Paper presented at International Data and Information Conference, 13 January 2016
Personal online reputation: the development of an approach to investigate how personal reputation is evaluated and managed in online environments
By Frances VC Ryan, Peter Cruickshank, Hazel Hall, and Alistair Lawson (Edinburgh Napier University)
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Personal online reputation: the development of an approach to investigate how personal reputation is evaluated and managed in online environments
1. Personal online reputation:
The development of an approach to investigate
how personal reputation is evaluated and
managed in online environments
by Frances VC Ryan
Presentation delivered at the
International Data and Information Management Conference
13th January 2016, Loughborough, England
Co-authors: Peter Cruickshank, Professor Hazel Hall, and Alistair Lawson
f.ryan@napier.ac.uk | @cleverfrances | www.JustAPhD.com
1
2. Overview of presentation
Brief overview of the research themes
Theoretical framework for empirical work
Evaluation of potential methods
Pilot testing chosen method
Findings from pilot
Conclusion and next steps
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3. What’s the research about?
How online information contributes to the building, maintenance,
and evaluation of personal reputations
― Personal reputation: Private individuals, rather than corporate identity and brand
Two broad research themes:
(1) The means by which people evaluate or assess the personal
reputations of others from the online evidence available to them
(2) How people manage their own personal reputations through their use
of online information, and to what extent those behaviours are intentional
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4. Developing a theoretical framework
for empirical work
Difficult: What literature should be considered?
1. General materials related to research themes across many domains
(e.g. Human resources, marketing, information systems, physical
and mental health)
2. Specific material on academic reputations evident in citation analysis
3. Contextual material from everyday life information seeking (ELIS)
studies
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5. Developing a theoretical framework
for empirical work
Difficult: Which literature should be considered?
1. General materials related to research themes across many domains
(e.g. Human resources, marketing, information systems, physical
and mental health)
2. Specific material on academic reputations evident in citation analysis
3. Contextual material from everyday life information seeking (ELIS)
studies
1 2 3 4
Lots of options:
- Quantitative
- Qualitative
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6. Developing a theoretical framework
for empirical work
Difficult: Which literature should be considered?
1. General materials related to research themes across many domains
(e.g. Human resources, marketing, information systems, physical
and mental health)
2. Specific material on academic reputations evident in citation analysis
3. Contextual material from everyday life information seeking (ELIS)
studies
1 2 3 4
Mostly Quantitative
1 2 3 4
7. Developing a theoretical framework
for empirical work
Difficult: Which literature should be considered?
1. General materials related to research themes across many domains
(e.g. Human resources, marketing, information systems, physical
and mental health)
2. Specific material on academic reputations evident in citation analysis
3. Contextual material from everyday life information seeking (ELIS)
studies
1 2 3 4
Largely Qualitative
1 2 3 4
8. How best to investigate both research themes?
The challenge? Establishing a way to examine both research themes
simultaneously
Qualitative methods deemed most appropriate
Semi-structured, in-depth interviews to discuss participants’ own
practices
Answering questions on evaluation of others proved more difficult
Four potential solutions …
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9. Option 1: Profile mock-ups
Create false user profiles
Information mimics situations
from literature
Participants review mock-ups
Interviews to discuss how
reputations are evaluated
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11. Option 3: Observation
Participants discuss evaluation
of others during interview
Participants interacting with
social media accounts with
interviewer present
Ethical issues regarding consent
from participants’ connections
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12. Option 4: Diaries and interviews
Participants keep diary for one
week
Simple instructions regarding
what to write about
No formatting guidelines
After diary, participants take part
in a semi-structured interview
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13. Best option: Diaries and interviews
Tradition in everyday life information seeking (ELIS) research
Rich data are reliable sources of information and eliminate the
potential for inaccurate reporting
(Narayan, Case, & Edwards, 2011, p. 3)
Several studies use a combination of diary-keeping and interviews
(Agosto & Hughes-Hassell, 2005; Dervin, 1983; McKenzie, 2003; Rieh, 2004)
Although studies vary, they share a common theme: combining the
robustness of two forms of data
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14. Testing the methods
Pilot study to test methods and process
Eight participants
Popular social networking sites
Participant diaries
Participants kept diary for one week as they engaged with their social media accounts
Interviews
After completing diaries, participants took part in hour-long, semi-structured interviews
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15. Findings
Two-part data collection method was a success
Participants were more aware of their actions and behaviours
Not a burdensome amount of work for participants
Produced a robust data set for analysis
Helped to identify minor changes for main study
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16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Appropriateness of methods
confirmed
Range of insights for main study
Helped to re-format interview
guides and coding system
Early indications show new
themes emerging
Pilot success!
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17. Next steps
Main empirical work
Sample of 45+ participants
Gen Y, Gen X, and Boomers
Data analysis
Thesis write-up
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Two main themes:
How people build and create their OWN identities and reputations
How they evaluate or assess the reputations of others
Information science – including citation analysis and everyday life information seeking
However! Much of the literature is dispersed across a number of other domains
Information science – including citation analysis and everyday life information seeking
However! Much of the literature is dispersed across a number of other domains
Information science – including citation analysis and everyday life information seeking
However! Much of the literature is dispersed across a number of other domains
Information science – including citation analysis and everyday life information seeking
However! Much of the literature is dispersed across a number of other domains
The idea that online and offline worlds have merged to create a “real world” is becoming an accepted concept
But there is not a consensus on how or why the amalgamation happens.
Hongladarom argues that the blurring between online and offline environments occurs as individuals project themselves onto social media and social networking sites.
He also suggests that there is essentially no difference between individuals’ online and offline selves because of this, thus causing them to merge into one “real world”.
Other studies have indicated that some individuals intentionally transfer their offline activities and interactions to online environments (Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010, p. 1294).
However, Craig and Ludloff (2011) suggest that some of the blurring between online and offline worlds happens not because of individuals’ specific desires to share information about their offline worlds online, but rather the convenience of conducting some of their activities online.
They argue that individuals trade personal information about themselves for the conveniences of services including ecommerce, instant messaging/communication, and connecting with others through networking sites (Craig & Ludloff, 2011, pp. 1-4). This is not necessarily due to an intentional desire to merge the two worlds.
Anecdotal evidence asking about online/offline by HR managers and social media users alike.
But we know that these gaps align with some of the “big questions” related to information science research.
Specifically:
How do people relate to, seek, and use information?
(Bates, 1999, p. 6)
How do we handle ideas and knowledge, both our own and other people’s?
(Howkins, 2009, p. 1)