The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Social Media Data for Organization and Management Theory

Despite growing recognition of the importance and influence of social media tools, there remains little research that addresses the utility of social media as a data source. As a result, management scholars are ill equipped not only to take advantage of this promising and available data source, but also to address foundational questions related to the nature of organizing processes in an increasingly online, technologically-networked world. In this symposium, we aim to make strides toward redressing this shortcoming in scholarly understanding. We bring together panelists with diverse theoretical and empirical backgrounds to assess the potential of scholarly work that uses social media data to examine topics of consequence to management and organization theory. Together, we will identify and address some of the opportunities and challenges presented through use of this novel data source, laying the groundwork for continued conversation and encouraging innovative, rigorous future research.