Benefit exchange in the social media–based learning experience.

Benefit exchange in the social media–based learning experience.

 Social media platforms are thriving on the co-creation of content, usually socially orientated content about the social interests of participants. There is also a growing trend of social media application in the human resources and marketing for business purposes. This memo to show you the factors affecting direct and indirect benefit exchange in the social media-based learning experience. In addition, this study evaluates the difference between direct and indirect benefit exchange expected by students when sharing knowledge. Therefore, results indicate that there is a significant mean difference between direct and indirect benefit exchange and that issues concerning social identity and trust should be taken into account when developing social media instructional design. Abstract This study focuses on the investigation of factors that influence students’ decision to share knowledge directly or indirectly with their fellow students in an Open Distance Learning ODL environment, using social media platforms. This study is based on students who are registered with the University of South Africa UNISA.

  Facts and Key Points In the knowledge society, knowledge has become a key resource for many organizations. In line with the argument of Ma and Yu (2010), organisations are becoming increasingly dependent on knowledge as an intangible asset, which is difficult to clone; socially complex; and could be the source of superior performance to sustain competitiveness in the industry. However, knowledge is illusive in a sense that it is linked to the retention of employees and their mobility.   The fact that an ODL model thrives on information and communications technology (ICT) could prove to be problematic for an institution that is based in a developing country from where it serves the students. However, it is important to note that social media exposure in South Africa is as good as in the developed countries (World Wide Worx 2013). There has been an increase in the number of users of social media and more and more time is spent on social media platforms. Social identity Identification can be defined as a process whereby a human being sees himself or herself as one with another human being or a group of people (Nahapiet 1998; Wang & Noe 2010). Social identification is derived from the concept of group identification, as a result these two terms can be used interchangeably (Tolman 1943). Social identity can be better explained using the social identity theory (SIT) developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1985. Social identity could also be a source of metaphoric boundary that may be impenetrable to allow the sharing of knowledge with external parties.   Reputation Individual member’s reputation in a social group is evaluated and defined based on the experiences of others. Such experiences are captured in the minds of participants in the knowledge sharing initiative. Even though these evaluations are not formal, they are stored and used as a frame of reference in future engagements with the same person. It is also important to note that personal honour is a more important determinant of reputation than an individuals’ measurable accomplishment with the exception of educational achievements.   Shared language Shared language could provide an instrument to evaluate the benefit of sharing knowledge and facilitate access to the insight of other people. This enables engagement in knowledge sharing at multiple levels of the organisation, and the sharing of mutual respect and benefit. Pi, Chou and Liao (2013) asserted that shared language has a positive effect on the sharing of knowledge, where members of the community share a specific vocabulary.   Social trust Trust is a universal concept that influences any sort of human engagement especially where contentious issues are concerned. Newton (2001) defined trust as the individual’s belief that, at worst, other people will not harm him or her knowingly or willingly, and that he or she is going to act in his or her interest. Ability and competence are sometimes used interchangeably as the factor of social trust. Conclusion In this article, the authors concluded that instructional designer can design teaching and learning experience in the social media platform by catering for both direct and indirect benefit knowledge exchange. The results of the study further confirmed that some students share knowledge with the expectation of direct exchange benefit and, meanwhile, expect indirect exchange benefit. Also, the researcher set out to test the hypotheses outlined in the theoretical framework section of this study and achieved the research objectives of the study. To test the hypotheses, a survey research design was employed so that the researcher could gather as many responses as possible from the sample