Paper Number
ICIS2025-1562
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
This study explores how corporate social advocacy (CSA) on social media enables and shapes digital organizing around contentious policy issues. Drawing on the Communicative Constitution of Organization (CCO) perspective, the research conceptualizes CSA posts as communicative acts that are not only expressions of corporate societal positioning but also elicit organizationality in fluid, transient, and contested sociopolitical discourses characterized by social media. Through a computationally intensive multi-case study design, the paper examines corporate and CEO-led advocacy on social media related to three polarizing issues: gun control, the Paris Agreement, and US immigration policy. Utilizing large language models, the posts and comments are annotated by stance (favor or oppose) and explicitness in positioning (explicit or implicit), allowing for a fine-grained analysis of organizing dynamics around CSA posts. The study applies computational techniques such as social network analysis and algorithmic-supported induction to identify patterns of organizing and counter-organizing around CSA on social media.
Recommended Citation
Tayyab, Syed Muhammad Usman and Vaast, Emmanuelle, "Curating Communication, Organizing Opinions: The Role of Corporate Social Advocacy in Contentious Digital Public Discourse" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/is_media/is_media/5
Curating Communication, Organizing Opinions: The Role of Corporate Social Advocacy in Contentious Digital Public Discourse
This study explores how corporate social advocacy (CSA) on social media enables and shapes digital organizing around contentious policy issues. Drawing on the Communicative Constitution of Organization (CCO) perspective, the research conceptualizes CSA posts as communicative acts that are not only expressions of corporate societal positioning but also elicit organizationality in fluid, transient, and contested sociopolitical discourses characterized by social media. Through a computationally intensive multi-case study design, the paper examines corporate and CEO-led advocacy on social media related to three polarizing issues: gun control, the Paris Agreement, and US immigration policy. Utilizing large language models, the posts and comments are annotated by stance (favor or oppose) and explicitness in positioning (explicit or implicit), allowing for a fine-grained analysis of organizing dynamics around CSA posts. The study applies computational techniques such as social network analysis and algorithmic-supported induction to identify patterns of organizing and counter-organizing around CSA on social media.
When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.
Comments
23-Media