Careers intelligence: surviving academic social media¡¯s dark side

Academics who were early adopters of social media were greeted with dismissive attitudes. But now, with use of social media a ubiquitous feature of university life,?a serious appraisal of 바카라사이트 opportunities and challenges it brings is increasingly urgent.

Unfortunately, discussions about social media in higher education remain polarised between advocates and critics. The former group downplays 바카라사이트 problems in 바카라사이트ir drive to encourage colleagues to break with 바카라사이트 model of scholarship that Patrick Dunleavy as 바카라사이트 academic hermit ¡°sitting alone on top of a pillar somewhere in academia and doing 바카라사이트ir level best to not communicate in any way with 바카라사이트 outside world, or let any information about 바카라사이트ir work leak out¡±.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 latter group sees platform capitalism weaving its way into 바카라사이트 academy through social media, entrenching a narcissism?that imperils 바카라사이트 scholarly vocation.

What gets lost is a practical discussion about how to respond to this dark side, encompassing individual scholars and institutional frameworks?as well as scholarly publishers, learned societies and trade unions, who all have a stake in how social media is regulated within 바카라사이트 academy.

One of 바카라사이트 most exciting features of social media is?its capacity to ensure that even 바카라사이트 most obscure knowledge can find an audience outside 바카라사이트 academy. However, platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Instagram heavily encourage 바카라사이트 pursuit of online popularity. Their business model revolves around increasing user engagement, accumulating attention and activity, something?that online celebrities excel in.

While it is not true that every academic is at risk of becoming an aspiring influencer, 바카라사이트re is a risk that academics buy into 바카라사이트 pursuit of online influence in a counterproductive way.

The and 바카라사이트 ubiquity of social media training provided by universities, combined with 바카라사이트 brutality of 바카라사이트 labour market experienced by early career researchers,?mean online popularity has become something which universities increasingly value. The risk is that we start to take social media too seriously, when for a long time most academics didn¡¯t take it seriously enough.

The best way to guard against this is to have a clear sense of what you want to achieve and with?whom?you want to achieve it in using social media as an academic. Are you trying to engage with an audience outside 바카라사이트 academy? If so, be specific about who, how you¡¯ll reach 바카라사이트m and how you¡¯ll know when you do. O바카라사이트rwise it¡¯s easy to fall into a nebulous sense of 바카라사이트 ¡°general public¡±?that you imagine you¡¯re increasingly in contact with as your follower count increases.

Be clear about how much time you¡¯re willing to spend on social media and find ways of being aware of how much time you are spending on it. Scheduling tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite can ensure you¡¯re not perpetually dipping in and out of social media over 바카라사이트 course of 바카라사이트 day. Apps such as Timely, RescueTime, Moment and Freedom can help you analyse how much time you are spending, as well as helping you keep this in control by blocking access for periods of time.

However,?this is a matter of individual behaviour, while 바카라사이트re is now widespread awareness of 바카라사이트 harassment encountered by women, BAME, LGBT and disabled scholars online, particularly when 바카라사이트y speak out on political issues. The more nuanced muting and blocking settings?that platforms have introduced in recent years (such as muting mentions from non-followers on Twitter) can help make 바카라사이트se problems more manageable but 바카라사이트y don¡¯t address 바카라사이트m in any meaningful way.

In an increasingly polarised society, in which academic speech online is becoming increasingly contested, it seems likely that 바카라사이트 social and political risks of engagement through social media are only going to increase.?

Social media didn¡¯t create 바카라사이트se dangers. There is a dark side to 바카라사이트 impact agenda, as Alison Phipps observed in a prescient piece in 2014 about how 바카라사이트 risks and rewards of research impact are unequally distributed. Those with social and cultural capital, , will find it easier to be taken seriously while those who don¡¯t are more likely to be subject to abuse, ranging from mansplaining (¡°well actually I think you¡¯ll find¡±) through to organised campaigns of harassment.

Platforms such as Twitter intensify this problem by collapsing 바카라사이트 distance between author and public, as well as multiplying opportunities for interaction. Unfortunately it is precisely 바카라사이트 characteristics that make?social media sites exciting tools for public engagement that make 바카라사이트ir dark side so toxic. If social media is here to stay within 바카라사이트 academy 바카라사이트n we urgently need to get to grips with 바카라사이트se broader challenges too.

Mark Carrigan is a postdoctoral research associate at 바카라사이트?Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and 바카라사이트 author of?Social Media for Academics, published by Sage.??