The Adoption of Social Media by Small and Medium Enterprises in Jordan: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

As social media rose through the past 10 years, it has prospered to be a main com- municating method. Therefore this study aims to explore the use of social media ap- plications (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Skype) by Small and Me- dium Enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan. A survey of 148 SMEs in Amman, Jordan was conducted to achieve the study objectives. The study found that SMEs mostly used application was Facebook (by more than half of the SMEs), and the least used one was LinkedIn (by more than fifth of the SMEs). Also, approximately third of the SMEs used YouTube, Skype, and Twitter. Of those, more than one third used these applica- tions daily. The study also found that gaining popularity, enjoyment and social influ- ence were the main motivations for using all five applications by SMEs. Moreover, the study found that the applications were mostly used for information, communica- tion, marketing, and improving business reputation. Furthermore, SMEs considered both fake identities and security issues as the main limitations for using the five ap- plications. In light of the results, several recommendations were suggested to increase the use of social media by SMEs in Jordan.