Findings

Summary of findings

This study supports the findings of previous literature (Frederiksen, 2018; Amoako, Lord, & Dixon, 2017) on the use of social media for sustainability reporting and corporate communications in that the full potential of social media for two-way stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting has not yet been realised.

Empirical evidence uncovered in this study suggests that while mid-tier resource companies in Western Australia communicate on social media about environmental, financial, and societal sustainability issues, the majority of organisations in the sector avoid topics related to ethical business practices, responsible production and biodiversity conservation that could promote active discussion and criticism.  Social issues such as community philanthropy, gender equality, and diversity are the most common topics communicated, suggesting that stakeholder theory is not currently applied to sustainability communications.  Instead, the status quo of sustainability reporting on social media in the Western Australia resource sector focuses on a ‘do good – feel good’ symbolic legitimacy strategy (Roper & Fill, 2012) allowing them to manage stakeholders’ impressions and control the dialogue.

The results did not offer verifiable evidence as to whether or not an organisation used a social media calendar AI software to manage their social media communications.

The application of Legitimacy Theory to communications

The findings provide empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that stakeholder theory is not being effectively applied to social media communications as organisations employ a “do good – feel good” symbolic legitimacy strategy (Roper & Fill, 2012) to their communications rather than risk a dialogue with stakeholders. 

The data found evidence that, in order to legitimise the organisation in the eyes of the stakeholder, organisations in the study are communicating that they are operating within the bounds of the society they are a part of. They do this by applying a symbolic legitimacy strategy to their social media communications to promote endeavours that economically or socially benefit the communities they impact.

Vitolla & Rubino (2017) suggest that legitimacy theory focuses on the interaction between organisations, its stakeholders and society and is a theoretical perspective within the framework of stakeholder theory. This appears to be supported by the data in that where there is a risk of negative backlash by communicate an environmental performance or responsible production issue, organisations used disclosure of community philanthropic endeavours to legitimise and justify their operations in the eyes of the stakeholder and facilitate the generation of communications that offer value to the stakeholder.  

Potential implications of the results

The results of the study have the potential to positively influence mining companies’ communication practices with stakeholders, strengthening governance of social issues and regulating the administration of environmental concerns, not only on social media but across the board, to mitigate the risk of Outrage Culture.