CSR Communication by Fortune Global 100 Through Social Media – an Exploration

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and social media are two emerging areas in business. The objective of this research is to explore the CSR communication of Fortune Global 100 companies through social media for the year 2017. Specifically, the study analyses the utilisation of platforms and modes of communication, CSR issues that were disclosed, as well as the nature of CSR related dialogues between companies and stakeholders in social media. Content analysis provided descriptive insight into companies’ use of social media. Findings show Twitter and Facebook as the most popular platforms for companies to disclose CSR information through multiple modes of communication. ‘Community relations’, followed by ‘environment’ are the most common CSR issues exhibited. A case study on Walmart Inc.’s social media platforms facilitated the dialogue among stakeholders and the company with regards to Hurricane Harvey relief, a community relations issue. This suggests providing CSR disclosures in social media potentially create a dialogic engagement. Discussions of CSR on companies’ social media platforms allow access and participation from all users, although transformative outcomes as a result of these dialogues are yet to be seen. This research according to the researcher’s knowledge, is the first and detailed investigation on the use of the multiple platforms of social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Flickr) by corporations in communicating their CSR