Employees often use enterprise social media (ESM) for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, leading to ESM networks–that is, social networks of interrelated employees based on ESM. Many organizations possess ESM networks, and there is increasing research on their consequences for employees depending on how these employees are positioned in such networks. ESM network research is complex and consists of various interrelated dimensions. However, a synthesis of the abovementioned studies is lacking. Therefore, the current body of knowledge may obfuscate how the different dimensions interrelate, impeding a more holistic understanding of the consequences that employees may experience depending on their network positions. Moreover, there is little understanding of which research topics in this area have been addressed to date and where further research is needed. This paper addresses these gaps by means of a literature review and research agenda that synthesizes past studies. The results emphasize that whether ESM are beneficial for and exert a positive influence on employees largely depends on the employees’ positions in the underlying networks.

员工经常使用企业社交媒体（enterprise social media，ESM）进行交流、协作和知识共享，从而形成ESM网络——即基于ESM的相互关联的员工社交网络。许多组织拥有 ESM 网络，并且越来越多的研究根据这些员工在此类网络中的定位对员工造成的后果进行研究。ESM 网络研究很复杂，由各种相互关联的维度组成。然而，缺乏对上述研究的综合。因此，当前的知识体系可能会混淆不同维度之间的相互关系，从而阻碍更全面地了解员工根据其网络职位可能经历的后果。而且，迄今为止，该领域的哪些研究主题已经得到解决，哪些地方需要进一步研究，人们知之甚少。本文通过综合过去研究的文献回顾和研究议程来解决这些差距。结果强调，ESM 是否有益于员工并对其产生积极影响在很大程度上取决于员工在底层网络中的位置。