'Amplifier' Platforms and Impact: Australian Scholars' Use of 'The Conversation'
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| Title: | 'Amplifier' Platforms and Impact: Australian Scholars' Use of 'The Conversation' |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Osman, Kim, Cunningham, Stuart |
| Source: | Australian Universities' Review. 2020 62(1):41-50. |
| Availability: | National Tertiary Education Union. PO Box 1323, South Melbourne 3205, Australia. Tel: +61-3-92541910; Fax: +61-3-92541915; e-mail: editor@aur.org.au; Web site: http://www.aur.org.au |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 10 |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Educational Technology, Information Dissemination, Electronic Publishing, Research, Authors, Program Effectiveness, Higher Education, Writing for Publication, Evidence |
| Geographic Terms: | Australia |
| ISSN: | 0818-8068 |
| Abstract: | Digital and social media have grown exponentially to become highly influential spheres of public communication -- increasingly crowded, contested, and corrupted, and increasingly in need of scholarly engagement. Alternative metrics ('altmetrics') that are generated from social and digital media platforms have become more important as indicators of impact and engagement for scholars. In AUR 61/2, we reviewed the growth of amplifier platforms and the academic and contextual reasons for their growth. In this article, we investigate how scholars frame their practices of engagement and impact, how they use 'amplifier platforms', in particular "The Conversation," and to what extent institutions are supporting their staff in these activities. We find that scholars frame engagement and impact as an ethical imperative and place importance on evidence-based messaging; that they are not only interested in seeing their own research amplified, but in amplifying other quality research; that this benefits their other academic activities; that open access models promote republication and increase reach and engagement; and that institutional support for engaging on amplifier platforms is uneven and underdeveloped. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2020 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1244711 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Digital and social media have grown exponentially to become highly influential spheres of public communication -- increasingly crowded, contested, and corrupted, and increasingly in need of scholarly engagement. Alternative metrics ('altmetrics') that are generated from social and digital media platforms have become more important as indicators of impact and engagement for scholars. In AUR 61/2, we reviewed the growth of amplifier platforms and the academic and contextual reasons for their growth. In this article, we investigate how scholars frame their practices of engagement and impact, how they use 'amplifier platforms', in particular "The Conversation," and to what extent institutions are supporting their staff in these activities. We find that scholars frame engagement and impact as an ethical imperative and place importance on evidence-based messaging; that they are not only interested in seeing their own research amplified, but in amplifying other quality research; that this benefits their other academic activities; that open access models promote republication and increase reach and engagement; and that institutional support for engaging on amplifier platforms is uneven and underdeveloped. |
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| ISSN: | 0818-8068 |
