The Use of Social Networking Sites for Scholarly Communication by Emergent Social Scientists: An Affordances Approach

Manco, Alejandra The Use of Social Networking Sites for Scholarly Communication by Emergent Social Scientists: An Affordances Approach. Young Information Scientist, 2019, vol. 4, pp. 17-30. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

Objectives — This study aims to explore how early career social sciences researchers and PhD social science students use social networking sites for science communication in Brazil. The central research question is what are the motives and rationale of the researchers for using social networking sites for academic communication. Two sub-questions arise from here: How do these reasons relate to scientific practices and the academic system of Brazil? And which are the main affordances perceived by researchers? Methods — This study is empirically oriented, building upon case studies in Brazil. It makes use of a review of affordances of social media platforms, applying the review to the study of social media as a theoretical foundation. The methodological approach is qualitative, using both interviews and netnography as research methods. Results — The primary motivations for using different Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are all related to connectivity: communication with peers—and, to a lesser degree, to the public and the research participants, updating themselves about their research interests, dissemination of research, checking availability of papers, self-branding, and participation in interest groups. These motivations translate into cross-posting practices and integrated communication strategies—combining online and offline elements—on the different platforms. The main affordances perceived by researchers in this study were related to social affordances or, in other words, social capital processes: availability, scalability, visibility, and multimediality. Conclusions — SNSs have not yet replaced traditional communication channels in the case of early career social science researchers because the academic evaluation systems do yet not include them. The use of SNSs changes according to the affordances early career social sciences researchers see (or fail to see) for each platform. This study identified observable differences according to a researcher’s field of expertise and level of comfort with particular platforms.

German abstract

Die Nutzung von sozialen Netzwerken für die wissenschaftliche Kommunikation von aufstrebenden Sozialwissenschaftlern: Ein Affordances-Ansatz [Titel in deutscher Übersetzung]. Zielsetzung — Diese Studie zielt darauf ab zu untersuchen, wie Sozialwissenschaftler am Beginn ihrer Laufbahn sowie Doktoranden dieses Faches soziale Netzwerke für die Wissenschaftskommunikation in Brasilien nutzen. Die zentrale Forschungsfrage ist jene nach den Motiven und Gründen der Forscher für diese Nutzung, woraus sich zwei Subfragen ergeben: In welcher Beziehung stehen diese Gründe zur wissenschaftlichen Praxis und zum akademischen System Brasiliens? Und: Was sind die wichtigsten von Forschern wahrgenommenen Angebotscharakteristika (Affordanzen)?Forschungsmethoden — Die Studie ist empirisch orientiert und baut auf Fallstudien in Brasilien auf. Sie macht von einem Review der Affordanzen von Social-Media-Plattformen Gebrauch und wendet dies als theoretische Grundlage an. Der methodische Ansatz ist qualitativ und verwendet sowohl Interviews als auch Netnographie als Forschungsmethoden.Ergebnisse — Die Hauptmotive für die Verwendung verschiedener Social Networking Sites (SNSs) hängen alle mit der Konnektivität zusammen: Kommunikation mit Peers und – in geringerem Maße – mit der Öffentlichkeit sowie den Probanden, Auf-dem-Laufenden-Bleiben hinsichtlich der eigenen Forschungsinteressen, Verbreitung von Forschungsergebnissen, Überprüfung der Verfügbarkeit von Veröffentlichungen, Selbstvermarktung sowie Mitwirkung in Interessensgruppen. Die in dieser Studie von den Forschern wahrgenommenen hauptsächlichen Angebotscharakteristika bezogen sich auf soziale Affordanzen oder, mit anderen Worten, auf Prozesse des sozialen Kapitals: Verfügbarkeit, Skalierbarkeit, Sichtbarkeit und Multimedialität.Schlussfolgerungen — SNSs haben die traditionellen Kommunikationskanäle für Sozialwissenschaftler in deren früher Karriere noch nicht ersetzt, da sie in den akademischen Bewertungssystemen noch nicht enthalten sind. Die Verwendung von SNSs ändert sich je nach den Affordanzen, die Sozialwissenschaftler in ihrer frühen Karriere für jede Plattform sehen (oder nicht sehen). Die vorliegende Studie konnte beobachtbare Unterschiede aufgrund der fachlichen Spezialisierung sowie des vom Forscher empfundenen Komforts einer bestimmten Plattform identifizieren.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Social Networking Sites (SNSs); Brazil; Early career social science researchers; Social sciences PhD students; Science communication; Scholarly communication; Affordances
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HT. Web 2.0, Social networks
Depositing user: Austrian E-LIS editors
Date deposited: 07 Jan 2020 12:38
Last modified: 23 Feb 2021 12:34
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/39488

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