Participation (module II, week 2)

Dean Giustini, UBC librarian | dean.giustini@ubc.ca | LIBR559M January 2016

What is the role of participation ….in social networks?

Participation module, part I

• What motivates us to participate in social networks?• How would you categorize your involvement online:

• as observer? participant? content creator? • What is optimal for information professionals?• Participatory cultures (Jenkins) & new media literacies

Themes tonight, part II (6-9pm)• Guest speaker: Allan Cho on YouTube as platform• Social media as a ‘platforms of participation’• Goffman & Granovetter (theories) of staging/”ties”

• Self-presentation vs. library presentation(s)Break 7pm

• Announcements re: SLAIS events & social media• Cool or innovative uses of social media

• Blog (posts), wiki entries, other examples

Participatory cultures are contingent…

“…to participate requires knowing how to provide contributions and predicated on knowledge about reach, content & extent of membership …

[as well as normative] behaviours and concerns …in some senses, a ‘collaborative culture’ is synonymous with a ‘participatory culture….’

— Caroline Haythornthwaite, 2009

The vital role of mobile devices

— Mobile devices (e.g., smart phones, iPhones, Droids, etc.) are everywhere, and they facilitate participation. As Krämer says, "…everything

we say about the world is known with the help of media…" (1998).

— Jenkins (2013) says use of social media on mobiles is how young people participate.

Rather than viewing Facebook and Twitter platforms in isolation, Jenkins suggests taking ecosystem approach to uncover relationships

between media and the birth of communities….

Participation “ladder” start with listen

All the world's a stage …and all of us are merely players…

Do you like centre stage or backstage? What is optimal (for you)?

Pearson E. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks”

First Monday, 2009.Discuss article (10-12 mins, each group report back)

Pearson paper (structure)

IntroductionPerforming identity and performanceThe glass bedroom and other metaphorsPerformance and social tiesPerformance as discourseConclusion: Discursive performance and identity management

“…in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman outlines six (6) aspects of social interaction that constitute dramaturgy: the performances, teams, region, discrepant roles,

communication out of character and impression management. Goffman presents them as a means of studying social life in organizations from a theatrical perspective: “look at the way individuals present themselves to others {at work} … how they guide and control impressions formed and the kinds of things they may /may not do while sustaining their performances”

As quoted in: Quinn B. "A dramaturgical perspective on academic libraries." portal: Libraries and the Academy 5.3 (2005): 329-352.

Goffman & library performance

Librarians & FacebookAhmed et al. Should librarians friend their patrons? Ref User Serv Q.

2013;53(1):9-12. http://rusa.metapress.com/content/k043613004l864up/The article presents a debate about whether it is acceptable for library staff to connect with patrons using social media; addresses imbalance between professional and home life in social media; institutional rules and cultures about interacting with patrons and libraries; match or “non-match” in social networking…

Chen et al. Interaction between libraries and library users on Facebook. Research Symposium,

CITERS 2011, University of Hong Kong, 2011.

”…in the public psyche, a librarian is a woman of indeterminate age, who wears spectacles; a person with a timorous or austere disposition,

wearing a blouse buttoned to the neck; someone who loves silence, books and suffers people. Librarians don’t laugh…they are covered with a film of

dust, they have pale skin, which, when touched (as if one ever could) might flake and prove to be reptilian... — Bowes, 1979

Countering ‘negative’ identity narratives

“…an enduring caricature of early male librarians consisted of the “bibliophile …a pale, undernourished man who lived

for books. Others include …the effeminate misfit, weak, non-masculine” — Arant, 2013. Image and role of the librarian.

• Each class, we can open the floor to share examples of the innovative uses of social media we have come across.

• This could be about anything, even uses of social media that cause us to question our assumptions.

• This will also be the opportunity to share our blog or wiki entries with each other.

Cool or innovative uses of social media

Several librarian blogs deal with identity, marketing and images of librarians:

• Lipstick Librarian http://www.lipsticklibrarian.com • Mr. Library Dude https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com • Libraries at the Movies http://librariesatthemovies.blogspot.com • Reel Librarians http://reel-librarians.com

Archivist blog:• Kate Theimer ArchivesNext http://www.archivesnext.com/

Cool or innovative uses of social media

Surveillance & social media

Albrechtslund A. Online social networking as participatory surveillance. First Monday. 2008;13:3.

Social invisibility….a choice but not for all!

Social invisibility….is a form of marginalization

What are the benefits of participation in social networks?

For ourselves...

Our work

Our profession...

Our organizations, libraries and archives?

The benefits of participation

Encourage two-way interactions

Share information, ideas & knowledge

(Re)define archivist & librarian narratives

Embed information professionals where users are located...to form online communities & strong ties

Take our place fully in the digital age