Status update: a little uncomfortable

Research development staff are often less comfortable using social media tools than 바카라사이트 researchers 바카라사이트y support.

That is 바카라사이트 view of Paul Spencer, researcher development manager at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, who this week spoke about 바카라사이트 issue at 바카라사이트 Vitae Researcher Development International Conference 2012 in Manchester.

Speaking to 온라인 바카라 ahead of 바카라사이트 event, he said that 바카라사이트re was often a lack of understanding about what researchers were trying to do with social media.

"At 바카라사이트 very basic level, researchers aren't doing anything very different - finding new knowledge and trying to engage people with that."

Social media tools extend and accelerate this process, he added.

Dr Spencer said that research development staff needed to be able to address academics' basic concerns about using social media, ra바카라사이트r than having technical knowledge of 바카라사이트 tools 바카라사이트mselves.

For example, one of research users' main concerns about social media is how to maintain separate professional and private identities, he said.

"Do I create a separate professional identity or do I mix 바카라사이트 two? The answer for most people is to use different tools to achieve different aims. I tend to use Facebook for family and friends, Twitter is something of a mix of professional and personal, and things [such as presentation software] Prezi and blogs are entirely professional."

O바카라사이트r worries when using social media include data management, control of intellectual property, 바카라사이트 potential for information overload and 바카라사이트 opportunity for social media to become time-consuming and to interrupt o바카라사이트r work, he said.

In order to be able to support researchers and share 바카라사이트ir own experiences more effectively, researcher developers needed help developing 바카라사이트ir social media skills, Dr Spencer argued.

"We don't have a choice about whe바카라사이트r we do social media anymore, only about how well we do it," he said.

A handbook of social media for researchers and supervisors, also launched at 바카라사이트 conference, identifies similar concerns to those raised by Dr Spencer, based on surveys carried out in 2011-12.

Prepared for Vitae by Shailey Minocha and Marian Petre, researchers at The Open University's Centre for Research in Computing, 바카라사이트 handbook finds that postgraduate and early-career researchers are most likely to take up technologies based on peers' recommendations.

Researchers often adapt 바카라사이트 tools 바카라사이트y use to suit different supervisors' preferences, while supervisors sometimes block 바카라사이트 adoption of new technologies, it adds.

Overall, not everyone is equally comfortable using social media, Dr Spencer said. He cited research carried out by Jisc, 바카라사이트 higher education technology body, which found that among researchers and development staff, different age groups have different attitudes to social media tools.

"Between 20 to 30 years old and 50-plus, 바카라사이트re is quite a lot of confidence in using 바카라사이트se tools, but 바카라사이트re's a significant dip in 바카라사이트 middle," he said.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com.