Why do individuals create posts on organizations’ social media pages? Identifications, functions, and audiences beyond the organizational boundary for social change

Abstract

Previous research has centered on nonprofit organizations’ (NPOs’) roles in developing relationships with the public and leading collective action. However, individuals may also create posts on NPOs’ social media pages to generate relationships with audiences other than the organization, and to self-mobilize connective action to reach their own goals. Based on content analysis of 576 actual posts and survey responses about them, this study suggests that posters with high organizational identification respond to the focal organizations, while those with high issue identification use the organizational context for their own purposes, disseminating information related to the focal issue to the general population or promoting the issue to their personal networks. This study extends discussions of ramifications of multiple identifications in the social media environment and captures the transformed relationships between organizations and individuals who create posts on NPOs’ social media pages and their new roles in connective action.