Assessing the available and accessible evidence: How personal reputations are determined

and managed online

by Frances VC Ryan

Presentation delivered at the

Information: Interactions and Impact (i³) Conference

24th June 2015, Aberdeen, Scotland

Co-authors: Professor Hazel Hall, Alistair Lawson, and Peter Cruickshank

f.ryan@napier.ac.uk | @cleverfrances | www.JustAPhD.com

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Let’s chat about …

Overview Domains of study Key terms Key themes Evidence The gaps Research questions Next steps

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© Andy Wright

What’s it all about?

How online information contributes to the building and assessment of personal reputations

How people manage their own personal reputations through their use of online information

The means by which people evaluate the personal reputations of others from the online evidence available to them

– Personal reputation: Private individuals, rather than corporate identity and brand

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Where’s the literature found?

(Almost) Everywhere!

Information science Computing Employment research Human-computer interaction Human resources management Information systems Management and organisational studies Marketing Media and communication studies Physical and mental health

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© GotCredit

Created by the individual that the identity represents – and others

Different presentations of self for different audiences

“Representations of self/selves” that individuals create for or about themselves

Key terms: Identity

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© Red Rose Exile

© José Luís Agapito

Key terms: Reputation

Everyone has (at least) one!

Determined by others based on the information available to them

The personal opinions and character judgements one individual has for another

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© Martin Tews

© Sarah Reid

Key terms: “Real world”

Blurred lines

Intentional transfer of offline activities to online environments

Trading information for online conveniences

If you’re not online, are you real?

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© Frances Ryan

Key themes in the literature

Information sharing

Information quality and accuracy

Employment and career opportunities

Friends and friends-of-friends

“Real names”, pseudonyms,and anonymity

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© Frances Ryan

What does the literature tell us?

Employers conduct social media reviews pre- and post-employment

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© Frances Ryan

What does the literature tell us?

Friends and friends-of-friends can impact reputation

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What does the literature tell us?

“Real names” and anonymity are key debates

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© Frances Ryan

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At least some self-regulation and censorship by individuals

What does the literature tell us?

© Horatio3K

Mind the gap! (1)

To what extent are individuals evaluating the reputations of others based on the information found about them online?

What processes do individuals follow to identify and collect online information about others?

How is online information about individuals rated, assessed, or validated for the purposes of reputation evaluation?

To what extent does the quality of information collected impact the determination of individuals’ reputations?

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Mind the gap! (2)

How do individuals manage online information regarding their combined professional and private reputations?

How do individuals manage their online and offline reputations as one “real world” reputation?

To what extent do individuals feel more or less free or restricted because of the blurred lines between their online and offline worlds?

To what extent do individuals actively monitor their online footprints for the purpose of reputation management? If so, how and to what extent?

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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)

Alignment with some “big questions”

© Frances Ryan

The research questions

How do individuals build identities for themselves online?

How do individuals use online information to build and manage their reputations?

How do individuals asses the identities and reputations of others based on the information available to them online?

To what extent are individuals actively practicing identity and reputation building and assessment online?

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Next steps

Pilot study being designed

Scope and test possible approaches for main study

Largely qualitative work

Preliminary results expected by end of summer

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© Frances Ryan

© Frances Ryan

Let’s chat about …

Sample for main study

Potential secondary methods of investigation

Other thoughts on the literature or doctoral investigation

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© Andy Wright

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Indicative bibliography

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Ausloos, J. (2012). The “Right to be forgotten”: Worth remembering? Computer Law & Security Review, 28(2), 143–152. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2012.01.006

Bates, M. J. (1999). The invisible substrate of information science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(12), 1043–1050. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:12<1043::AID-ASI1>3.3.CO;2-O

Cronin, B. & Askins, H.B. (2000). The web of knowledge: a festschrift in honor of Eugene Garfield. Medford, NJ: Information Today

Duguay, S. (2014). “He has a way gayer Facebook than I do”: Investigating sexual identity disclosure and context collapse on a social networking site. New Media & Society, 1–17. doi:10.1177/1461444814549930

Fieseler, C., Meckel, M., & Ranzini, G. (2014). Professional personae: How organizational identification shapes online identity in the workplace. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 1–18. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12103

Finocchiaro, G. & Ricci, A. (2013). Quality of information, the right to oblivion, and digital reputation. In B. Custers, T. Calders, B. Schermer, & T. Zarsky (Eds.), Discrimination and Privacy in the Information Society (Vol. 3, pp. 289–299). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-30487-3

Greidanus, E. & Everall, R. D. (2010). Helper therapy in an online suicide prevention community. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 38(2), 191–204. doi:10.1080/03069881003600991

Howkins, J. (2009). Creative ecologies: Where thinking is a proper job. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.

Kluemper, D. H. & Rosen, P. A. (2009). Future employment selection methods: Evaluating social networking web sites. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24(6), 567–580. doi:10.1108/02683940910974134

Lingel, J. & boyd, d. (2013). “Keep it secret, keep it safe”: Information poverty, information norms, and stigma. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 64(5), 981–991. doi:10.1002/asi.22800

Madera, J. M. (2012). Using social networking websites as a selection tool: The role of selection process fairness and job pursuit intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1276–1282. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.03.008

Mesch, G. S. & Beker, G. (2010). Are norms of disclosure of online and offline personal information associated with the disclosure of personal information online? Human Communication Research, 36(4), 570–592. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01389.x

Ollier-Malaterre, A., Rothbard, N. P., & Berg, J. M. (2013). When worlds collide in cyberspace: How boundary work in online social networks impacts professional relationships. Academy of Management Review, 38(4), 645–669. doi:10.5465/amr.2011.0235

Savolainen, R. (2008). Everyday information practices: a social phenomenological perspective. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Uski, S. & Lampinen, A. (2014). Social norms and self-presentation on social network sites: Profile work in action. New Media & Society, 1–18. doi:10.1177/1461444814543164

Vaast, E. (2007). Playing with masks: Fragmentation and continuity in the presentation of self in an occupational online forum. Information Technology & People, 20(4), 334–351. doi:10.1108/09593840710839789

Van Dijck, J. (2013). “You have one identity”: Performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn. Media, Culture & Society, 35(2), 199–215. doi:10.1177/0163443712468605

Copyright attributionsSlides 2 & 18: Creative commons copyright Andy Wright (www.flickr.com/rightee)

Slide 4: Creative commons copyright GotCredit (www.flickr.com/jakerust)

Slide 5: Creative commons copyright (1) José Luís Agapito (www.flickr.com/blvesboy); (2) Red Rose Exile (www.flickr.com/redroseexile); (3) Stefano Mortellaro (www.flickr.com/fazen)

Slide 6: Creative commons copyright (1) Martin Tews (www.flickr.com/airpark); (2) Sarah Reid (www.flickr.com/sarahreido)

Slide 10: Creative commons copyright Horatio3K (www.flickr.com/horatio3k)

All other images copyright Frances VC Ryan

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Indicative bibliography (cont.)

Thank you!

f.ryan@napier.ac.uk@cleverfrances

www.JustAPhD.com

Slides available at: www.slideshare.net/justfrances

© Frances Ryan