorizing
the role of presenteeism (perceived or real) and subsequently measuring its impact on
job performance could shed additional light on the phenomenon of social networking
use by workers, and we encourage future researchers to expand our model in this
direction. Seventh, our analysis of the mediation effect of job satisfaction discovered
the potential presence of nonlinearities in the relationship between social networking
site use and job performance. We encourage future research to further explore this
interesting finding and to put forward theory-driven hypotheses that may explain the
phenomenon. Finally, using self-reports from a single respondent for job performance
could make one of the limitations of this study. However, even when done by
practitioners for internal purposes, job performance is usually measured using
subjective measures such as self-reports and supervisory ratings. For example, in their
meta-analytic study, Mabe and West (1982) suggested that self-report measures may be
a more valid indicator of performance than typically believed. In fact, Iaffaldano and
Muchinsky (1985) did not find much difference in the correlations between job
satisfaction and job performance when performance was measured in either objective
or subjective ways. In addition, employees were requested to report their last annual
performance evaluation from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). When analyzing this variable in
terms of the job performance latent variable scores, there was high correlation between
the two variables (r 0.50, po0.001), indicating strong validity of the self-reported
performance measurement and the supervisor-based evaluation.
References Use of social
Ali-Hassan, H., Nevo, D., Kim, H. and Perelgut, S. (2011), Organizational social computing networking sites
and employee job performance: the knowledge access route, System Sciences (HICSS),
44th Hawaii International Conference on, IEEE, pp. 1-10.
Allen, N. and Meyer, J. (1990), The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and
normative commitment to the organization, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 63
No. 1, pp. 1-18. 257
Allen, N. and Meyer, J. (1996), Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the
organization: an examination of construct validity, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 49
No. 3, pp. 252-276.
Allen, T.D., Herst, D.E., Bruck, C.S. and Sutton, M. (2000), Consequences associated with work-
to-family conflict: a review and agenda for future research, Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 278-308.
Ashforth, B.E., Kreiner, G.E. and Fugate, M. (2000), All in a days work: boundaries and micro
role transition, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 472-491.
AT&T (2008), Social Networking in the Workplace Increases Efficiency, Dynamic Markets Limited,
London.
Baker, D., Buoni, N., Fee, M. and Vitale, C. (2011), Social networking and its effects on companies
and their employees, available at: www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/
journal/Review2011/SocialNetworking.pdf (accessed February 18, 2013).
Bagozzi, R. and Yi, Y. (1988), On the evaluation of structural equation models, Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 74-94.
Baron, R.M. and Kenny, D.A. (1986), The moderatormediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations, Journal of
Personality & Social Psychology, Vol. 51 No. 6, pp. 1173-1182.
Beer, M. (1984), Managing Human Assets, Free Press, New York, NY.
Bennett, J., Owers, M., Pitt, M. and Tucker, M. (2010), Workplace impact of social networking,
Property Management, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 138-148.
Bhuian, S.N. and Abdul-Muhmin, A.G. (1997), Job satisfaction and organizational commitment
among guest-worker sales forces: the case of Saudi Arabia, Journal of Global Marketing,
Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 27-44.
Blau, P.M. (1964), Exchange and POWER in Social Life, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
Bluedorn, A.C. (1982), A unified model of turnover from organizations, Human Relations,
Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 135-153.
Boyd, D. and Ellison, N. (2007), Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship,
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 210-230.
Brown, S.P. and Peterson, R.A. (1993), Antecedents and consequences of salesperson job
satisfaction: meta-analysis and assessment of causal effects, Journal of Marketing
Research, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 63-77.
Chin, W.W. (1998), Commentary: issues and opinion on structural equation modeling, MIS
Quarterly, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. vii-xvi.
Clark, L. and Roberts, S. (2010), Employers use of social networking sites: a socially
irresponsible practice, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 95 No. 4, pp. 507-525.
Clark, S.C. (2001), Work cultures and work/family balance, Journal of Vocation Behavior, Vol. 58
No. 3, pp. 348-365.
Converge International (2008), Striking a work-life balance understanding attraction & retention
in todays workforce, available at: www.convergeinternational.com.au (accessed
September 18, 2012).
ITP Crouter, A.C. (1984), Spillover from family to work: the neglected side of the work-family
interface, Human Relations, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 425-441.
26,3
Coyle, C.L.V.H. (2008), Social networking: communication revolution or evolution?, Bell Labs
Technical Journal, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 13-17.
DAbate, C.P. (2005), Working hard or hardly working: a study of individuals engaging in
personal business on the job, Human Relations, Vol. 58 No. 8, pp. 1009-1032.
258 DAbate, C.P. and Eddy, E.R. (2007), Engaging in personal business on the job: extending the
presenteeism construct, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 361-383.
Deci, E.L. and Ryan, R.M. (1985), Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human
Behavior, Plenum Press, New York, NY.
Diaconis, P. and Efron, B. (1983), Computer-intensive methods in statistics, Scientific American,
Vol. 248 No. 5, pp. 116-130.
DiMicco, J., Millen, D.R., Geyer, W., Dugan, C., Brownholtz, B. and Muller, M. (2008), Motivations
for social networking at work, paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2008 ACM
Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, San Diego, CA, November 8-12.
Dwyer, C. (2007), Task technology fit, the social technical gap and social networking sites,
paper presented at The Thirteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Keystone,
CO, August 10-12.
Dwyer, C., Hiltz, S.R. and Passerini, K. (2007), Trust and privacy concern within social
networking sites: a comparison of Facebook and MySpace, paper presented at The
Thirteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Keystone, CO, August 10-12.
Ehrenberg, A.S.C. (1976), Factor Analysis: Limitations and Alternatives, Mass Marketing Science
Inst, Cambridge, MA.
Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C. and Lampe, C. (2007), The benefits of facebook friends: social capital
and college students use of online social network sites, Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 1143-1168.
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S. and Sowa, D. (1986), Perceived organizational
support, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 71 No. 3, pp. 500-507.
Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (1975), Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to
Theory and Research, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Fornell, C. and Larcker, D.F. (1981), Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable
variables and measurement error, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 39-50.
Friedman, S.D. and Greenhaus, J.H. (2000), Work and Family Allies or Enemies?: What Happens
When Business Professionals Confront Life Choices, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gouldner, A.W. (1960), The norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement, American Sociological
Review, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 161-178.
Greenhaus, J.H. and Beutell, N.J. (1985), Sources of conflict between work and family roles,
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 76-88.
Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B. and Anderson, R. (2010), Multivariate Data Analysis, Pearson,
Upper Saddle River, NJ and London.
Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R. and Black, W. (1992), Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings,
Macmillan, New York, NY.
Hargittai, E. (2008), Whose space? Differences among users and non-users of social network
sites, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 276-297.
Hellman, C.M. and McMillan, W.L. (1994), Newcomer socialization and affective commitment,
Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 134 No. 2, pp. 261-262.
Hemp, P. (2004), Presenteeism: at work but out of it, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 82 No. 10,
pp. 49-58.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M. and Sinkovics, R. (2009), The use of partial least squares path modeling Use of social
in international marketing, Advances in International Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 277-319.
networking sites
Hobsor, C.J., Linda, D. and Dawn, K. (2001), Compelling evidence of the need for corporate work/
life balance initiatives: results from a national survey of stressful life-events, Journal of
Employment Counseling, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 38-44.
Hochschild, A.R. (1997), The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work,
Metropolitan Books, New York, NY. 259
Hurlbert, J.S. (1991), Social networks, social circles, and job satisfaction, Work and Occupations,
Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 415-430.
Iaffaldano, M.T. and Muchinsky, P.M. (1985), Job satisfaction and job performance: a meta-
analysis, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 97 No. 2, pp. 251-273.
Ioan, L., Codruta, O. and Patricia, R. (2010), The role of work-life balance practices in order
to improve organizational performance, European Research Studies, Vol. 13 No. 1,
pp. 201-213.
Jamal, M. (1999), Job stress, type-A behavior, and well-being: a cross-cultural examination,
International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 57-67.
Johnston, M.W., Varadarajan, P., Futrell, C.M. and Sager, J. (1987), The relationship between
organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among new salespeople,
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 29-38.
Judge, T.A., Thoresen, C.J., Bono, J.E. and Patton, G.K. (2001), The job satisfactionjob
performance relationship: a qualitative and quantitative review, Psychological Bulletin,
Vol. 127 No. 3, pp. 376-407.
Kanwar, Y.P.S., Singh, A.K. and Kodwani, A.D. (2009), Work-life balance and burnout as
predictors of job satisfaction in the IT-ITES industry, Vision, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 1-12.
Kirschner, P.A. and Karpinski, A.C. (2010), Facebooks and academic performance, Computers
in Human Behavior, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1237-1245.
Kline, R.B. (2005), Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, Guilford Press,
New York, NY.
Koch, H., Gonzalez, E. and Leidner, D. (2012), Bridging the work/social divide: the emotional
response to organizational social networking sites, European Journal of Information
Systems, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 699-717.
Kock, N. (2010), Using WarpPLS in e-collaboration studies: an overview of five main analysis
steps, International Journal of e-Collaboration, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 1-11.
Kock, N. (2011), WarpPLS 2.0 User Manual, ScriptWarp Systems, Laredo, TX.
Kopelman, R.E., Prottas, D.J., Thompson, C.A. and Jahn, E.W. (2006), A multilevel examination
of work-life practices: is more always better?, Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 18 No. 2,
pp. 232-253.
Kossek, E.E. and Ozeki, C. (1999), Bridging the work-family policy and productivity gap:
a literature review, Community Work & Family, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 7-32.
Lambert, S. (2000), Added benefits: the link between work-life benefits and organizational
citizenship behavior, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43 No. 5, pp. 801-815.
Lawler, E.E. III and Porter, L.W. (1967), The effect of performance on job satisfaction, Industrial
Relations, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 20-28.
Leidner, D., Koch, H. and Gonzalez, E. (2010), Assimilating generation Y IT new hires into
USAAs workforce: the role of an enterprise 2.0 system, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 9
No. 4, pp. 229-242.
Li, C. and Bernoff, J. (2008), Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social
Technologies, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, MA.
ITP Lin, N., Ensel, W.M. and Vaughn, J.C. (1981), Social resources and strength of ties: structural
factors in occupational status attainment, American Sociological Review, Vol. 46 No. 4,
26,3 pp. 393-405.
Locke, E.A. (1970), Job satisfaction and job performance: a theoretical analysis, Organizational
Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 484-500.
Lohmoller, J.-B. (1989), Latent Variable Path Modeling with Partial Least Squares, Physical-
260 Verlag, Heidelberg.
Mabe, P.A. and West, S.G. (1982), Validity of self-evaluation of ability: a review and meta-
analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 67 No. 3, pp. 280-296.
Mainier, M.J. and OBrien, M. (2010), Online social networks and the privacy paradox: a research
framework, Issues in Information Systems, Vol. XI No. 1, pp. 513-517.
Malik, M.I., Saleem, F. and Ahmad, M. (2010), Work-life balance and job satisfaction among
doctors in Pakistan, South Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 112-123.
Massari, L. (2010), Analysis of MySpace user profiles, Information Systems Frontiers, Vol. 12
No. 4, pp. 361-367.
Mathieu, J.E. and Zajac, D.M. (1990), A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates,
and consequences of organizational commitment, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 108 No. 2,
pp. 171-194.
Meyer, J.P., Stanley, D.J., Herscovitch, L. and Topolnytsky, L. (2002), Affective, continuance, and
normative commitment to the organization: a meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and
consequences, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 20-52.
Moqbel, M. (2012), Understanding workplace adoption of social networking sites: employers
perspective, Studies in Business and Economics, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 37-54.
Mowday, R., Porter, L. and Steers, R. (1982), Employee-Organization Linkages: The Psychology of
Commitment, Absenteeism, and Turnover, Academic Press, New York, NY.
Naylor, J.C., Pritchard, R.D. and Ilgen, D.R. (1980), A Theory of Behavior in Organizations,
Academic Press, New York, NY.
North, M. (2010), An evaluation of employees attitudes toward social networking in the
workplace, Issues in Information Systems, Vol. XI No. 1, pp. 192-197.
Nucleus (2009), Facebook: Measuring the Cost to Business of Social Networking, Nucleus Research
Inc, Boston, MA.
Nunnally, J.C. and Bernstein, I.H. (1994), Psychometric Theory, McGraw Hill, New York, NY.
Organ, D.W. and Near, J.P. (1985), Cognition vs affect in measures of job satisfaction,
International Journal of Psychology, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 241-253.
OReilly, C.A. and Chatman, J. (1986), Organizational commitment and psychological
attachment: the effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial
behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 71 No. 3, pp. 492-499.
OMurchu, I., Breslin, J.G. and Decker, S. (2004), Online Social and Business Networking
Communities, Digital Enterprise Research Institute, Galway.
Patel, N. and Jasani, H. (2010), Social media security policies: guidelines for organizations,
Issues in Information Systems, Vol. XI No. 1, pp. 628-634.
Porter, L.W., Steers, R.M., Mowday, R.T. and Boulian, P.V. (1974), Organizational commitment,
job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians, Journal of Applied
Psychology, Vol. 59 No. 5, pp. 603-609.
Preacher, K. and Hayes, A. (2004), SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in
simple mediation models, Behavior Research Methods, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 717-731.
Price, J.L. and Mueller, C.W. (1981), A causal model of turnover for nurses, Academy of
Management Journal, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 543-565.
Rehman, M.S. (2011), Exploring the impact of human resources management on organizational Use of social
performance: a study of public sector organizations, Journal of Business Studies
Quarterly, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 1-16. networking sites
Rehman, M.S. and Waheed, A. (2011), An empirical study of impact of job satisfaction on job
performance in the public sector organizations, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary
Research in Business, Vol. 2 No. 9, pp. 167-181.
Rencher, A.C. (1998), Multivariate Statistical Inference and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, 261
New York, NY.
Rhoades, L. and Eisenberger, R. (2002), Perceived organizational support: a review of the
literature, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87 No. 4, pp. 698-714.
Riketta, M. (2002), Attitudinal organizational commitment and job performance: a meta-
analysis, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 257-266.
Rooksby, J., Baxter, G., Cliff, D., Greenwood, D., Harvey, N., Kahn, A., Keen, J. and Sommerville, I.
(2009), Social Networking and the Workplace, The UK Large Scale Complex IT Systems
Initiative, St Andrews.
Saari, L.M. and Judge, T.A. (2004), Employee attitude and job satisfaction, Human Resource
Management, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 395-407.
Schmidt, S.W. (2007), The relationship between satisfaction with workplace training and
overall job satisfaction, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 18 No. 4,
pp. 481-498.
Schumacker, R.E. and Lomax, R.G. (2004), A Beginners Guide to Structural Equation Modeling,
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Shepherd, C. (2011), Does social media have a place in workplace learning?, Strategic Direction,
Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 3-4.
Siegel, S. and Castellan, N.J. Jr (1988), Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd
ed., Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY.
Simpson, R. (1998), Presenteeism, power and organizational change: long hours as a career
barrier and the impact on the working lives of women managers, British Journal of
Management, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. S37-S50.
Strauss, G. (1968), Human relations 1968 style, Industrial Relations, Vol. 7 No. 3,
pp. 262-276.
Sujan, H., Barton, A.W. and Kumar, N. (1994), Learning orientation, working smart, and effective
selling, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 39-52.
Thompson, B. (2004), Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Understanding Concepts
and Applications, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
Vroom, V.H. (1964), Work and Motivation, Wiley, Oxford.
Watkins, E.J. and Subich, L.M. (1995), Annual Review, 1992-1994: career development, reciprocal
work/non-work interaction, and womens workforce anticipation, Journal of Vocational
Behavior, Vol. 47 No. 2, pp. 109-163.
Wavecrest (2006), Social Networking or Social Not-Working, Wavecrest Computing,
Melbourne, FL.
Yavas, U. and Bodur, M. (1999), Satisfaction among expatriate managers: correlates and
consequences, Career Development International, Vol. 4 No. 5, pp. 261-269.
Zengerle, J. (2004), The fourth annual year in ideas, New York Times Magazine, December 12,
pp. 49-103.
Zhang, J. and Zheng, W. (2009), How does satisfaction translate into performance? An examination
of commitment and cultural values, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 20 No. 3,
pp. 331-351.
ITP Further reading
26,3 Beauregard, T.A. and Henry, L.C. (2009), Making the link between work-life balance practices
and organizational performance, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 19 No. 1,
pp. 9-22.
Morgan, L. (2009), The impact of work-life balance and family-friendly human resource policies
on employees job satisfaction, unpublished dissertation, Nova Southeastern University,
262 Fort-Lauderdale-Davie, FL.
Rentsch, J.R. (1990), Climate and culture: interaction and qualitative differences in organizational
meanings, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 75 No. 6, pp. 668-681.
Thompson, C.A. and Prottas, D.J. (2006), Relationships among organizational family support,
job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being, Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 100-118.

Appendix. Measurement instrument

The questions below were answered on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 very strongly
disagree 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 Im 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 havent 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 my
organization
. COM5: I would feel guilty if I left my organization now
Job performance (PERF) Use of social
. PERF1: My performance in my current job is excellent networking sites
. 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 263
. 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 Management
Information Systems from Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX. He received a
Bachelor of Science degree with honor in Business Administration and Computer Information
Systems, and MBA with Information Systems concentration from Emporia State University,
Emporia, Kansas. He is the editorial assistant of the International Journal of e-Collaboration. He
won best student paper award at Southwest Decision Science Conference 2012. He has authored
and 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. His
research interests include social networking, software development performance, information
security and privacy, health information management, information and communication
technology, cloud computing, e-collaboration, international business, and business process
improvement. 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 the
University at Albany. He received his PhD from York University. His current research interests
include the business value of IT, IS post-adoption, open source software, and electronically
mediated communication. Saggis 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 and
Technology Studies at Texas A&M International University. He holds degrees in electronics
engineering (B.E.E.), computer science (M.S.), and management information systems (PhD). Ned
has 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
ITP number of high-impact journals including Communications of the ACM, Decision Support
Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, IEEE Transactions, Information &
26,3 Management, Journal of the AIS, MIS Quarterly, and Organization Science. He is the Founding
Editor-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 the
journal IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. His research interests include action
264 research, ethical and legal issues in technology research and management, e-collaboration, and
business process improvement.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints