Personal online reputation: the development of an approach to investigate how personal reputation is...

Personal online reputation:The development of an approach to investigate

how personal reputation is evaluated andmanaged in online environments

by Frances VC Ryan

Presentation delivered at the International Data and Information Management Conference

13th January 2016, Loughborough, England

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

[email protected] | @cleverfrances | www.JustAPhD.com

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Overview of presentation

Brief overview of the research themes Theoretical framework for empirical work Evaluation of potential methods Pilot testing chosen method Findings from pilot Conclusion and next steps

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What’s the research about?

How online information contributes to the building, maintenance, and evaluation of personal reputations

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

Two broad research themes: (1) The means by which people evaluate or assess the personal reputations of others from the online evidence available to them

(2) How people manage their own personal reputations through their use of online information, and to what extent those behaviours are intentional

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Developing a theoretical framework for empirical work

Difficult: What literature should be considered?

1. General materials related to research themes across many domains(e.g. Human resources, marketing, information systems,

physical and mental health)

2. Specific material on academic reputations evident in citation analysis

3. Contextual material from everyday life information seeking (ELIS) studies

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Difficult: Which literature should be considered?





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Lots of options:- Quantitative - Qualitative

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Mostly Quantitative

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Largely Qualitative

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How best to investigate both research themes?

The challenge? Establishing a way to examine both research themes simultaneously

Qualitative methods deemed most appropriate

Semi-structured, in-depth interviews to discuss participants’ own practices

Answering questions on evaluation of others proved more difficult

Four potential solutions …

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Option 1: Profile mock-ups

Create false user profiles

Information mimics situations from literature

Participants review mock-ups

Interviews to discuss how reputations are evaluated

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© W

ireframeS

ketcher

© PitchStock

Option 2: Participant screen shots

Screen shots of participants’ online profiles

Others evaluate the reputations of each other based on the screen shots

Interviews to discuss how reputations are evaluated

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© Frances Ryan

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Option 3: Observation

Participants discuss evaluation of others during interview

Participants interacting with social media accounts with interviewer present

Ethical issues regarding consent from participants’ connections

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© Jason Jenkins

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Option 4: Diaries and interviews

Participants keep diary for one week

Simple instructions regarding what to write about

No formatting guidelines

After diary, participants take part in a semi-structured interview

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© Frances Ryan

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Best option: Diaries and interviews

Tradition in everyday life information seeking (ELIS) research

Rich data are reliable sources of information and eliminate the potential for inaccurate reporting

(Narayan, Case, & Edwards, 2011, p. 3)

Several studies use a combination of diary-keeping and interviews (Agosto & Hughes-Hassell, 2005; Dervin, 1983; McKenzie, 2003; Rieh, 2004)

Although studies vary, they share a common theme: combining the robustness of two forms of data

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Testing the methods

Pilot study to test methods and process

Eight participants

Popular social networking sites

Participant diaries Participants kept diary for one week as they engaged with their social media accounts

Interviews After completing diaries, participants took part in hour-long, semi-structured interviews

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Findings

Two-part data collection method was a success

Participants were more aware of their actions and behaviours

Not a burdensome amount of work for participants

Produced a robust data set for analysis

Helped to identify minor changes for main study

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Appropriateness of methods confirmed

Range of insights for main study

Helped to re-format interview guides and coding system

Early indications show new themes emerging

Pilot success!

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© Sarah Reid

Next steps

Main empirical work

Sample of 45+ participants

Gen Y, Gen X, and Boomers

Data analysis

Thesis write-up

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© Frances Ryan

© Frances Ryan

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Creative commons copyright (1) WireframeSketcher (wireframesketcher.com/mockups) (2) PitchStock (www.behance.net)

Slide 7: Copyright Frances VC Ryan

Slide 8: Creative commons copyright Jason Jenkins (www.flickr.com/jdub1980)


Slide 13: Creative commons copyright Sarah Reid (www.flickr.com/sarahreido)


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Copyright attributions

Thank you!

[email protected]@cleverfrances

www.JustAPhD.com+44(0)7530 696549

Slides available at: www.slideshare.net/justfrances

© Frances Ryan

Personal online reputation: the development of an approach to investigate how personal reputation is...

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