TEMPLATE DESIGN © 2008
www.PosterPresentations.com
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
% U
sers
Age Group
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
File
s &
Do
cum
ents
Sh
arin
g
OS
M m
eets
Ref
eren
ces
Man
agem
ent
Aca
dem
ic S
oci
al
Net
wo
rkin
g
