Social media, social capital, and knowledge sharing: Impact and implications for the higher education governance

Abstract

Most of the studies in the field of social media propose that the usage of social media in an organization fosters the employees’ social capital and further enhances the process of knowledge sharing. In the higher education sector, knowledge sharing plays a great role in strengthening the education system and enhancing the teaching and research skills of the faculties. Meanwhile, social media is playing a very important role by affecting social capital which is further affecting knowledge sharing. The current study aims to understand the impact of social media usage on social capital, measured by using three variables, i.e., shared vision, trust, and network collaboration. It further measures the impact of social capital on knowledge sharing in higher education using SMART-PLS software. The data has been collected from 80 respondents from higher educational institutions in Northern India. The study reveals that social media is significantly affecting trust and network collaborations among academicians but there is no significant impact of social media on shared vision which further helps in exploring the various ways and platforms for constructive usage of social media in academia.