Organizational communication and invisibility strategies and reducing/targeting social media visibility

Abstract

This article begins with discussions about organizational communication, especially in the context of social media. Research in this field tends to emphasize “visibility” as the only desire of organizations in online environments. However, “strategies of invisibility” are also paths adopted by organizations in situations of risk or in the face of the apparent advance of guidelines that contradict the way they expect to be recognized. Our aim is to understand the strategies of organizations in situations requiring invisibility and reducing/targeting visibility on social media. The discussions refer to symbolic interactionism, which is the epistemic foundation of this research. On an empirical level, we conducted in-depth interviews with 17 professionals working in digital communication agencies. The results form a map of strategies for invisibility and reducing/targeting visibility, which indicates the professionalization and several consequences of these processes and resources. Our understanding is that such strategies need discussion in the light of notions of public interest, conformity, and ethics, as the prospect of concealment may represent the non-visibility of issues relevant to society that are losing emphasis, given the refinement of these processes and resources.