This short paper presentation at 12th IADIS International Conference on Information Systems (IS 2019) argues for the need for discussion on the role social media could have in the research life cycle, particularly for Information Systems (IS) scholars. ICTs are pervasive, and their societal impact is profound. Various disciplines including those of social sciences are present in the online discourse and join the public debate on societal implications of ICTs and scholar are familiar with web tools for publishing. Information Systems scholars could not only further explore the possibilities for joining that online discourse, but also could explore the potential social media may have for activities related to the research life cycle. In this paper we do not focus solely on social media as a data collection source but regard their merits as a channel for scholarly communication throughout the whole research life cycle, from the start of getting inspired to conduct a research, finding collaboration partners or funding, through suggestions for literature, to the stage of research dissemination and creating impact beyond the own scientific community. This paper contributes an original approach to research communication by combining the research life cycle with practical insights of how social media can be applied throughout each phase of that lifecycle. We conclude with some questions debating the stance that (future) IS scholars are prepared to become the digital scholar that can manoeuvre well on social media for scholarly communication.

1. Reflections On Social Media Use Along
The Academic Research Life Cycle
12th IADIS International Conference on Information Systems
(IS 2019) 12th April 2019
Anand Sheombar
HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands
E-mail anand.sheombar@hu.nl
#IADIS
@anandstweets

2. Information Systems and Society
2
Information Systems are researched by IS researchers and their research is
traditionally communicated via certain (nowadays mostly digital) communication
channels. How about not only using information Systems as the subject of
research but as a means for research communication, by using social media?

3. Contents
 Social Media
 Scholarly Communication
 Academic Research Life Cycle
 Using Social Media for Scholarly (aka
Research) Communication throughout the
Academic Research Life Cycle
3

4. Global Internet & Social Media Use
4Source: (We Are Social, 2019)

5. Social Media Coverage Per Region
5
Source: (We Are Social, 2019)

6. Active Users per Social Media Platform
6
Source: (We Are Social, 2019)

7. Defining Social Media
• The terms social media, social networks (SNSs) and
web 2.0 are often interchangeable (Parameswaran,
2007; Iriberri & Leroy, 2009; Zuniga & White, 2009).
• Definitions share the same characteristics: openness,
participation, conversation, connectedness and
community. (Mayfield, 2008; Fuchs 2013).
• Definition adopted for this study (Mayfield, 2008; Fuchs
2013)
Social media is defined as a techno-social system for
participatory culture, having characteristics like:
openness, participation, conversation, connectedness
and community.
7

8. Examples of
Research (related)
Communication….
8

9. Scholarly Communication
 The system through which research and other
scholarly writings are created, evaluated for
quality, disseminated to the scholarly
community, and preserved for future use.
 The system includes both formal means of
communication, such as publication in peer-
reviewed journals, and informal channels, such
as electronic listservs. (ACRL, 2016).
 Social media may change this communication:
 new media formats are replicating previous
systems,
 tools present new ways of communicating
Mollett et al. (2017) 9

10. The Academic Research Life Cycle
10
Mollet et al. (2017)
Encompasses all activities of
academic scholars (& research
groups).
Includes research and publication
activities usually associated with
scholarly communication: creation,
publication, dissemination, and
discovery of a piece of scholarly
research.
Also includes, pre-scholarly
communication explorative
activities, (offline) social
networking, or teaching activities.

11. ‘Traditional’ Channels for
Scholarly Communication
11
Source Das, Anup Kumar (2015). Scholarly Communications
[Open Access]. Paris: UNESCO, ISBN: 9789231000782.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000231938

12. Social Media Use for Research?
 A majority (63.4%) of researchers use tools in only one
or two categories:
 social networking, blogging, microblogging, collaborative authoring,
social tagging and bookmarking, scheduling and meeting tools,
conferencing, or image or video sharing
 Collaborative authoring most popular, followed by
conferencing, and scheduling meetings (Nicholas and
Rowlands, 2011)
 Drivers : personal initiative, the technological
developments and the need for speed
 Perceived benefits: international collaboration, faster
dissemination and collaboration of people outside
academia.
 Social media presence may influence the researcher's
citations (Terras, 2012). 12

13. Building Blocks of the Networked
Scholar
13
 Goodier and
Czerniewicz (2013)
adapted functional
building blocks of social
media by Kietzmann et
al. (2011)
 to present goals for
academics’ online
presence consisting of
seven building blocks of
the networked scholar

14. Combining the Social Media Building
Blocks for the Networked Scholar
with the Research Life Cycle
14
Combining but not all social media activities/building
blocks necessarily occur during all stages of the
research life cycle…

15. Academic Research Life Cycle Combined with
Social Media for Research Communication
15
Amalgamation of academic research life cycle adapted from Mollet et al. (2017) with the most prominent networked scholar
building blocks per phase from Goodier and Czerniewicz (2013), and examples of social media use.

16. Summary
 This paper does not focus solely on social media
as a data collection source but regard their merits
as a channel for scholarly communication
throughout the whole research life cycle, -there
may be associations with Open Science – although
that’s not the focus of this short paper.
 from the start of getting inspired to conduct a
research, finding collaboration partners or
funding, through suggestions for literature, to
the stage of research dissemination and creating
impact beyond the own scientific community.
 The IS researcher can add social media practices
to the repertoire needed as a digital scholar. 16

17. Useful Tool: The Message Box
Communicating Your Science Effect
17
COMPASS Science Communication, Inc. (2017). The Message
Box Workbook. https://www.compassscicomm.org/

18. Example Blog on How To Use Social
Media for Research Communication
18
https://medium.com/communicating-science-with-social-media

19. Examples Blog, Twitter,
Podcast, YouTube
19

20. How to start?
 Look at examples in your research field
 Try, Test, Start Small
 Beware of online harassment or ‘trolling’
[Initially, block them! as a way of protecting yourself]
 Begin with social media use in one or two
steps of the Research Life Cycle, which
provide quick low-hanging fruit to you as
individual research or your research group.
20

21. Finally…
 Are (next generation) IS researchers as digital
scholars well prepared and equipped with the
necessary skills to effectively make use of
social media for research and scholarly
communication in a dynamic society?
 The impact and (questioning of) value of
scientific knowledge are causing public
debates where scholars should be prepared
for.
21

22. 22
E-mail anand.sheombar@hu.nl
Twitter @anandstweets
Social Media for socio-economic/international Development Facebook group:
www.facebook.com/groups/SoMe4D
Regarding that black hole photo….