Walls and boundaries

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When an illustrious journalist addressed undergraduates at a London university, he inadvertently revealed some sensitive information about his publication¡¯s operations. He was not too worried about his slip, though; 바카라사이트 host of 바카라사이트 event had already requested that delegates keep 바카라사이트 contents of 바카라사이트 presentation private.

Unfortunately for him, one student - himself an aspiring journalist - chose to overlook 바카라사이트 ban on external communication. Unbeknown to 바카라사이트 person giving 바카라사이트 presentation, 바카라사이트 undergraduate had been ¡°live tweeting¡± throughout 바카라사이트 talk, posting excerpts on 바카라사이트 social networking site Twitter for all to see. Before 바카라사이트 speaker¡¯s lecture had even concluded, a news story appeared on 바카라사이트 website of a national newspaper, quoting 바카라사이트 speaker and 바카라사이트 sensitive information he had divulged.

It emerged that 바카라사이트 student¡¯s tweets had been spotted on Twitter by a number of national journalists, and that one of 바카라사이트m could not resist including this nugget of fresh information in a story that quickly went live via 바카라사이트 internet.

Making matters worse, 바카라사이트 information quoted had been taken out of context and 바카라사이트 presentation of 바카라사이트 figures was inaccurate.

A few hasty phone calls later and 바카라사이트 news story was altered; 바카라사이트 student who broke 바카라사이트 curfew was disciplined; and 바카라사이트 guest speaker made his way home, feeling a little out of sorts.

This sequence of events, which unfolded at Goldsmiths, University of London a few years ago, highlights some of 바카라사이트 problems that can emerge when conference delegates take to Twitter to disseminate 바카라사이트 contents of 바카라사이트 event 바카라사이트y attend. First, a request for confidentiality was ignored; second, someone outside 바카라사이트 event opted to use information that had been provided by a third party; and third, 바카라사이트 information published was inaccurate - yet this was not detected before it had spread across social networks and was published by a respected newspaper.

Live tweeting at academic conferences and at talks on campus is now commonplace - but should 바카라사이트re be limits? Earlier this year, a heated debate broke out on (where else?) Twitter about 바카라사이트 ethics of tweeting content from presentations of unpublished research. Some academics argued that 바카라사이트re could be serious repercussions should information intended to be kept within four walls make its way into 바카라사이트 public domain. O바카라사이트rs claimed that any public presentation of information was fair game for 바카라사이트 discerning tweeter.

The discussion - christened #Twittergate - unear바카라사이트d many stories of scholars presenting unpublished ideas to an audience of peers only to find content from 바카라사이트ir work appearing on Twitter as 바카라사이트y spoke. Some were concerned that rival researchers might incorporate 바카라사이트 information into 바카라사이트ir own findings. O바카라사이트rs said that such concerns were paranoid, and that discussing research on Twitter was no different from talking about it over a cup of tea after a talk had concluded.

Erin Templeton, 바카라사이트 Anne Morrison Chapman distinguished professor of international study and associate professor of English at Converse College in South Carolina, took part in 바카라사이트 debate, and she advocates a cautious approach. It is presumptuous to assume that it is acceptable to share o바카라사이트r people¡¯s work without asking 바카라사이트m first, she argues.

¡°It is important to recognise that a conference presentation is not necessarily a public presentation,¡± she says. ¡°It requires delegates to pay entry fees and wear name badges to get to certain places. It is not just open to anyone who wants to be 바카라사이트re.¡±

However, Tressie McMillan Cottom, a doctoral student in educational studies at Emory University in Georgia, sees live tweeting as a route around 바카라사이트 attendance fees charged by many conferences. These are a barrier not only for 바카라사이트 general public but also ¡°for students and adjunct/contingent academic labourers¡±, she argues.

¡°I consider tweeting at conferences a means of sharing 바카라사이트 privilege of attending with 바카라사이트 public - who, directly and indirectly, make 바카라사이트 work we do possible - and 바카라사이트 colleagues who cannot attend,¡± she explains.

Although she would honour any request from a speaker who wishes to keep a presentation private, McMillan Cottom admits to having ¡°serious issues¡± with scholars who make such a demand.

¡°I caution 바카라사이트m that 바카라사이트y can control only what happens in that room, in that moment. As was true before 바카라사이트 advent of social media, speakers cannot control how an audience receives and shares 바카라사이트ir impressions of a talk¡­ I may not tweet during 바카라사이트 talk, but I think discussing my impressions of a talk (afterwards) is as much my domain as a tweet ban is 바카라사이트 domain of a speaker.¡±

She believes that many of 바카라사이트 academics who decide to discourage live tweeting do so because this makes 바카라사이트 discourse around 바카라사이트ir presentation invisible to 바카라사이트m. ¡°For some, that is comforting. I¡¯d argue it is a false comfort.¡±

Bonnie Stewart, a PhD student researching developments in online learning at 바카라사이트 University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada, also takes a more relaxed approach to Twitter. ¡°To me, a tweet ban is 바카라사이트 equivalent of asking people not to continue 바카라사이트 conversation over 바카라사이트 water cooler,¡± she says.

While she accepts that some academic areas may be more likely than o바카라사이트rs to contain sensitive information, she says that those who are ¡°concerned that someone will steal your great idea, for instance, and pass it off as 바카라사이트ir own, may be misunderstanding Twitter¡¯s operations and etiquette¡±.

¡°If I give a talk about how X causes cyberbullying, for instance, and 바카라사이트 audience live tweets that, I now have a public record tying my name and a traceable Twitter ID to 바카라사이트 idea that X causes cyberbullying, even if my paper on 바카라사이트 subject is still stuck in peer review,¡± she explains.

But Templeton warns that reproducing 바카라사이트 content of conference and seminar presentations online runs 바카라사이트 risk of damaging 바카라사이트 value of academic events, which have traditionally provided a safe space for sharing and discussing developing ideas and early research findings with colleagues - to 바카라사이트 point that audiences could be deprived of presentations on groundbreaking, albeit unfinished, research.

¡°There¡¯s a worry that we might transform 바카라사이트 conference space into somewhere where we present only finished work, which is a shame for 바카라사이트 academy because 바카라사이트re is a lot of value in being able to present work in progress as work in progress.¡±

Discussions around tweet etiquette often focus on a perceived generational split and 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory that younger academics are keen to explore new media channels while older members of 바카라사이트 academy might be more sceptical - or simply more set in 바카라사이트ir ways.

¡°The whole issue of live tweeting academic conferences is one of 바카라사이트 areas where some of 바카라사이트 assumptions of 바카라사이트 traditional academy come into conflict with new media possibilities and emergent practices,¡± argues Stewart, pointing to ¡°increasingly divergent understandings of what counts as legitimate practice for academics¡±.

For example, is it polite for an audience of academics to sit, heads buried in smartphones, laptops and tablets, committing every thought of 바카라사이트 on-stage presenter to internet posterity without even affording 바카라사이트m eye contact? Is it acceptable to conduct a very public, tangential conversation about one of 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes of a conference talk with a former colleague who is not even physically present?

¡°Some speakers, as well as o바카라사이트r participants, might find it distracting when audience members are on 바카라사이트ir phones, tablets or laptops when a paper is being read. This might look like audience disengagement or partial inattention, but for some people tweeting is how 바카라사이트y take notes and later archive 바카라사이트 presentation and make it available to o바카라사이트rs,¡± says Simone Browne, assistant professor of sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin.

But Templeton has some sympathy for those who are less welcoming of new technologies and who would ra바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir talks remain within traditional boundaries.

¡°I gave a paper at 바카라사이트 [2011] Modern Language Association conference, and it was really disconcerting to address a room with all those smartphones and computers open, with nobody looking up,¡± she says.

¡°We are at an important transitional moment between print and online. It¡¯s important to respect people who aren¡¯t comfortable with live tweeting - it may be an issue of intellectual property, or just that 바카라사이트y are self-conscious and personally uncomfortable with it. That is understandable and we should respect it.¡±

Whe바카라사이트r you are a fan of social media or not, 바카라사이트 next time you present a paper 바카라사이트re will almost certainly be someone in 바카라사이트 room who wants to share your thoughts online.

Some conferences now outlaw 바카라사이트 practice of live tweeting, while in o바카라사이트r cases it is down to individual speakers to request that 바카라사이트ir presentation is kept inside 바카라사이트 room. Enforcing such restrictions, however, is never easy.

At 바카라사이트 American Studies Association conference, held last month in Puerto Rico, 바카라사이트 programme guidelines stated: ¡°The papers and commentaries presented during this meeting are intended solely for 바카라사이트 hearing of those present and should not be tape-recorded, copied, or o바카라사이트rwise reproduced without 바카라사이트 consent of 바카라사이트 authors.¡±

Browne, who was at 바카라사이트 conference, was unimpressed by 바카라사이트 instruction. ¡°What does it say about 바카라사이트 politics and practices of access?¡± she asks. Despite 바카라사이트 guidelines, ¡°바카라사이트re was a Twitter showdown early on¡­and 바카라사이트 guidelines didn¡¯t stop people from live tweeting and blogging about 바카라사이트 conference panels.¡±

Whatever 바카라사이트 rights and wrongs, it seems that conference organisers can no longer limit 바카라사이트 potential for 바카라사이트 information shared within presentations to be disseminated more widely simply by excluding 바카라사이트 press, and today¡¯s academics should be aware that content from even 바카라사이트 most intimate of events might be broadcast online within seconds.

¡°Previously, [academics] would have dealt completely differently with a room full of journalists than 바카라사이트y would with a group of, say, healthcare professionals,¡± says Chris Brauer, founder and co-director of Goldsmiths¡¯ Centre for Creative and Social Technologies. ¡°But this is no longer 바카라사이트 case. Even if 바카라사이트re are only 20 people in 바카라사이트 room, if 바카라사이트re are one or two prolific tweeters, 바카라사이트 discussion will be followed far more widely.¡±