Post or Perish? – Scholarly Communication Practices on Social Media in Times of Deep Mediatization

Abstract

the rise of the internet and social media has introduced profound changes to (media-related) practices and communication strategies to accumulate power in the field of science. These are often described as the result of a (deep) mediatization of science with the CoVid-19 pandemic accelerating the effects of (deep) mediatization further. The aim of this paper is to identify field-specific social media practices to accumulate capital in the field of science and analyze how they have been changed in the wake of (deep) mediatization processes. The paper does so by using the concept of field-specific mediatization as a theoretical basis. The empirical part of the study builds on 55 qualitative interviews with German-speaking scholars that were conducted in 2016. It compares their description of social media usage and communication strategies to accumulate power to scholarly practices currently conducted under the influence of the pandemic as described in the literature. The results of the analysis show that scholars accumulate capital by networking (social capital), accessing and sharing information and publications (cultural capital) and increasing their visibility (symbolic capital). Due to field-specific processes of mediatization of the field, external communication has become more important and internal communication has gained a more personal quality. Overall, formerly clear-cut boundaries of internal and external target groups as well as personal and professional spheres have become more blurred and pressure connected to visibility enhanced.

WhatsApp — what’s that?

“…Prioritizing as they do the use of social media for their research, scholars seek to achieve four main objectives when turning to social networking sites: (a) achieving visibility and promoting their work for reputation building and career development purposes; (b) networking and communicating with like‐minded scholars and even lay people, as well as attaining a sense of belonging to a community; (c) information sharing, consulting with others and keeping up with developments; (d) increasing and showcasing the impact of their work (Chugh et al, 2021; Delfanti, 2021; Francke & Hammarfelt, 2022; Jordan, 2019a; McKenna, 2022; Thiele & Luethje, 2022). In meeting these needs of scholars, as Francke and Hammarfelt (2022) contend, social media sites thus play an important role in the academic publishing ecosystem.…”

Beyond the News Media Logic? Analyzing the Social Media Orientation of University Leadership

“…In the last decade, however, the role of digital and social media for the public communication of scientists and universities has increased. More and more researchers use social media to disseminate their research results to diverse publics, connect with other researchers, share and discuss ideas, and enhance their visibility and reputation within and beyond the scientific community (Yeo and Brossard 2017;König 2020;Thiele and Luethje 2021). However, this use of social media differs between countries and disciplines, with many researchers remaining reluctant to use social media due to a lack of time or incentives (König 2020;Koivumäki and Wilkinson 2022).…”