blogging to develop your career dr sarah-louise quinnell [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction …The effective use of social and participative media is increasingly
becoming a key requirement in 21st Century academic practice and professional development
This statement raises more questions than it answers:
How can you integrate these technologies in to academic practice?
What do you need to consider in designing & maintaining a professional identity online
Why should I be involved?
Stages of Research Process
1• Exploring Research Questions & Problems
2• Collecting & Managing Information
3• Networking & Collaboration
4 • Dissemination
This session isn’t about
“Monetising your blog” “Getting millions
of subscribers”
It is about ...
Platforms Features Steps Best Practice
The importance of an online presence ...
aka why should I bother?
What if your CV is not enough By Dr. Inger Mewburn RMIT University Australia
Reasons why you should be online:
There are a million and 1 research professionals already online
People will Google you anyway
It can lead to all sorts of opportunities
& most importantly ...
Recruiters are increasingly looking to online reputations to choose between candidates
My Online ExperienceActive profile since 2005 as
part of my PhD data collection
Post PhD involved in a range of online projects which led to ...
Jobs, consultancy, training, book contract, featured blogging etc
MY ONLINE PORTFOLIO
Thinking about blogging
Blog writing:
Cultural Identity
biography, citizen activism, journalism
Individual activity – personal, subjective, expressive
Writing skills:
Regularly – become disciplined
Informality – opportunities to explore different writing forms
Generality – conveying complex information to non specialists i.e. Promoting research to wider audience
Contexts:
Risk (free)? Shape ideas and formulate thoughts and concepts
Work in progress – raw material for thesis, conferences or journal papers
Emphasis on personal experiences / perspectives / opinions
Thought: Should you mix professional and personal
Blogging & Peer Review
Blogosphere – community of bloggers who read, link to and comment on other material – comments and pingbacks = to feedback and review
Traditional Forms of Peer Review – Formal support and feedback structures from experts and peers – limited in scope and frequency
Do Blogs stand on the boundary between research & wider communities?
Does Blogging circumnavigate or cheat the peer-review process?
Blogging: Process & Reflection
Narrative:
Journal style entry provides narrative structure i.e. doctoral process (following blogs)
Reflective:
Demonstration and documentation of process
Navigation:
searchable tool either chronologically by time or conceptually by category
Micro Blogging: Using Twitter to Support your Blogging Activities
@sarahthesheepu Me
@networkedres My blog supporting researchers
#phdchat useful twitter hashtag
10 ways academics can use twitter by Salma Patel
Twitter is Great for Networking
Online social networking, as a head start for face-to-face networking
Links
I get countless links about things I am interested in from people who know more about them than I do or look from a different perspective
Ask Questions ...Sometimes Google isn’t enough ...
You can use twitter to ask questions & get advice & support from a range of sources
Use # tags like #phdchat to connect with likeminded people
Listening In ...
When 2 or more people you are following are having a conversation their tweets can provide all sorts of information and ideas ...
PromotionTwitter generates an enormous amount of traffic to blogs – if people re-tweet your links, the views increase exponentially. Tweets can add to the discussion too ...
How I went from blog to print via twitter ...
Original article
THE Online article
LSE Blog
You need to give a little too ...
If you only use twitter for self-promotion people will tend to ignore you. You will get much more out of it if you become part of a community, tweet links to other blogs re-tweet etc
Digital Professionalism
You are a professional, you are marketing yourself and your work so there are some things you should share and others you shouldn’t:
Should you share personal photos
Should you be ‘friends’ with students or let them follow you on twitter?
Things to consider when establishing your online identity / what not to share ...
Ethical ConsiderationsNo Clear cut way of doing internet enquiries
Lateral surveillance or peer monitoring i.e. The work of watching one another has implications for how research is seen as supposed to traditional forms of observation
Professional identities and usernames – questions of trust & disclosure
Public, private or third space – is it private info in public space?
Audiences
Data ownership
Ethical considerations when using social media in research ...
Managing Your Digital Identity
Sarah-Lou – daughter, friend, dancer, agony aunt,
Dr. Sarah-Louise Quinnell – Academic, consultant, expert – grown-up
@sarahthesheepu – blogger, social media persona a combination of the two
http://www.theconversationprism.com/
Trademarks, copyright & IPR considerations
Summary ...
Plugged into the wider profession
Helps to ensure you are a reflective practioner
You never know where it might lead
It’s FUN
Useful Resources
#phdchat group on twitter & wiki
Post-doc forum
The Thesis whisperer
The Research Whisperer
Networked Researcher
PhD2Published
Phd-viva.com
The Guardian Higher Education Network
Social science space
Any Questions …