"UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN VIRTUAL TEAM CONF" by Hritik Gupta and Stephen C. Wingreen

Abstract

Communication technology is recognized as an important component of a
virtual team (VT). Communication technologies other than social media
have been linked to VT conflicts by prior research. This research in
progress explores using social media to see if any improvements can be
made to conflicts in VTs. The researchers emphasize on the “feature
richness” of social media which is understood as affordances of social
media and it distinguishes social media from other commonly used
communication technologies in a VT environment. The researchers theorize
that “feature richness” rather than “media richness” of the
communication technology can be more beneficial for a virtual team since
it is hoped to simultaneously work towards reducing VT conflicts. The
researchers propose a conceptual research model that contributes to
understanding the mediating role that social media can play in virtual
team conflicts.