Using blogs and Facebook for knowledge management : a comparative study

Abstract

Social media has been recognized as a potential platform for enhancing knowledge management (KM) on education due to its associated usefulness in encouraging active participation, collaboration, and relationship establishment. This thesis examines the incorporation of two popular social networking sites (SNSs), Blogs and Facebook, into the internship activities of two groups of students over six cohorts: 3 years of Blogs intern users (n = 47) and 3 years of Facebook intern users (n = 64). Behaviors, perceptions, KM processes and socio-emotional expressions of the intern users of Blogs and Facebook were analyzed and contrasted. A mixed research method was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data through Blogs entries, Facebook posts, questionnaire and structured interviews. Results reveal that both Blogs and Facebook users engaged in regular use in writing, reading and commenting. Both groups of intern users perceived Blogs and Facebook to be useful as platforms for reflection, learning and communication. They also agreed that these two SNSs were able to facilitate emotional support and perceived support from peers through commenting. Qualitative analyses of Blogs entries and Facebook contents indicated that users of both Blogs and Facebook were able to engage in the processes of knowledge capture, knowledge sharing and dissemination, knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. Specifically, Blogs intern users had higher engagement on knowledge capture while Facebook intern users had higher engagement on knowledge sharing and dissemination. Users of both SNSs also actively engaged in emotional expressions and social support during their internship. Responses to open-ended questions suggested that participants had different preferences in using Blogs and Facebook. Blogs intern users put high values on the function of information recording and retrieving whereas Facebook intern users preferred the strong interaction features of Facebook. Overall, the study offers evidence on Facebook being appeared to be a better tool in facilitating KM processes and cultivating a knowledge sharing culture than blogs. It also demonstrates the potential similarities and differences of using Blogs and Facebook to enhance KM on education.