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But not all social media are the same: Analyzing organizations' social media
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DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2015.06.016

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 Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

But not all social media are the same: Analyzing organizations’
social media usage patterns
Eun Go a,⇑,1, Kyung Han You b,1
a
Department of Broadcasting and Journalism, Western Illinois University, USA
b
Minerva College, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study explores how organizations use diverse social media applications for
Received 28 January 2015 consumer relationship management. Based on a cluster analysis, the social media usage
Received in revised form 28 June 2015 patterns of 317 organizations were analyzed. Six groups of organizations were identified
Accepted 29 June 2015
in accordance with the social media applications predominantly used by each organization.
Available online 30 June 2015
The first three groups primarily used a single social media application (blogs, social
networking sites, or widgets) to communicate with customers, whereas the second three
Keywords:
groups employed multiple social media applications, often with an emphasis on
Social media applications
Corporate blog
visualization, virtualization, or interactive collaboration. In addition, this study found that
Social networking organizations tend to use social media applications with two-way communication
Typology capabilities. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in
Two-way communication this paper.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

With the growing significance of new media technologies in business, organizations are now using new media tools
strategically in order to meet their various customers’ needs. The growing number of capabilities afforded by new media
technologies enables organizations to provide many new services to their customers. Recognizing the advantages of using
new media technologies, most organizations have begun to implement new media technologies in areas such as internal
structure, management systems, and advertising and public relations (Pavlik, 2007). In particular, organizations have
adopted social media at a remarkable speed (Barnes, 2008), because social media enables customers to easily communicate
back-and-forth with an organization to keep up to date on its news, to make complaints and inquiries, and to access chat
functions.
In response to this industry trend researchers have conducted studies about social media applications. First, one stream of
research (e.g., Grunig, 2009; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Lietsala and Sirkkunen, 2008; Phillips, 2009) has sought to define
what social media applications are and classify types of social media applications based on their unique characteristics.
Another stream of research (e.g., Briones et al., 2011; Rybalko and Seltzer, 2010; Waters et al., 2009) has made a considerable
effort to establish which kinds of social media applications organizations are currently using and how specific types of social
media contribute to creating and maintaining the relationship between an organization and its customers.

⇑ Corresponding author at: Simpkins Hall, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA.
E-mail addresses: eungo83@gmail.com (E. Go), kuy114@hufs.ac.kr (K.H. You).
1
Authors contributed equally to this study.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.06.016
0736-5853/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186 177

However, such research is limited insofar as it does not offer a picture of organizations’ overall social media usage pat-
terns, especially, how organizations employ diverse social media applications in a combinatory manner in order to maximize
synergistic effects. Furthermore, it does not properly answer questions regarding how the characteristics of each social
media application are associated with its usage patterns. To address this gap in the literature, the present study aims: (1)
to outline an empirically-based typology of organizations’ current social media usage patterns through the technique of clus-
ter analysis, and (2) to identify the multichannel strategies that govern how organizations are currently using social media
applications given the increased options for communicating with customers via social media organizations. Ultimately, the
study seeks to provide a clearer picture of organizations’ current social media usage as well as insight into the organizations’
social media strategies.

2. Literature review

2.1. Typology of social media

Researchers (e.g., Cook and Hopkins, 2008; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010) have defined social media as comprising online
communication tools that stimulate opinion-sharing and information exchange, as well as Internet-based applications that
allow for the production and circulation of user-generated content (UGC). Within the boundaries of this definition, diverse
types of social media exist. Perhaps the most well-known type of social media is the social networking site (e.g., Facebook).
Another type of social media are those sites that are designed to allow users to upload and share content in multiple formats,
including text, image, audio, and video (e.g., Flickr, YouTube, and podcasts). Finally, there are some advanced types of social
media; these include widgets, virtual worlds, and crowdsourcing.
Given the diverse social media available to organizations, researchers have sought to create a typology of social media.
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), for example, have provided a list of six types of social media applications: blogs, collaborative
projects (e.g., Wikipedia), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), content communities (e.g., YouTube), virtual social words
(e.g., Second Life), and virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft). These types are distinguished from one another by the
degree of self-presentation and the degree of social presence they enable. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) have argued that the
use of social media facilitates self-disclosure of personal information, including users’ thoughts and feelings, which vary in
expression according to ‘‘the degree of self-disclosure the system requires’’ and ‘‘the type of self-presentation’’ the social
media applications render possible (p. 61).
Yet given that a high level of social presence may be achieved through the reciprocal exchange of messages, social media
may also be categorized on the basis of ‘‘the degree of salience of the other person in a mediated communication and the
consequent salience of their interpersonal interactions’’ (Short et al., 1976, p. 65). Using the concept of social presence,
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) have suggested that blogs and collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia) allow the lowest levels
of social presence, while virtual social worlds and virtual game worlds promote the highest levels of social presence. In these
latter types of social media, users are able to interact synchronously, just as they might in face-to-face interactions.
Kietzmnn et al. (2011) has also classified types of social media applications; unlike Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), however,
Kietzmnn and his colleagues use the seven major functionalities afforded by social media as the means for classification.
These functionalities include identity (‘‘the extent to which users reveal themselves’’), conversation (‘‘the extent to which
users communicate with each other’’), sharing (‘‘the extent to which users exchange, distribute and receive content’’), pres-
ence (‘‘the extent to which users know if others are available’’), relationships (‘‘the extent to which users relate to each
other’’), reputation (‘‘the extent to which users know the social standing of others and content’’), and groups (‘‘the extent
to which users are ordered or form communities’’) (p. 243). They then exemplified the best fitting social media applications
for each category. For instance, LinkedIn and Facebook fall into the identity function-oriented social media type, since they
allow users to reveal their identities by setting up profiles. Yet LinkedIn and Facebook, may also be regarded as among
relationship-oriented social media applications, as they emphasize the maintenance of social connections. Twitter, on the
other hand, may be considered as fitting within both the conversation and sharing types of social media. Most
location-based applications, such as Foursquare, fall into the presence category, because they show users’ physical proximity
to one another via a ‘‘check-in’’ function. Finally, social media applications in the reputation category include those platforms
wherein endorsement cues (such as rating or voting systems) are available (e.g., the ‘‘like’’ button on Facebook; the number
of followers on Twitter), while group social media applications are those that allow users to build online communities
(e.g., Flickr; Facebook).
Communications researchers have also sought to classify social media applications; in this case, classification often hinges
on the ability of a given application to facilitate two-way symmetrical communications between an organization and its pub-
lic in cyberspace. This two-way communication is considered a key component in organizations’ building and maintaining
good relationships with their publics (e.g., Grunig, 2009; Phillips, 2009). Using this concept of two-way symmetrical com-
munication, Phillips (2009) has shown that new media tools vary in regard to their respective two-way communication
capabilities. For example, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter might be considered highly symmetric, given
that they allow high levels of interactions. Blogs, Wikipedia entries, and content-sharing sites, conversely, are often regarded
as facilitating one-way asymmetrical communication, given that they do not allow high levels of feedback or back-and-forth
exchanges with their publics. In adopting such an approach towards the classification of social media applications,
178 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186

researchers have come to better understand the specific characteristics of each individual social media application while
concurrently providing insight into best practices for organizations using social media applications to communicate with
their publics.

2.2. Organizations’ social media usage: from blogs to virtual worlds

Along with scholarly efforts to categorize organizations’ usage of social media applications has come research investigat-
ing what kinds of social media applications are adopted by organizations in order to shape and maintain good relationships
with the organizations’ customers. With social media quickly emerging as a well-known communication channel, organiza-
tions have begun to capitalize on social media’s potential for electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM). One
study (Curtis et al., 2010), for example, has found that while social networking sites (54.5%) are most popular among users,
these sites are closely trailed by video sharing services (51.1%) and blogs (48.4%), as well as photo sharing services (27.1%). A
recent report (Burson-Marsteller, 2012) likewise indicates that 87% of global companies use at least one social media plat-
form, with the most common of these platforms being Twitter (82%), followed by YouTube (79%) and then Facebook (74%). A
recent social media benchmarking report (2013) suggests that Twitter (78%) is perceived as the most useful application for
businesses by actual practitioners; Twitter is followed by LinkedIn (74%), YouTube (49%), Facebook (44%), WordPress (17%),
Google+(9%), SlideShare (6%), and Xing (2%).
Among the available forms of social media, blogs constituted the first form of social media widely adopted by organiza-
tions for e-CRM. Blogs are able to provide organizations with opportunities to access the massive amounts of data generated
by online consumers, as well as to increase interaction with current and potential consumers (Ahuja and Medury, 2010,
2011; Kelleher and Miller, 2006; Sweetser and Metzgar, 2007). However, though corporate blogs are perceived as having
the potential to provide an open space for interaction with consumers, most blogs are in fact more likely to be used for offer-
ing highly-regulated information rather than stimulating open discussion with consumers or even a corporation’s employees
(e.g., Lee et al., 2006; Waters et al., 2014). Indeed, Waters et al. (2014) have pointed out that although corporate blogs are
mostly well-designed and easily navigable, most corporate blogs are used to promote corporations’ products, thereby pre-
venting dialogue with customers. Thus, although blogs provide greater control over content for organizations than other
types of social media, including Twitter and Facebook, they have ultimately proven an unsuitable venue for open commu-
nication with customers (e.g., Cho and Huh, 2010; Cox et al., 2008).
Recognizing this limitation, organizations have migrated towards other types of social media applications, including
social networking sites and content communities. Unlike blogs, social networking sites and content communities (e.g.,
YouTube and Flickr) enable organizations ‘‘to facilitate collaborative social experiences and dialogue that customers value,’’
therefore allowing social-customer relationship management (social-CRM) to take place (Baird and Parasnis, 2011, p.30).
Social networking sites have also proven to be an effective vehicle for organizations seeking to implement diverse branding
strategies, given that such sites allow customers to share their experiences and opinions concerning the organizations’ prod-
ucts and brand in real time (Baird and Parasnis, 2011; Jansen et al., 2009). Thus, many organizations have rapidly adopted
social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, a shift that has altered the face of customer relationship manage-
ment from managing customers to collaborating with customers. The North Face, Dell, Pepsi-Cola, Levi’s, and NAKED Pizza
are particularly strong examples of companies that have successfully adopted social networking sites for collaborating with
their customers. Using Twitter since March 2009, NAKED Pizza encourages its followers to participate in discussions about
healthy foods, in the hopes of changing the widespread perception of pizza as ‘‘junk food.’’ As a result of NAKED’s work, there
has been an increase in pizza sales, of which sales from followers accounted for 70%. This outcome suggests that organiza-
tions’ practices of customer relationship management via social networking sites reflects on both the organizations and their
brands, as the organizations’ practices on social networking sites may influence the decisions consumers make about their
products (Verhoef et al., 2010).
Online content communities such as YouTube, Flickr, and SlideShare also offer venues for sharing diverse forms of infor-
mation. This information may range from media content, such as television programs, videos, photos, books, and presenta-
tions, to user-generated content (UGC). A number of companies such as Graco (Safety 1st), Kraft (Cooking School), and
Blendtec (Will it Blend?) have achieved great success in brand marketing by launching their own YouTube channels.
Observing these cases, many practitioners and researchers have sought to explore how customers formulate and share their
opinions within online communities and how the sharing of these opinions affects organizations’ business outcomes. Such
studies (e.g., Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010) emphasize that these communities help customers take more active roles by allow-
ing the customers to be authors, sellers, and/or content producers. By taking such active roles customers come to bond with
other customers as well as develop stronger brand loyalty (Szmigin et al., 2005).
In addition to the well-known types of social media discussed above, more advanced social media applications such as
virtual worlds have recently come to be adopted by organizations for customer relationship management. For instance,
Second Life, World of Warcraft, and Ever Quest have attracted the attention of marketers and companies as potentially useful
venues for advertisements and relationship management. For example, Toyota advertised its new pickup truck, the Tundra,
via World of Warcraft, targeting the game’s 25 million users. Though the growth of virtual worlds is less speedy than
expected, virtual worlds are still considered a potentially valuable channel for helping businesses to test various stages of
the commercialization process, ranging from brand launching, to selling products, to managing customer relations, as well
as to provide businesses with a variety of marketing and advertising opportunities (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2009).
 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186 179

While it is clear that diverse types of social media applications are actively employed by organizations, often for specific
marketing purposes and strategies, it remains to be understood how organizations employ diverse social media applications
in a combinatory manner in order to maximize synergistic effects. Researchers have argued that organizations need to
methodically select and connect a variety of social media applications providing four distinct characteristics (expressing,
sharing, networking, and gaming) in order to create synergistic effect (Zhao and Qiu, 2011). Korea Content Creative
Agency (2012) has likewise suggested that social media applications are much more effective when at least two are used
in conjunction with one another. Given the increased options for communicating with customers via social media, as well
as social media’s combinatory advantages, it seems both necessary and practical for organizations to develop effective mul-
tichannel strategies for customer relationship management. Therefore, in order to provide insight into social media usage,
the current study investigates several organizations’ current multichannel strategies. More specifically, the study explores
patterns of social media usage among organizations and discusses how these patterns relate to the typology of social media
applications. The study’s guiding research questions are:

RQ1: What kinds of social media applications do organizations currently use?

RQ2: How do organizations use social media applications? Do they use them in a combinatory manner?
RQ3: Are identified social media usage patterns related to the theoretically-suggested typology of social media
applications?

3. Method

3.1. Data

The present study uses a dataset drawn from a policy-making project entitled -A Case Study on the Public Relations and
Marketing Strategy for Using Social Media implemented by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). The data comprises
318 organizations’ use of 15 social media applications for internet marketing and public relations, which was collected from
five databases: (1) The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), (2) Mashable’s list of examples of corporate social
media in action, (3) Peter Kim’s list of social media marketing examples, (4) Ray Schiel’s categorized list of examples, and (5)
Wiki of social media marketing examples. These five representative databases integrated into the KOCCA’s dataset are con-
sidered useful archives in that they include most corporations that utilize social media for public relations and marketing
purposes.
The case study considered the following social media applications: blogs, social networking services (Facebook, Myspace,
Mosh, Xanga, Ning and Bebo), micro-blogging (Twitter), content aggregation (widgets), virtual worlds (Second Life), collab-
orative projects/crowdsourcing (wikis, Delicious, suggestion boxes), and content-sharing communities (YouTube, Flicker,
SlideShare). Of 318 for-profit and nonprofit organizations, one for-profit organization, CapGemini, was excluded because
its dataset was not complete. In total, 317 organizations were included in the final analysis, 286 (90.22%) of which were
for-profit organizations and 31 (9.78%) were nonprofit organizations. The for-profit organizations have also been classified
into the four major economic sectors: (1) consumer discretionary and staples; (2) heavy industries, including energy, mate-
rials, utilities, and vehicle manufacturing; (3) information technology and telecommunications services; and (4) health care
and financial services, as described in Standard and Poor’s classification of ten industry sectors. Additionally, non-profit orga-
nizations were counted as the fifth sector.
Specifically, the sector consumer discretionary and staples organizations, which includes 93 organizations, such as Heinz,
McDonald’s, Nike, Kimberly Clark, and Clorox, encompasses 29.3% of the total organizations listed in our database. Next, the
heavy industries sector includes 38 energy, materials, and vehicle manufacturing companies such as Exxon Mobil, Ford
Motors, Honda, Hyundai, ArcelorMittal; this sector comprises 12.0% of companies in our database. The information technol-
ogy and telecommunication services sector comprises 27 information technology, electronics, and telecommunication ser-
vices companies such as Apple, B Sky B, Comcast, Microsoft, and Motorola, as well as 75 other Internet-based organizations,
thus making this sector the largest of the four. Furthermore, 53 organizations offering health care services, financial services,
and other customer services such as ING, HSBC, Liberty Mutual, Visa, and Bayer are included in the fourth sector. Lastly, 31
non-profit organizations encompasses 9.8% of organizations listed in our database such as the US House of Representatives,
the Sydney Writers’ Center, the US Joint Forces Command, and the US Office of Personnel Management are included in the
final sector. This sector is relatively small compared to the other sectors.

3.2. Analysis plan

For the present study, we used two statistical methods: a cluster analysis to identify organizations’ usage patterns of
social media applications, and a multidimensional scaling (MDS) to see how such patterns are related to theoretical typolo-
gies of social media applications. A number of business model studies (e.g., Fiegenbaum and Thomas, 1995; Ketchen and
Shook, 1996) and strategic management studies (e.g., Chan-Omsted and Li, 2002) used clustering analysis to group corpora-
tions statistically. According to some critics (e.g., Dillon and Mulani, 1989; McGee et al., 1995) cluster analysis is artificial and
lacks objectivity and clear guidelines for grouping. However, when a carefully constructed analytic rubric is used, this kind of
analysis is still useful in categorizing certain types of strategic groups that have common traits (Ketchen and Shook, 1996).
180 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is commonly used for visualizing the level of similarity among the various cases of a dataset,
and particularly for showcasing the information contained in a distance matrix by putting each object in N-dimensional
space.
For a cluster analysis, we initially employed a hierarchical cluster analysis with a squared Euclidean distance measure to
determine the number of clusters, and in this way we found two options: a six-cluster group and an eight-cluster group (the
coefficient value increased from 4.95 to 6.01 and from 7.05 to 8.23 in each solution). We performed K-means clustering next
in order to choose more appropriate one. The analysis proved that the six-clusters were mutually exclusive and provided a
more appropriate description and clearer categories than the eight-cluster solution. Thus, a six cluster solution was finally
chosen, after a careful look at the shared traits among the group members. In addition, an analysis of variances for grouping
variables was performed to investigate the variances of traits in each independent variable. The ANOVA test results show
that all the measures varied significantly in-between groups (Table 1). In order to perform multidimensional scaling
(MDS), we used the PROXCAL algorithm, which represents individual objects using least-squares in a low-dimensional space
(Commandeur and Heiser, 1993). To check the goodness of fit, we considered the s-stress value, ultimately concluding the
goodness of fit was acceptable (s-stress = .10). During this process, we identified two dimensions, which will be discussed in
detail below.

4. Results

4.1. Descriptive analysis

We performed a crosstab analysis to address the first research question (RQ1): Which kinds of social media applications
are organizations currently using? As shown in Table 2, our results indicate that blogs (N = 164) were the most frequently
used social media application, followed by Facebook (N = 98), micro-blogs (e.g., Twitter, N = 83), YouTube (N = 64), regional
social-networking sites (e.g., Myspace, Mosh, Xanga, Ning and Bebo, N = 64), widgets (N = 38), Flicker/Slideshare (N = 20), and
virtual worlds (N = 12).

4.2. Categorizing social media use groups

To answer RQ2, we classified 317 organizations according to six categories based on the type(s) of social media applica-
tions used by the organizations (Table 3). They are listed here in the order of the size of each group, with the largest first:
Blogs Preferred Group (BPG): 133 organizations (42.0%), Social-Networking Sites Preferred Group (SNPG): 87 organizations
(27.4%), Content Aggregations Strategy Group (CASG): 42 organizations (13.2%), Visual Content Strategy Group (VCSG): 31
organizations (9.8%), Collaborative Strategy Group (CSG): 15 organizations (4.7%), Virtual Strategy Group (VSG): 9 organiza-
tions (2.8%).

4.2.1. Group 1. Blog preferred group (BPG)

The BPG organizations use the blog format as a key communication venue for their public relations and product market-
ing efforts (Adoption rate = .83). Their use of other types of social media usage was relatively limited compared to the orga-
nizations in the other groups. Most organizations in this group, e.g., American Express, Bayer, Boeing, General Electric, LG
electronics, Chrysler, Kia and Nissan Motor, were sizable and long-established. The organizations in this group were polar-
ized: Traditional and huge corporations preferred a lower level of interactive communication for their communication effec-
tiveness; consequently, blogging seems better for their one-way communication strategy. Meanwhile, a number of small and
regional corporations might not afford or at least did not need to adopt a high level of interactive communication.

4.2.2. Group 2. Social networking preferred group (SNPG)

The organizations in this group focus on using social-networking services (Adoption rate = .63). Notably, although
Facebook and Twitter are established platforms for communicating directly with the public, not many companies employ
such SNSs according to the analysis. As shown in Table 4, nonprofit organizations (e.g., the American Legacy Foundation
and the Brooklyn Museum) and magazine companies (e.g., Domino Magazine, the Economist, Men’s Vogue, and W
Magazine) were the exemplary members using SNSs.

4.2.3. Group 3. Content aggregation strategy group (CASG)

The organizations in this group used content aggregation services, particularly widgets, to a very high degree (Adoption
rate = .60). A considerable number of distribution companies (Walmart, Target, and Bestbuy) and some global corporations
(e.g., Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, Nike, Samsung Electronics) were included in this group. A common feature found in this
group was that most of corporations were closely associated with retail business, and some of them were global-running
companies which need to collect consumer information world-widely for their marketing purposes.
 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186 181

Table 1
ANOVA for grouping variables.

Grouping variable Sum of squares df Mean square F

Blog Between groups 51.760 5 10.352 117.525**
Within groups 27.394 311 .088
Total 79.155 316
Content Community 1 (Youtube) Between groups 24.887 5 4.977 59.100**
Within groups 26.192 311 .084
Total 51.079 316
Content Community 2 (Flicker, Slideshare) Between groups 7.015 5 1.403 37.222**
Within groups 11.723 311 .038
Total 18.738 316
Content Aggregation (Widget) Between groups 14.613 5 2.923 48.264**
Within groups 18.832 311 .061
Total 33.445 316
Crowdsourcing (Delicious, Wiki) Between groups 14.631 5 2.926 98.535**
Within groups 9.236 311 .030
Total 23.868 316
Microblogging (Twitter) Between groups 15.242 5 3.048 20.598**
Within groups 46.026 311 .148
Total 61.268 316
Social Networking 1 (Facebook) Between groups 26.684 5 5.337 40.463**
Within groups 41.019 311 .132
Total 67.703 316
Social Networking 2(Regional SNS) Between groups 5.824 5 1.165 8.004**
Within groups 45.255 311 .146
Total 51.079 316
Virtual World(Second Life) Between groups 5.182 5 1.036 50.652**
Within groups 6.364 311 .020
Total 11.546 316
*
<.01.
**
<.001.

Table 2
Descriptive Analysis for Grouping Variables.

Variables Number of Social Media Methods Used in Each Group

BPG SNPG CASP VCG CSG VSG Total X2
(n = 133) (n = 87) (n = 42) (n = 31) (n = 15) (n = 9) (n = 317)
Blog 111 4 0 27 13 9 164 207.29**
67.7% 2.4% .0% 16.5% 7.9% 5.5% 100.0%
Content Community 1 (Youtube) 10 5 9 29 3 8 64 154.45**
15.6% 7.8% 14.1% 45.3% 4.7% 12.5% 100.0%
Content Community 2 (Flicker, 1 1 0 15 0 3 20 118.68**
Slideshare) 5.0% 5.0% .0% 75.0% .0% 15.0% 100.0%
Content Aggregation (Widget) 5 0 25 1 1 6 38 138.50**
13.2% .0% 65.8% 2.6% 2.6% 15.8% 100.0%
Crowdsourcing (Delicious, Wiki) 0 0 8 2 15 1 26 194.33**
.0% .0% 30.8% 7.7% 57.7% 3.8% 100.0%
Microblogging (Twitter) 12 40 0 17 9 5 83 78.86**
14.5% 48.2% .0% 20.5% 10.8% 6.0% 100.0%
Social Networking 1 (Facebook) 11 55 2 25 3 2 98 124.94**
11.2% 56.1% 2.0% 25.5% 3.1% 2.0% 100.0%
Social Networking 2 (Regional SNS) 33 9 0 10 9 3 64 36.14**
51.6% 14.1% .0% 15.6% 14.1% 4.7% 100.0%
Virtual World (Second Life) 2 0 2 0 1 7 12 142.28**
16.7% .0% 16.7% .0% 8.3% 58.3% 100.0%

Note: Some cells have an expected count of fewer than five. The minimum expected count varies between .63 and 1.65. *<.01.
**
<.001

4.2.4. Group 4. Visual content group (VCG)

This group used multiple-channels to communicate interactively with the public. In particular, the organizations in this
group adopted a strategy of using the following to a high degree: visual content communities such as YouTube (Adoption
rate = .94) and Flicker (Adoption rate = .48) with Facebook (Adoption rate = .81) and blogs (Adoption rate = .87). This group
included corporations in the areas of fashion, furniture, and other creative organizations such as Costume National, IKEA,
Electronic Arts, Linden Lab, and late-market entrants (e.g., Flying Dog Brewery, JetBlue).
182 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186

Table 3
Membership in six clusters and type of social media used.

Categories Group membership Grouping variable

Social media usage Adoption
rate
Blog preferred group (BPG, N = 133, 42%) – Traditional Organizations (American Express, Boeing, General Facebook .08
Electric) Regional Social .25
– Sizable companies (Chrysler, Kia Motors) Networking
– Many small or regional companies, not listed in Fortune Global Twitter .09
2000 YouTube .08
Blog .83
Widget .04
Flicker .01
Virtual World .02
Crowd Sourcing .00
Social networking preferred group – Nonprofit organizations (American Legacy Foundation, Brooklyn Facebook .63
(SNPG, N = 87, 27.4%) Museum) Regional Social .10
– Magazines (Domino Magazine, Economist, Men’s Vogue, W Magazine) Networking
Twitter .46
YouTube .06
Blog .05
Widget .00
Flicker .01
Virtual World .00
Crowd Sourcing .00
Content aggregation strategy group – Distribution Companies (Wal-mart, Target, Bestbuy) Facebook .05
(CASG, N = 42, 13.2%) – Some global corporations (Coca-Cola, Nike) Regional Social .00
Networking
Twitter .00
YouTube .21
Blog .00
Widget .60
Flicker .00
Virtual World .05
Crowd Sourcing .19
Visual content group (VCG, N = 31, 9.8%) – Fashion, Furniture and Creative Industries (Costume National, Facebook .81
IKEA, Electronic Arts, Linden Lab) Regional Social .32
– Late-market entrants (Flying Dog Brewery, JetBlue) Networking
Twitter .55
YouTube .94
Blog .87
Widget .03
Flicker .48
Virtual World .00
Crowd Sourcing .06
Collaborative strategy group (CSG, – Internet-based corporations (Zappos, e-Bay, EMC, Network Facebook .20
N = 15, 4.7%) Solution) Regional Social .60
– Telecommunication companies (Motorola, Nokia, T-mobile) Networking
Twitter .60
YouTube .20
Blog .87
Widget .07
Flicker .00
Virtual World .07
Crowd Sourcing 1.00
Virtual Strategy Group (VSG, N = 9, 2.8%) – Companies trying to improve a negative image (ArceloMittal) Facebook .22
– Organizations planning to launch a new product in the youth Regional Social .33
market (Wells Fargo) Networking
Twitter .56
YouTube .89
Blog .00
Widget .67
Flicker .33
Virtual World .78
Crowd Sourcing .11

4.2.5. Group 5. Virtual strategy group (VSG)

The organizations in this group were diverse in regard to history and industry. Acura (Honda Motor), Toyota motor, IBM,
and ING insurance were belonging to this group. All were found to strategically use virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life) com-
bined with Twitter (Adoption rate = .56), YouTube (Adoption rate = .89), and widgets (Adoption rate = .67) to maximize their
 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186 183

Table 4
Relationship Between Organizations in Industry Sectors and Groups of Social Media Applications.

Economy sector Group Total

BPG SNPG CASG VCG CSG VSG
Customer industry 35 25 16 11 4 2 93
11.0% 7.9% 5.0% 3.5% 1.3% .6% 29.3%
Heavy Industry 19 4 5 6 3 1 38
6.0% 1.3% 1.6% 1.9% .9% .3% 12.0%
IT & Telecomm Services 42 30 11 7 7 5 102
13.2% 9.5% 3.5% 2.2% 2.2% 1.6% 32.2%
Healthcare, Finance, and other services 26 13 9 3 1 1 53
8.2% 4.1% 2.8% .9% .3% .3% 16.7%
Public Services 11 15 1 4 0 0 31
3.5% 4.7% .3% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0% 9.8%
Total 133 87 42 31 15 9 317
42.0% 27.4% 13.2% 9.8% 4.7% 2.8% 100.0%

PR results. The strategic use of virtual worlds can help improve the negative image of an organization and provide a way to
promote the organization’s goods and/or services to the public. For instance, Arcelor Mittal, a world-leading
steel-manufacturing company, held a promotion event on Second Life in June 2010, at which the company intended to
improve the negative image after the hostile takeover. An American bank, Wells Fargo also used a virtual game world to
increase the PR impact of a newly launched student loan product.

4.2.6. Group 6. Collaborative strategy group (CSG)

The organizations in this group utilize crowdsourcing services such as Delicious, wikis, and suggestion boxes. Compared
with organizations in the other groups, these organizations also showed a higher degree of blog use (Adoption rate = .87),
along with regional social-networking services (e.g., Myspace, Adoption rate = .60), Twitter (Adoption rate = .60). Among
the organizations in this group were Internet-based corporations in this group (e.g., Zappos, e-Bay, EMC, Network
Solution) and telecommunication companies (Motorola, Nokia, T-mobile).
Additionally, we also conducted crosstab analysis in order to examine the association between organizations in each eco-
nomic sector and those with social media applications. Interestingly, our result showed that many organizations in the SNPG
(n = 30, 34.5% of total organizations in the SNPG) and the VSG (n = 5, 55.6% of total number of VSG members) were found in
the information technology and telecommunication services sector. Meanwhile, organizations in heavy industries predom-
inantly utilized blogging platforms for public relations. Furthermore, a relatively small number of SNPG organizations (n = 4)
appeared in the heavy industry sector, while many non-profit organizations actively utilized social media applications
(non-profit organizations in the SNPG, n = 15, 48.3%), as shown in Table 4.
Last, to see whether the empirically demonstrated categories are associated with the theoretically suggested categories
(RQ3), multidimensional scaling (MDS) was performed (Fig. 1). Our analysis suggested the first dimension that illustrates the
levels of communicative interaction. Specifically, one group (BPG) was found to rely on one-way communication, whereas
the other five groups used applications that afforded two-way interactive communications. MDS analysis also suggested
the second dimension that describes the number of social media applications used by organizations. Among the six groups,
the members of three of the groups each used a single social media application, whereas the members of the other three
groups used multiple social media use strategies.

5. Discussion

This study determined the types of social media applications currently used by organizations based on empirical data.
First, with respect to RQ1, our results showed that overall the organizations in this study use blogs (N = 164) most and virtual
worlds least (N = 12). This finding is in accordance with the findings of a previous study (Eyrich et al., 2008) demonstrating
that practitioners adopted established social media services such as blogs, whereas they were slower to adopt technologi-
cally complicated tools such as virtual worlds. It is worth noting that although Facebook and Twitter are among the most
popular social media services today, they were not among the organizations’ top choices. This finding suggests that organi-
zations still prefer to use social media that can allow them to control information at the interface such as a blog service.
Second, in terms of RQ2, by analyzing the current organizations’ social media usage patterns, the present study identified
six clusters of organizations characterized by their use of social media applications: the Blog Preferred Group (BPG), the
Social Networking Sites Preferred Group (SNPG), the Content Aggregation Strategy Group (CASG), the Visual Content
Group (VCG), the Collaborative Strategy Group (CSG), and the Virtual Strategy Group (VSG). It was found that some organi-
zations rely predominantly on one type of social media application, while other organizations use social media applications
in combinatory manner. In particular, organizations that were large and had long histories (e.g. American Express; Boeing;
General Electric) tend to primarily use one type of social media application: the blog—an application that facilitates one-way
communication. This finding suggests that large and well-established organizations prefer to control their interactions with
184 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186

Note: This common space generated by MDS comprises two dimensions, i.e., dimension 1 presents the levels of
communicative interaction, while dimension 2 indicates the number of social media application used by organizations

Fig. 1. Mapping out all groups by multidimensional scaling (MDS). Note: This common space generated by MDS comprises two dimensions, i.e., dimension
1 presents the levels of communicative interaction, while dimension 2 indicates the number of social media application used by organizations.

their publics. Non-profit organizations, however, were found to use social networking sites most often. This suggests that
non-profit organizations are more open to interacting with their publics, but they do not have enough resources to utilize
diverse technological tools.
Unlike large, well-established organizations and non-profits, Internet-based organizations (e.g., Zappos; eBay) and
telecommunication companies (Motorola; T-Mobile) tend to favor using social media applications in a combinatory manner.
These organizations often use social networking sites and crowdsourcing mechanisms together. Given that the latter of these
applications, crowdsourcing (e.g., Delicious, wikis, and suggestion boxes), allows users to engage in organizations’
problem-solving processes, organizations that employ crowdsourcing may have greater potential for relationship-building
with their customers by increasing their customers’ perceived levels of control and empowerment. Finally, organizations
in the fashion and furniture industries (e.g., Costume National; IKEA) were shown to use multiple social media applications
such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and Flickr. This may be attributed to the organizations’ product types, which require appli-
cations with visual as well as textual capabilities.
In regard to RQ3, multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of these clusters shows that organizations’ social media usage
patterns are closely associated with the theoretical typologies of social media application suggested by previous studies
(Phillips, 2009; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Kietzmnn et al., 2011). First, the first dimension the levels of communicative
interaction (dimension 1) which is associated with Phillips’ (2009) study indicate that organizations seem to use different
social media applications depending on their preferences on one-way communication or two-way communication, such that
the Blog Preferred Group (BPG) seems to prefer using social media applications capable of one-way communication, given that
organizations are able to deliver messages on blogs by posting whatever they want to say to their customers. On the other
hand, the Social Networking Sites Preferred Group (SNPG) seems to prefer facilitating conversations with their customers by
choosing social networking sites that afford such functionalities. An interesting finding is that most organizations choose
to use social media applications that afford two-way interactive communications rather than applications that allow
one-way communication.
In addition, Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis suggested another dimension the number of social media
applications used by organizations (dimension 2). Based on the results, we found that organizations’ strategies in regard
to combining social media can be categorized in three ways: (a) visualization, (b) virtualization, and (c) interactive collab-
oration. Specifically, organizations that concentrate on using social networking sites and/or blogs are likely to extend their
social media use to visual-content-sharing social media. For instance, AT&T, IKEA, Intel, and Jeep initially used Facebook,
Twitter, or Regional SNS. Similarly, GM, Johns & Johns, and EMC began with blogs. However, they are now using diverse
visual-content-sharing applications, such as YouTube and Flicker, in addition to SNSs and/or blogs. Based on these observa-
tions, we conclude that visualization is regarded as an emerging strategy at present in that SNPG and BPG organizations are
beginning to exploit visual-content-sharing applications. In relation to Kaplan and Haenlein’s (2010) typology, organizations
using such strategy seem to use the applications to maximize the effects of self-presentation given that
visual-content-sharing applications (e.g., YouTube and Flicker) are considered to facilitate self-presentation significantly.
 E. Go, K.H. You / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 176–186 185

Another trend that we found in organizations that focused on blogs was they extended their social media usage to col-
laborative crowdsourcing applications such as Delicious, suggestion boxes, and wikis. For example, Motorola continues to
rely on a blog, but has also adopted a crowdsourcing service, and Nokia, Ford, Intuit and Network Solution were found to
use blogs and crowdsourcing services simultaneously. Furthermore, some organizations that currently use a widget service
or a visual-content-sharing service are expected to incorporate virtual world services. For example, Coca-Cola, which uses
social media such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and widgets, is connecting these with virtual worlds and games. Likewise,
Acura, Toyota, IBM, and National Geographic are all showing an interest in using virtual worlds. Given that virtual social
worlds or virtual game worlds boost the social presence of users to a very high level according to Kaplan and Haenlein
(2010), it appears that the virtualization strategy has the potential to further marketing efforts significantly.
Furthermore, according to the MDS results, organizations’ strategic use of social media applications can be said to corre-
spond with Kietzmnn et al.’s (2011) typology, which identifies social media applications based on seven unique character-
istics: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. Given this typology, it is speculated
that organizations using multiple social media applications do so in order to utilize diverse aspects of social media function-
alities. For example, the Virtual Strategy Group seems to favor the use of social media applications that amplify the function-
ality of both presence and conversation. Blog Preferred Group seem to emphasize the identity aspect of social media, given
that organizations are able to express themselves freely as well as deliver messages on blogs by posting their messages to the
public. On the other hand, the Social Networking Sites Preferred Group seems to prefer facilitating conversations or building
relationships with the public strategically by choosing social networking sites that afford such functionalities.
In sum, the present study offers the first examination about organizations’ social media usage patterns and discusses
organizations’ social-media strategies by looking into the usage patterns of social media applications that have two-way
communication capabilities and types of social media combinations for communicating with publics. Our findings anticipate
providing a big picture on how organizations currently formulate multi-use social media strategies to optimize outcomes
depending on an organization’s characteristics. One limitation of this study is that the crosstab analysis showing the number
of social media applications used in each group (Table 2) has a statistical weakness due to multiple empty cells. As we have
noted in the table, though the crosstab analysis satisfies the minimum expected counts ranging from .63 to 1.65 in most of
the cells, the results still need to be carefully interpreted. For the other limitation, the present study mainly focuses describ-
ing what organizations are doing with social media. Future studies should include additional measures to correlate with
important organizational outcomes such as customer satisfaction and relational outcomes, as well as measures documenting
how or for what purpose organizations are using social media to achieve their goals; therefore, future scholars can establish
the dynamic link between social media usage patterns and such outcomes.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2015.

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