presentations – Frances Ryan

iWeek in Aberdeen: #iDocQ2017 and #i3RGU

Frances Ryan/ 2 July 201715 July 2017

This past week was spent in Aberdeen attending what I like to call “iWeek”. It included a one-day doctoral colloquium (iDocQ) followed by a four-day international conference (i3)—both at Robert Gordon University.

The first day the sixth annual Information Science Doctoral Colloquium (Twitter hashtag: #iDocQ2017), a doctoral colloquium for Scottish PhD students. The annual colloquium is organised by students at Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Glasgow, and Robert Gordon University.

This year’s iDocQ started off with a series of “One Minute Madness” presentations. The slide template we were given was a bit challenging, but I feel that I managed to make it work for me. (See it here!) The big thing I learned from the quick presentations was that I need to develop a couple new versions of my “elevator pitch”. I am quite good at a layman’s explanation of my research (social media and reputation; people get that!). However, I find it difficult to explain my conceptual framework clearly in a short time span because I have to explain what bibliometrcis and citation practice means. And if I mention altmetrics, it’s even harder! The reality is that I will rarely need to explain that in 60 seconds, but it would be great to find a simple explanation that is true to my research. (Note to self: Sort this out before your viva!!)

After the presentations, we enjoyed a keynote talk by Dr Luke Sloan of Cardiff University. (Via Skype: Technology to the rescue after our speaker’s cancelled flight from Cardiff.) Sloan’s talk was titled “Social Science ‘Lite’? Understanding Who Uses Twitter & What This Can Tell Us About the Social World. It was an interesting look at who uses Twitter and asked questions about how we are able to accurately identify those users. The keynote was very fascinating and I took some great notes that (I hope) will help me as I write up my methods chapter for my thesis. (Which is slowly getting written.)

The rest of the day was spent in a series of workshops and discussions on writing, being adaptable (and accepting rejection), and a Q&A panel. It was a very insightful day, though a bit long for me, leaving me to skip out on the after-event pub session.

The rest of the week was spent at the Information: Interactions and Impact Conference (Twitter hashtag: #i3RGU). This was my second time attending the biennial international conference so I knew to expect great things!

The conference was a great opportunity to connect (and re-connect) with other Information Science academics. I was very pleased with the programme’s offerings as there were several papers that were of great interest to me. I especially found great interest in listening to the methods others are using for their research as I am keen to consider new modes of investigation for my own future work. (Though I must finish that darn PhD first!!)

My contribution to the conference was delivering my paper, “Blurred reputations: Managing professional and private information online”. The paper represents a portion of my PhD work, though rather than addressing a specific research question it shares findings related to one aspect of reputation: the ways in which private and professional lives blur online.

I have been given the opportunity to submit an extended version of the paper for review as a full journal article. I will be working on that article over the next few weeks and hopefully, I will have some good news to share about its acceptance before the end of the year. In the meantime, the slides from my conference presentation are below. (Please get in touch if you have any questions about the presentation or my research as a whole.)

Oh! And as a wee inside joke, I developed a new model to share at the end of my presentation. For those familiar with the contentious topic of “not another [censored] model”, this is a funny thing. Trust me.

Next up in my PhD journey:

Write a grant application as part of the Connecting People, Connecting Ideas project
Write up my i3 paper as a full journal article
Write that PhD thesis!!!

Workshop: Building your academic reputation online

Frances Ryan/ 13 June 201718 June 2017

Last week I delivered a half-day workshop at the Scottish Graduate School for Social Science’s Summer School. The workshop, “Building your academic reputation online”, was designed for PhD students at any stage of their studies. There were two primary goals for the day: (1) to get students thinking about the impact of online information on their academic reputations and (2) to provide students with a basic understanding of not only how to use social media to build and manage their reputations but also why they should.

The desired outcomes of the workshop included:

An increased awareness of how online information impacts professional and academic reputations—including how it may relate to job seeking and career development
A stronger understanding of how different social media platforms work, and what role they may play in the building and maintenance of academic reputation
A better understanding of online profile management, including potential benefits and risks

The first half of the workshop considered what reputation meant as well as how academics build reputation. The second half was then dedicated to discussing the different platforms that could be used for building reputation. If I had it to do all over again, I would have agreed to a full-day workshop. That would have allowed for more time on the practicalities of using social media platforms. It also would have provided more time to get into questions about privacy issues and the blurring between private and professional lives. Still, I think that the students found (at least some of) the workshop valuable.

You can view the slides from the workshop below or on my SlideShare account here. And please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the workshop or want to discuss academic reputation in more detail!

Academics online: Presentation slides

Frances Ryan/ 10 May 201710 June 2017

Last week I spoke at the “Academics Online: Building your research profile in the digital age” workshop to be held at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus. The event was organised by Dr Ivana Rihova and Dr Nathalia Tjandra, thanks to support from the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) and the Researcher Development Fund 2016/17.

I was the first of four speakers and shared an overview of how academic reputations are built—including the use of altmetrics. When I prepared my presentation, I worried that the altmetrics portion might be too basic, but it seems that most of the delegates were unfamiliar with what they were (or how to use them). It made for some interesting questions and discussion at the end of my talk though—and hopefully, it has given the audience something to think about as they continue to build their own reputations online.

In addition to altmetrics, my talk shared information about different tools that can be used to create online profiles and why they should be used. I also tried to make the point that you don’t have to use all of the tools. And, in fact, it is better to use fewer tools well and with confidence than it is to use every online tool under the sun with uncertainty.

The other speakers at the workshop were:

Nick Blackbourn, Content Officer at Edinburgh Napier University, who discussed practical ways and specific tools for building an online audience. He talked about using a “work out loud” approach and encouraged participants to tweet along as he spoke.

Vanessa Heggie, University of Birmingham, talked about the risks and rewards of social media. She shared some insights into different tactics, hacks, and coping mechanisms we could use to make sure we present ourselves (and our research) well in public—whilst having the most positive experience online that we can.

Steven Vass is the Scotland Editor of The Conversation, an original and essential outlet for comment and analysis. He was the last speaker of the day and shared with us ideas of how to turn our research into articles that will open eyes and reach the widest possible audience. He encouraged short, 100-word pitches to start with—and got me personally thinking about my own submission. (Which won’t happen until after I submit my thesis!)

You can view the slides from my presentation below or on my SlideShare account here.

Academics online: I have a reputation for the topic!

Frances Ryan/ 21 April 201710 June 2017

I have been invited to speak at the “Academics Online: Building your research profile in the digital age” workshop to be held at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus on 2 May 2017 (9.30 am – 3.30 pm). The event, hosted by the Business School, is aimed at Early Career Researchers (ERCs) and doctoral students and is free to attend.

The one-day workshop will offer practical tips on how to increase the impact of research by maximising the potentials of social media engagement. Delegates will also be asked to critically consider the ethical issues around online identities and importance of building academic reputation in the digital age. (In case you’re new here, that’s basically what my research is about: Online information and reputation!)

I will be the first speaker of the day and my talk will be about how academic reputation can be built and maintained using common social networking platforms (i.e. Twitter and LinkedIn) as well as other social media tools such as blogs and university researcher profiles. I will also cover topics such as bibliometric impact and h-indexes, and the role that “altmetrics” plays in the building and evaluation of academic reputation.

My session is not about how to use social media in your academic life—it’s about why you should use it! I am hoping that it will be a fairly engaging session with some good discussions (or at least some interesting questions) and a bit of audience participation.

The other speakers at the workshop are:

Nick Blackbourn, Content Officer at Edinburgh Napier University, who will run a workshop exploring practical ways and specific tools for building an online audience and using a “work out loud” approach. He requests that delegates bring a connected device to access their Twitter accounts, so there’s no doubt he’s expecting audience participation!

Vanessa Heggie, University of Birmingham, is running a session that will consider the risks as well as the rewards of social media, and will work through a series of tactics, hacks, and coping mechanisms to make sure we’re not only presenting ourselves (and our research) well in public, but also having the most positive experience online that we can.

Steven Vass is the Scotland Editor of The Conversation, an original and essential outlet for comment and analysis. He will remind us that what we do is both valuable and fascinating, and provide ideas of how to turn our research into articles that will open eyes, make waves and reach the widest possible audience.

The workshop is organised by Dr Ivana Rihova and Dr Nathalia Tjandra , thanks to support from the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) and the Researcher Development Fund 2016/17.

Space is limited so get your free ticket now if you’re interested!

“Academics Online: Building your research profile in the digital age” on 2nd May, 9:30 am – 3.30 pm in the Rivers Suite, Craiglockhart.

For those unable to attend, I will share my own presentation slides on the day and will be tweeting during the event using the #AcademicsOnline hashtag.

Accepted for conference: “Blurred reputations: Managing professional and private information online”

Frances Ryan/ 11 April 201711 June 2017

My conference paper, Blurred reputations: Managing professional and private information online, has been accepted for Information: Interactions and Impact Conference (i3) in Aberdeen, Scotland. The paper is co-authored by my PhD supervisors and is based on some of the findings from one of the four research questions being investigated for my doctoral thesis (How do individuals use online information to build and manage their reputations?).

The conference will take place 27-30 June at Robert Gordon University. I will present the paper the morning of the 29^th (full programme here). I have 45 minutes (including time for questions) to discuss the paper and share some of the key findings, which I’ve highlighted below.

Blurred reputations: A pre-conference teaser:

The subset of findings to be shared at the conference are concerned with the ways in which private and professional lives blur online. The data analysed is relevant to information behaviours and literacies revealed four primary behaviours deployed by participants. These are: (1) portraying only parts of their personas for different audiences, (2) managing the type of information that is shared on different platforms, (3) managing the means by which they connect with others, and (4) undertaking various levels of self-censorship. For example:

Portrayal of persona parts for different audiences
Showcasing different aspects of a personality or different ‘personas’ is a tactic used to help build or manage professional and private reputations online. Personas may be deployed to minimise the levels of blurring between professional and private lives, with some participants actively and intentionally splitting out parts of their personas to ensure that they were maintaining an acceptable ‘professional’ reputation. This online presentation of personas aligns with Goffman’s seminal work about showcasing different aspects of one’s ‘self’ based on the situation.

Management of different types of information for different platforms
Similarly, participants interviewed for this study noted different information behaviours based on perceived audiences for their social networking sites and their understandings of a platform’s primary use. Whilst these behaviours are similar those related to personas, there is a nuanced difference in how the information shared across different platforms is limited. These behaviours are designed to create or manage a professional ‘reputation’ through the use of intentional strategies for the different types of information and vary based on individuals’ understanding of a platform’s primary purpose. For example, LinkedIn is seen as a professional platform whereas Facebook is seen as ‘private’.

Connections with others
The determination of a platform’s primary use also impacts how participants determine who to connect with. For example, as a professional platform, LinkedIn predominantly a space for professional connections, Facebook is viewed as a largely private networking platform, and Twitter falls somewhere in between. These determinations help to determine who participants will connect with on the different platforms, sometimes as a way of creating a public connection for the express purpose of reputation building. However, decisions on who to connect with on which platform can also be made to keep different groups of contacts away from each other.

Self-censorship
Self-censorship also plays a part in the management of this private/professional blur. These self-censorship behaviours are even more obvious when participants have professional connections on the platform in questions or when a colleague or employer might be able to gain access to the information. Indeed, some types of information might not be shared online in any form (for example, controversial views) whilst other types of information might be shared in a more controlled manner, such as with a subset of friends in a private group (for example, inappropriate photos). This is more important when an individual’s professional reputation is in question.

After the conference, I have the opportunity to submit the full paper for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. If (when!) it is accepted and published, I will share a link to the publication. In the meantime, you can find a list of my current publications here on my website.

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Blurred reputations: A pre-conference teaser:

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