Akademiska samtal på sociala medier : Umeåforskarnas digitala vetenskapskommunikation

This paper investigates the patterns of informal scholarly communication on social media as they manifest themselves among scholars at Umeå University. A survey was sent out to the university’s scholars, from PhD students all the way through to professors, and received 747answers from a total of 2646 requests. The survey gathered background data, data on how scholars build and maintain their academic networks via social media, and data on scholars’ use of social media for seeking information. The data thus gathered was interpreted through a comparative analysis. The main hypothesis was that, following the work of Tony Becher and Paul R. Trowler, the various faculties of the university would constitute distinguishable ”tribes” with their own customs regarding using social media for academic purposes. The data was furthermore analysed looking for patterns of use by gender, by academic position, and by the firmness of that position – or, putting it more plainly, job security. The analysis revealed that in terms of networking, the relevant variables were those of gender and academic position, with women being more avid social media networkers than men, and more junior scholars more avid than their seniors. However, in terms of the actual social networks used, there was a distinct tendency for humanist scholars to use Facebook which set them apart from the other three faculties. In terms of information seeking, there was again a finding of the more junior scholars leading the way, but also a clear indication of differences rooted in faculties. The humanist scholars were found to be by some distance more inclined to both seek information on social media, and to help others seeking it on social media, compared to the other faculties. The medical scholars, by contrast, were also by some distance the least inclined to both seeking and helping. As above, the humanists had a marked preference for using Facebook when seeking information through social media