Virtually Personified: The Tensions of Corporate Personhood in Social Media

• In Event: The Social Construction of Corporate Personhood

Abstract

Corporations have not overlooked the explosion of social media. Perhaps, however, they have been incredibly circumspect to jump into an arena where increased engagement with the public occurs on a micro-social level through interactive communication. Indeed, as corporations slowly turn to social media such as Justmeans, Facebook, and twitter, corporations also have to reconcile practices of transparency and accountability in the capacity of the digital age. However, rather than focus on the inherent benefits such a move procures for corporations and citizens alike, this paper critically examines the move to social media as a means of increased presence in the daily lives of citizens and governments alike. Although positive potential exists in becoming “virtual,” the argument is ultimately made that engaging social media requires increased sensitivity to the local–global and real–virtual tensions that arise as corporations become increasingly present and personal.

Author

• Wayne Erik Rysavy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill