Knowledge contribution on enterprise social media and employee well-being

Enterprise social media (ESM) is a critical sociotechnical platform for organizational knowledge sharing. While research has extensively studied the antecedents of knowledge contribution on ESM, the consequences for the contributor have received little attention. We address this by investigating how knowledge-sharing behaviors on ESM affect the psychological well-being of contributors. Our study draws on data from surveys and uses digital trace data from a corporate ESM to supplement the analysis. Crucially, we distinguish the effects of work-related knowledge contributions (e.g., help with a work project) from those of nonwork-related contributions (e.g., advice on recovering after running a semi-marathon). This study offers a new, contributor-centric perspective on ESM, demonstrating its value beyond knowledge seeking. We also show that nonwork-related knowledge contributions are a significant positive trigger for employee well-being. Finally, we reveal that contributing knowledge on ESM is positively associated with the contributor’s own learning, a process that goes beyond vicarious learning.