Social capital affects job performance through social media

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of social capital on job performance when workers interact with coworkers through social media in organizations. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was conducted, and a sample of 230 workers in Taiwan was investigated. Findings This study found that bonding social capital has a greater impact on job performance than bridging social capital for interactions among coworkers through social media in organizations. Moreover, bridging social capital affects job performance more strongly for male workers than for female workers, but bonding social capital affects job performance more strongly for female workers than for male workers. Research limitations/implications This study extended social capital theory by adding the mediating effects of job satisfaction and relational satisfaction and the moderating effect of gender into the model. Practical implications This study suggests that company managers need to train workers how to use social media to appropriate their affordances and consider the work team relationship to position adequate strategies for male and female workers. Originality/value This study advances the previous knowledge of social capital theory for workers interacting with coworkers through social media in organizations.