“Visibility, Transparency, Feedback and Recognition”: Higher Education Scholars Using Digital Social Networks

Scholars’ engagement with digital social networks is complex, warranting a comprehensive understanding of their use and participation. Current research has not yet grasped the motivators, gratification, and challenges that academics encounter across multiple digital social networks. With this in mind, this study surveyed scholars who purposely participate in digital social networks for professional endeavors. The theoretical frameworks guiding this research are the Uses and Gratification framework and the networked participatory scholarship conceptualization. A total of 307 higher education scholars completed an electronic survey with closed and open-ended questions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and a team-coding approach for qualitative data. The results of this investigation highlight specific motivators for using digital social networks to support the scholar’s teaching, research, and professional development. The results of this investigation suggest that scholars are constantly navigating challenges and trading them off against the benefits. The results of this investigation also helped determine the imagined audiences that scholars perceive as potential spectators when using digital social networks for their scholarly efforts. The results illustrate the many reasons provided by scholars, which aligned with the self-presentation and impression management theory.