Social Media Reputation

Social media enable millions of users to create and disseminate narratives about organizations that increase their public exposure and shape public perceptions. In this paper, we draw on the sociology of news production and research on computer-mediated communication to discuss how different motivational drivers and contextual conditions associated with the formation of narratives in traditional news media and social media influence their content, diffusion, and impact significantly. Our analysis suggests that current theories of media reputation may provide an incomplete representation of the phenomenon, and highlight theoretically relevant differences and interrelationships between reputational dynamics involving news media and social media.