For someone relatively new to the use of social media, the #socialrecruiting
summit was very insightful. I've learned a great deal and have met very
talented colleagues. While listening to the various speakers I couldn't help
myself to think about the differences that may exist across societies that
share different value systems in relation to the use of social media. For
example, I wondered if and how differences between collectivist and
individualist societies play a role in communications through social media.
My interest in cross–cultural issues related to peoples’ behavior
goes back a few years when I met Geert Hofstede, a Dutch researcher who is
probably the most cited author on cross-cultural management literature. His
book: “Cultures
and Organizations: Software of the Mind” is a fascinating book that helped
me a great deal in my role as an HR specialist. Having worked for international
organizations for quite some time, I am convinced that cultural differences
play a crucial role in recruitment and retention of staff.
So, going back to the issue of social media, I would venture to
predict that cultural differences across societies have an impact on how much,
what kind, and for what purpose people use social media. Without trying to be conclusive here, since I am still researching
this issue, I would like to reflect on a few ideas, especially about how collectivism and individualism may play a role. First let me provide a brief
definition of these two cultural concepts:
Collectivist
societies,
according to Hofstede, are defined as societies that emphasize group
goals over individual goals. For example, when individual and group goals
conflict, individuals tend to align with the group rather than stand out as an individual. People from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive
in-groups, often extended families which continue protecting them in exchange
for unquestioning loyalty. Conflict is therefore avoided and harmony with the group is
key to survival. In this context, I would predict that these societies tend to
use social media to:
(1) “Cooperate” rather than “conflict”
with others comments/posts;
(2) Share content, music,
files, information; and
(3) Nurture long-term relationships.
People in these societies would also be (4) less active in promoting a
personal “brand”. In these
societies people are not suppose
to show off their success.
This would suggest that they are probably high users of collaborative technologies and
applications and probably highly active in group activities on social networks.
They are probably high users of facebook
compared to twitter.
Countries like
Brazil, Japan, China, Thailand, Russia, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, and
Romania, are considered to be collectivist. In fact, most of the countries
around the globe are collectivist.
Individualist
Societies, according to Hofstede, stress the idea of human independence and self-reliance,
as well as liberty. Individuals tend to promote the exercise of individual
goals. This means that individual goals can and often do conflict with group goals. Self-promotion is common. According
to Hofstede, being blunt and direct is a typical trait in these societies. Since
ties between individuals tend to be loose,
people tend to value short-term
relationships when compared with collectivist societies and are more prone to shorten
them if it does not promote individual goals. Probably people tend to use more direct,
short,
quick, social media such as Twitter rather
than Facebook.
Countries like
the US, UK, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, Scandinavian countries, are
found to be the most individualist societies with the US heading the group.
This could explain the huge success of Twitter and tools alike in these countries where the relationship tend to be short-term.
In sum, culture brings useful information to help recruiters pick the most suitable
tool to target candidates in a specific country or region. Having said that, we
cannot also forget the role of technology limitations felt in some regions of
the globe. For example, it is more likely that people in developing regions
have easier access to a mobile phone than a computer and therefore will connect
with others through software designed for mobile phones.
Your insights would be most welcome.
