This document discusses the analysis of academic social networking sites (SNS) and their impact on higher education, originating from e-learning research. It presents findings on the structure of academic networks, the role of discipline and position on connectivity, and insights from a pilot study conducted among Open University academics. The research suggests similarities in social structures across contexts and highlights the importance of SNS in academic identity development and collaboration.

1. 14/06/2013
Katy Jordan, The Open University
katy.jordan@open.ac.uk
@katy_jordan
Kaleidoscope Conference
31st May 2013
Reshaping the
Higher Education
network?
Analysis of
academic social
networking sites

2. +
Background
• Stems from my previous experience in e-learning
research in Higher Education
• Research context: Digital scholarship and how the
internet is changing Higher Education
(Weller, 2011; Nentwich & Konig, 2012)
• Social networking sites (SNS) are so popular that
they are synonymous with internet use for some
(Rainie & Wellman, 2012)
• First academic SNS in 2007, 3 years after
Facebook founded (Nentwich & Konig, 2012)

3. +
Defining academic SNS
“We define social network
sites as web-based services
that allow individuals to (1)
construct a public or semi-
public profile within a
bounded system, (2)
articulate a list of other
users with whom they share
a connection, and (3) view
and traverse their list of
connections and those
made by others within the
system.” (boyd &
Ellison, 2007).
0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
2500000
Numberofusers
Web rank
Academia.edu
ResearchGate.net
Mendeley.com
Lallslo.com
Mynetresearch.com
Iamresearcher.com
Academici.com

4. +
Affordances of academic SNS
• Identity: Constructing an online academic profile
– Almousa, 2011; Menendez, de Angeli &
Menestrina, 2012
• Communication: Discovery and dissemination of
research findings; asking and answering questions.
– Veletsianos, 2011
• Collaboration: Finding similar or different
collaborators; supporting active research
relationships.
– Jeng et al., 2012; Oh & Jeng, 2011

5. +
Initial research questions
• What is the structure of academic social
networks?
• To what extent do different academic social
networking sites foster similar networks?
• Do factors such as discipline or position correlate
with behaviour in the network?

6. +
Data collection
• Pilot study focused upon Open University
academics
• Mapped network of connections between OU-
affiliated academics on three main academic SNS
• Categorised according to position and discipline
• Survey carried out on a sub-sample to explore
perceptions about role of academic SNS and
follow up on differences in network structure
based on position and discipline

7. +
Visualizing the networks - discipline
Mendeley Academia.edu

8. +
Community structure
Historical & Philosophical Studies
Education
Biological Sciences
Social Studies
Computer Science
Business & Administration
Creative Arts & Design
Medicine related
Physical Sciences
Mathematics
Languages
Law
Linguistics, Classics & related
Engineering

9. +
Visualizing the networks - position
Mendeley

10. +
Visualizing the networks - position
Academia.edu

11. +
Connection and position in the
network
• Both degree and centrality showed significant
differences according to position
• More senior academics have a higher degree
and occupy a more central position in the network
0
10
20
30
40
Degree
Position
 = In degree
☐ = out degree

12. +
Survey results
Theme Item Subject Position Active
Communication
– posing and
answering
questions
Being able to ask questions of the online community is important
Academic SNS allow me to draw upon a wider community of expertise
when I need help
Communication
– academic
publications
Academic SNS are a good way of promoting my own academic publications
Academic SNS are a good way of finding out about new publications of
interest
Collaboration –
present and
future
Academic SNS are a useful way to support working in collaboration with
other researchers
Having a profile will enhance my future career prospects
Identity – how
academics view
the role of
profiles
Being part of an academic SNS is useful
My online academic and personal identities are separated
I see my profile as an online business card
I use my profile as a research journal
I actively interact with others via the site
Identity –
exploring
trends in
network
structure
I only follow people who I know personally
If someone follows me, I follow them back
I follow people who I would like to work with in the future
I follow people as a way of staying in touch with people I used to work with

13. +
Conclusions
• Provided an insight into the network structure
fostered by academic SNS
• Similarities with social network structures in other
contexts
• Subject area influential on community structure
• Seniority influential on position and connectivity
of individual nodes

14. +
Limitations and future work
• Three platforms but only one institution
• Academic SNS are only one of many types of
social media and online platforms
• Differences according to discipline and position
suggest a role in academic identity development
• Main study will focus not upon one platform, but a
sample of academics and their networked identity
across the variety of online channels they use

15. +
Acknowledgements
• Thanks to my supervisors, Professor Martin Weller
and Dr. Canan Blake.
• This work was made possible through a doctoral
studentship from the Centre for Research in
Education and Educational Technology at the Open
University, UK.
• Special thanks to all of the Open University
graduate students and academics who took part in
the pilot study.

16. +
References
• Almousa, O. (2011) Users’ classification and usage-pattern identification in academic
social networks. Proc. AEECT.
• boyd, d.m. & Ellison, N.B. (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13, 1, article 1.
• Jeng, W., He, D., Jiang, J. & Zhang, Y. (2012) Groups in Mendeley: Owners’ descriptions
and group outcomes. Proc. ASIST.
• Menendez, M., de Angeli, A. & Menestrina, Z. (2012) Chapter 4: Exploring the virtual
space of academia. In: J. Dugdale et al. (eds.) From research to practice in the design of
cooperative systems. Springer.
• Nentwich, M. & Konig, R.(2012) Cyberscience 2.0: Research in the age of digital social
networks. Campus Verlag.
• Oh, J.S. & Jeng, W. (2011) Groups in academic social networking services: An exploration
of their potential as a platform for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Proc. SocialCom.
• Rainie, L. & Wellman, B. (2012) Networked: The new social operating system. Cambridge:
MIT Press.
• Veletsianos, G. (2011), Higher education scholars' participation and practices on Twitter.
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 28(4), 336-349.
• Weller, M. (2011) The Digital Scholar: How technology is transforming scholarly practice.
London: Bloomsbury.