Online Social Networks and the New Organizational Spaces

Abstract

We analyzed the ‘virtuality’ of the social space and the boundaries of organizations from the emergence and dissemination of online social networking. The purpose is to identify how the use of social networks by 10 Brazilian companies enables the redefinition and expansion of organizational space. For the analysis of the data, we used the theory of social space of Lefebvre (2004), which defines three moments of space social production: the imagined space, the lived space and the perceived space. The methodological qualitative approach is done by document analysis from the websites of the companies. We show that the organizational space has new contours with the adoption of online social networks and we analyzed four spatial metaphors: the square, the museum, the temple and the market.

Keywords

• metaphors
• social networks
• organizational space
• organizational strategy.