Fear of Being Replaced: The Dark Side of Employee Ambassadorship on Social Media

Purpose: Starting from a power perspective, the study problematizes the prevailing normative and management-dominated view of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media. The aim is to provide a more nuanced and critical understanding of the negative aspects of this phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach: The empirical material encompasses qualitative interviews with employees from 14 organizations, and Foucault’s concept of disciplinary discursive power is used to analyze which and how discourses exert power over employee communication on social media as well as what role visibility plays in this.

Findings: The study indicates that employee ambassadors’ social media communication is governed by two discourses that create complex tensions, where ambassadors must constantly negotiate between self-branding requirements and an authenticity paradox. These tensions intensify through visibility on social media, where employees strategize and situationally silence their communication through self-monitoring and self-surveillance practices. The findings also outline the need for further critical research to offer a deeper understanding of power relations that influence the communication practices of organization members.

Research implications: The paper contributes a more nuanced understanding of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media and highlights disciplinary power relations that extend beyond organizational borders.

Practical implications: The findings stress that organizations need to address the critical aspects of self-initiated employee ambassadorship and act as facilitators to support employees in their navigation process.

Originality: The paper contributes a new critical power perspective on employee ambassadorship on social media.