최근 다양한 유형의 SNS가 등장하고, SNS 활용 목적과 활용 행태, 활용 맥락이 확장되고 있다. 특히 코로나 팬데믹으로 인해 재택근무가 보편화되면서 업무 및 직장 내 인간관계에 있어 SNS의 역할도 더욱 중요해지고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 직장인의 업무, 조직과 관련된 이용과 일상적 이용의 특징을 모두 포함하는 SNS인 ‘블라인드’를 대상으로 이용자의 목적을 파악하고 이러한 목적의 위계적 구조를 생성했다. 수단-목적 사슬 접근방식을 통한 분석 결과, 6개의 이용 행위와 16개의 사용 목적이 도출되었다. 이용자들이 가장 자주 이용하는 행위는 브라우징이었으며, 브라우징은 정보 습득, 익명성 기반 정보 습득, 타인의 사고 이해, 시간 때우기라는 중간 목적을 거쳐 즐거움, 스스로에 대한 확신, 심리적 안정, 개인의 이익과 발전이라는 모든 궁극적 목적에 도달하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 중간 목적 중 가장 큰 중심성 값을 보인 것은 익명성 기반 정보습득이었으며 이는 ‘블라인드’의 플랫폼적 특성이 이용자의 활동에 중요한 역할을 함을 시사한다. 그리고 즐거움, 스스로에 대한 확신, 심리적 안정, 개인의 이익과 발전이라는 네 가지 궁극적 목적은 직장인의 SNS 이용이 향락적 가치와 함께 직장인의 개인의 성장과 연결되는 정신적인 가치도 제공함을 보여준다. 본 연구는 ‘블라인드’를 대상으로 직장인들의 SNS 이용 목적을 제시하고 이들 간의 관계를 밝힘으로써 직장인의 직업적, 일상적 SNS 이용에 대한 보다 풍성한 이해를 제공한다. 또한 최근 조직 내에서 업무 성과와 소통을 강화하기 위한 시스템 개발을 위해 여러 노력들을 펼치고 있음을 고려할 때 이에 대한 전략 설정에 시사하는 바가 있다고 생각된다.
With the recent emergence of various types of SNS, the purpose, usage pattern, and usage context of SNS are expanding. As the type and amount of content consumed and shared through SNS expands, SNS reveals its presence not only in daily life but also in work-related areas. In particular, as working from home has become common due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of SNS in work and interpersonal relationships is becoming more important. Although users use SNS to achieve a wide variety of goals based on diverse motivations compared to the past, existing studies are still focusing on traditional motivations such as information seeking, entertainment, and social motivation. In addition, there are scant academic studies that examine the relationship between various motivations or usage goals. Therefore, this study examines the goals of using ‘Blind’, a professional SNS, and identifies the hierarchical structure of these goals. Blind is the largest professional community in Korea that can be used by certified users, and its main feature is anonymity. By using ‘Blind’, users can experience all of the office worker"s work-related SNS use, and daily life-related use. According to the goal theory, goals are internal representations of desired states that people want to achieve. Goals are organized hierarchically, with each goal placed between a superordinate and subordinate goals. Means-end chain analysis (MECA) is used to understand the linkages between attributes, consequences, and various goals. MECA utilizes a laddering interview technique to derive a hierarchical construct, codes the interview outcomes and creates a hierarchical map. It examines the relationships of the elements by identifying the abstractness of each element and positioning the element on a hierarchical map. As a result of analyzing interviews with 30 ‘Blind’ users through the MECA, 6 usage actions and 16 usage purposes were derived. The most frequently used activity by users was browsing, and it was confirmed that browsing led to all of the ultimate goals through intermediate goals such as acquiring information, acquiring information based on anonymity, understanding others" thoughts, and killing time. In addition, the acquisition of anonymity-based information, which had the highest centrality value, was found to be an important factor in user activities on SNS. This finding highlights the significance of the ‘Blind’ characteristics of SNS platforms. Moreover, the fact that psychological stability, individual interests and development, and self-understanding appeared as the ultimate purpose along with the hedonic value means that the use of SNS by office workers provides psychological values. These psychological values extend beyond the hedonic value, underlining the potential benefits of SNS use for individuals’ well-being and growth. This study provides a richer understanding of office workers" use of SNS by presenting the purpose of using "Blind" more abundantly and revealing the relationship between them. In addition, considering that various efforts are being made to develop a system to enhance work performance and communication within the organization, it is thought that there are implications for setting a strategy for this. Regarding future research directions, as interest in stress, fatigue, and negative results from using SNS within organizations is increasing, it is thought that studies on not only positive goals related to the use of ‘Blind’ but also negative results can provide important implications. In addition, it is expected that comparative studies with countries with different working environments and cultures will be meaningful.