Seeing and being seen: how digital transparency and competence shape workplace gossip in a digitally connected industry

Purpose In this research, the relationship between work-related social media use and organizational gossip is analyzed, with perceived digital transparency as the mediator and digital competence as the moderator. Design/methodology/approach Based on the social cognitive theory combined with the communication visibility perspective, data from 412 employees within the aviation industry were collected. To examine the direct, indirect, and conditional relationships among variables, a series of regression-based methods was applied to test the moderated mediation model. Findings There was a negative relationship between work-related social media use and organizational gossip. The relationship was partially mediated by perceived digital transparency, indicating that work-related social media use was associated with stronger employee perceptions that organizational information communicated via digital platforms was sufficiently disclosed, clear, accurate, and accessible. Moreover, digital competence strengthened the negative relationship between perceived digital transparency and organizational gossip. Research limitations/implications This study has the limitation of a cross-sectional research design that does not allow making causal inferences. Practical implications It is recommended that organizations develop transparent digital communication systems and invest in digital competence development to reduce employees’ reliance on unofficial evaluative communication. Social implications Enhancing transparency and digital competence may foster ethical communication climates and strengthen trust in digitally mediated organizations. Originality/value This study aims to present an integrated social cognitive approach to digitally mediated workplace communication by integrating social cognitive theory with the communication visibility perspective. It distinguishes between platform-level affordances (visibility, persistence, retrievability, and attribution) and employees’ perceptions of informational transparency.