Enterprise WeChat Groups: Their Effect on Work-Life Conflict and Life-Work Enhancement

Abstract

Social media technologies have made it increasingly feasible for employees to be connected to work. WeChat, a newly emerging social media platform, is widely used in daily life, yet there is still little understanding of the consequences of the use of WeChat groups in enterprise. Based on boundary theory, we suggested that the use of WeChat groups in enterprise have both pros and cons for employees. We gathered data from an online survey of 202 employees. Results show that posting work-related content in enterprise WeChat groups had a beneficial impact on work for employees but also caused work-life conflict (WLC). However, posting life-related content in enterprise WeChat groups contributes to employees’ life-work enhancement (LWE). Contributions and future study directions of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

social media technology / WeChat groups / boundary theory / work-life conflict / life-work enhancement

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Brill