CSR Mirror: A Social Media Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse

Abstract

Social media offers a publicly accessible window into how stakeholders engage in sensemaking around organizations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. These discussions not only provide insight into interpretations of CSR practices among stakeholders, but also offer a novel way to assess corporate social performance (CSP). To illustrate how stakeholders’ online sensemaking of CSR provides insight into CSP, this study analyzes Reddit discussions from 2005 to 2024, drawing on stakeholder and sensemaking theories. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines content analysis with natural language processing, we identify six major themes, ranging from employment discrimination to sociopolitical engagement, based on a targeted set of keywords related to CSP and sociopolitical activism. Topic modeling reveals evolving patterns of stakeholder concerns, while sentiment analysis indicates that over 85% of discussions on labor ethics and employment discrimination express negative sentiment. Although positive sentiment has increased since 2022, particularly in the technology and consumer sectors, online discussion continues to highlight gaps between corporate actions and public expectations. These findings underscore the importance of online platforms as arenas for stakeholders’ sensemaking of organizational CSR initiatives and provide CSP insights, especially for organizations seeking to align CSR efforts with stakeholder concerns.