Study title

Social Media at Work: Organisational Survey 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3984

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3984
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3984

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Oksanen, Atte (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Oksa, Reetta (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Kaakinen, Markus (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Abstract

The survey maps the use of social media in working life among employees of Finnish organisations, as well as their occupational well-being.

First, respondents were asked about their general social media usage habits, including how frequently they use various platforms and for what purposes. In addition, the survey examined the frequency and purpose of social media use in the workplace, as well as respondents' experiences related to professional use of social media. Next, the survey addressed respondents' experiences of stress and strain caused by social media. This was followed by topics related to well-being at work, such as job satisfaction, work engagement, and organisational identification. Finally, the survey mapped the respondents' experiences of online bullying in the workplace, as well as their general well-being and coping at work.

In the experimental part of the survey, respondents were randomly divided into two groups. They were asked to imagine applying for a new job in their field and to read a brief description of an open position. They then evaluated the position based on six statements. The experimental group received a job advertisement emphasizing the importance of social media in workplace communication, while the control group received an advertisement with no reference to social media.

The survey included the following measurement instruments, among others: Identity Bubble Reinforcement Scale IBRS, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale UWES, Maslach Burnout Indicator MBI-GS, General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12, Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire CPSQII, and Cyberbullying Questionnaire CBQ.

Background variables include, among others, gender, year of birth, marital status, household size, number of children in the household, education level, occupational status, number of subordinates, working hours, and monthly gross income.

Keywords

cyberbullying; fatigue (physiology); internet use; job characteristics; job satisfaction; labour force; occupational life; online social networks; psychological well-being; social media

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Information society (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Oksanen, Atte (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Oksa, Reetta (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Kaakinen, Markus (University of Tampere. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Funders

• Finnish Work Environment Fund (118055)

Time Period Covered

2018

Collection Dates

2018-11-19 – 2018-12-18

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Employees from five Finnish expert organisations in the fields of finance, telecommunications, human resources management, publishing, and retail

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Purposive

The data was collected from five expert organisations representing different industries: finance, telecommunications, human resources, publishing, and retail. These sectors were selected because they make extensive use of information and communication technologies. The organisations themselves were chosen based on their relatively large size, which allows for a comprehensive view of working life. Data collection was carried out in collaboration with the organisations' human resources departments, and invitations to participate in the surveys were sent either via email or through the internal social media platforms used within the organisations. All employees of the organisation (or its relevant unit) received an invitation to participate in the survey.

The organisations vary in size from companies with fewer than 2,000 employees to large enterprises with over 10,000 employees. The response rates across the different sectors are as follows: finance 3.18%, telecommunications 9.94%, human resources 18.91%, publishing 34.21%, and retail 22.30%. The age and gender distribution of the respondents corresponds to the general structure of the organisations.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Web-based experiment

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

10.31

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3985 Social Media at Work: Finnish Employee Survey 2019

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, the variables containing open-ended responses to the response option "Other, please specify" were removed from the data at FSD.

The variable some8 has been removed during archiving due to unclear coding.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Oksanen, Atte (University of Tampere) & Oksa, Reetta (University of Tampere) & Kaakinen, Markus (University of Tampere): Social Media at Work: Organisational Survey 2018 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2025-09-03). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3984; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3984

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Oksa, R., Savela, N., Kaakinen, M., Ellonen, N., & Oksanen, A. (2023). Social media use in professional organizations: Boosting and draining the workforce. Behaviour & Information Technology, 42(11), 1740-1757. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2022.2094833

Oksa, Reetta (2022). Towards Thriving or Draining? Psychosocial Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work. Sosiaalipsykologian väitöskirja. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2578-7

Oksa, R., Kaakinen, M., Savela, N., Ellonen, N., & Oksanen, A. (2021). Professional social media usage: Work engagement perspective. New Media & Society, 23(8), 2303-2326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820921938

Oksa, R., Saari, T., Kaakinen, M., & Oksanen, A. (2021). The Motivations for and Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work Among Millennials and Members of Former Generations. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(2), 803. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020803

Oksanen, A., Oksa, R., Savela, N., Kaakinen, M., Ellonen, N. (2020). Cyberbullying victimization at work: Social media identity bubble approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 109, 106363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106363