Social Media, Organizational Identity and Public Relations by Amy Thurlow

Author:Amy Thurlow [Amy Thurlow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business, Social Media
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

7 Plausibility and legitimation

By analyzing intersections of plausibility and legitimation, we are able to see points of connection in the sensemaking process whereby the property of plausibility is strengthened in relation to other properties with the introduction of various legitimation strategies. This chapter will focus on the relationship between plausibility and legitimation strategies and practices within the social media environment as they relate to organizational identity.

Within a social media context, I am particularly interested in the intersection of these two elements: the sensemaking property of plausibility, a property influencing sensemaking as one meaning emerges as ‘feeling right’ or resonating above others, and discursive legitimacy, the privileging of one narrative or sense of an identity surfaces above others in a contested communicative environment. Individuals and organizations, remember, are striving for a plausible meaning in their efforts to normalize a changing or volatile situation. Following a shock, “efforts are made to construct a plausible sense of what is happening, and this sense of plausibility normalizes the breach, restores the expectation, and enable projects to continue” Weick and Sutcliffe (as cited in Navis & Glynn, 2011, p. 488).

Despite his work on faulty decisions that have resulted from plausible versus accurate sensemaking, Weick (2010) emphasizes the power of this property to influence other forms of sensemaking in the absence of strong alternatives. He also reminds us that plausible meanings

tap into an ongoing sense of current climate, are consistent with other data, facilitate ongoing projects, reduce equivocality, provide an aura of accuracy (e.g. reflect the views of a consultant with a strong track record), and offer a potentially exciting future.

(Weick et al., 2005, p. 415)

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