The Importance of Publicly Available Social Networking Sites (SNSs) to Entrepreneurs

This study examines the use of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook and LinkedIn by entrepreneurs. The results contribute to the growing body of research on the uses of SNSs in the workplace. The findings show that entrepreneurs use SNSs in some of the same ways workers at large companies do (e.g. to cultivate business relationships and find job candidates) as well as some unique ways (e.g. to find credible subcontractors and to develop fundamental business relationships). Understanding the potential of SNSs to support work suggests implications for SNS design and theory development.