Exploring knowledge sharing on social media from the perspectives of personality traits and social capital

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate what factors can affect individuals’ knowledge sharing on social media from the perspectives of personality traits and social capital. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was developed with reference to the personality traits theory and the social capital theory. Accordingly, a questionnaire was designed to collect the individuals’ ideas on knowledge sharing on social media and further test the model. The questionnaire was then distributed to two LINE groups. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. Findings Personality traits not only directly affect knowledge sharing, but also indirectly influence it via social capital. Of all personality traits, agreeableness, openness and extraversion directly and indirectly influence knowledge sharing. Research limitations/implications Knowledge sharing is undertaken by individuals and social groups. It starts with individuals and then diffuses to other members of a group. Practical implications Group managers have to identify the members who are friendly, open-minded or extroverted and encourage them to act as the bellwethers for knowledge sharing under an effective regulatory regime, through which intra-group knowledge sharing can be promoted. Originality/value This study introduces a new model to explore knowledge sharing on social media from individual and social perspectives. It illustrates what will affect individuals’ knowledge sharing on social media.