Blogging to Develop your career Dr Sarah-Louise Quinnell

Introduction … The effective use of social and participative media is increasingly becoming a key requirement in 21 st 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... PlatformsFeaturesStepsBest Practice

The importance of an online presence... aka why should I bother? What if your CV is not enough 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 Experience Active 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 Me 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...

Promotion Twitter 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 Things to consider when establishing your online identity / what not to share...what not to share...

Ethical Considerations No 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 – – blogger, social media persona a combination of the two

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 Post-doc forum The Thesis whisperer The Thesis whisperer The Research Whisperer The Research Whisperer Networked Researcher Networked Researcher PhD2Published Phd-viva.com The Guardian Higher Education Network The Guardian Higher Education Network Social science space Social science space

Any Questions …