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Introduction Survey 1: Tenure and Promotion Survey 2: GRAND Communication Networks For Further Information This poster presents our ongoing work to determine the usage trends of online social media (OSM) for academic purposes. Method Survey 1: Online Social Media Usage 315 responses (Oct. 2010 – Jan. 2011) American Society for Information Science and Technology Association of Internet Researchers International Network for Social Network Analysis Survey 2: Network Assessment and Validation for Effective Leadership 101 responses (Summer 2010) Graphics, Animation and New Media research network (GRAND) Researchers within the GRAND network primarily rely on emails to communicate with colleagues OSM tools are still underutilized Survey 1: OSM Usage by Age Groups Most respondents stated that OSM activity is not currently considered as a component of the merit or tenure review process If OSM activity is considered, it is listed as activity or service within the community Most respondents believe an OSM activity should be considered if it has been peer reviewed More information on this and related projects can be found at www.SocialMediaLab.ca Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many volunteers who participated in our surveys and for the input from the other members of the Social Media Lab including Philip Mai, Kathleen Staves, and Amanda Wilk as well as the Netlab members including Dr.Barry Wellman, Dima Dimitrova, Guang Ying Mo and Zack Hayat. Funding for this project was provided by the NCE GRAND and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). * Based on the top two primary OSM tools for professional use Rates of usage across age groups are fairly consistent except when dealing with blogs In the age group 30-34, blogs were the most popular form of OSM 1% 23% 30% 17% 16% 7% 2% 12% 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 % Users Age Group Twitter Blogs Listserv Academic Social Networks Non-Academic Social Networks Online Document Management Video/tele Conferencing Wikis Survey 1: OSM Usage by Tools Survey 1: Dis/Advantages of OSM Use Anatoliy Gruzd ([email protected]) & Melissa Goertzen ([email protected]) School of Information Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada Listserv groups are still the primary means of communication Blogging and microblogging are becoming more popular Virtual worlds, social bookmarking and presentation sharing sites are used the least Advantages Disadvantages Keep up to date with topics Time consuming Discover new ideas or publications Distracting from other duties Follow other researchers’ work Threat of negative exposure Make new research contacts Technological challenges Promote current work/research Copyright concerns Collaborate with other researchers Too accessible by the public Solicit advice from peers Maintain professional image Publish findings Discover new funding opportunities Garner mass media attention Survey 1: Some Future Trends Files & Documents Sharing OSM meets References Management Academic Social Networking
