Knowledge sharing through social media: Investigating trends and technologies in a global marketing and advertising research company

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate social media technology trendsin Nielsen – a global information and measurement company – and to establish how thesetechnologies can help the company to create a knowledge-sharing culture.Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate trends in knowledge-sharingtechnologies in Nielsen.Method: The researchers distributed semi-structured questionnaires to a sample of employeesin Nielsen’s Television Audience Measurement Department. They also conducted interviewswith specific employees in this department to gain a better understanding of employees’attitudes toward, and perceptions of, the use of social media tools for creating a knowledgesharingculture at Nielsen. The researchers validated the data to see whether it could supportthe research and used triangulation to create a holistic view of the data they received from thequestionnaires.Results: The findings of the study revealed that respondents had a positive attitude to sharingknowledge with one another through using social media tools. However, some respondentsthought that technology, in general, was ‘the tree of good and evil’. The survey findingsshowed that Nielsen did have social media tools. However, not all employees were awareof these tools or were willing to use the tools to share knowledge. This study highlighted thepossible advantages of the social media for sharing knowledge and how Nielsen could use thetools more widely.Conclusion: In order for a knowledge sharing culture to thrive at Nielsen, its employees needto engage more with social media tools in their business practices.