"Don't Affect the Share Price": Social Media Policy in Higher Education as Reputation Management

Autor/in	McNeill, Tony
Titel	"Don't Affect the Share Price": Social Media Policy in Higher Education as Reputation Management
Quelle	In: Research in Learning Technology, 20 (2012), S.152-162 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2156-7069
DOI	10.3402/rlt.v20i0.19194
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Discourse Analysis; Content Analysis; Higher Education; Commercialization; Reputation; College Administration; Administrative Policy; Mass Media Use; Critical Theory; Policy Analysis; Risk Management; Problems; Academic Freedom; Educational Technology; Computer Mediated Communication; Influence of Technology; Computer Uses in Education; Web 2.0 Technologies; Social Networks; Educational Policy; College Faculty; College Instruction; Professional Autonomy; Position Papers; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Diskursanalyse; Inhaltsanalyse; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; College administrators; Hochschulverwaltung; Mediennutzung; Kritische Theorie; Politikfeldanalyse; Risikomanagement; Problemsituation; Akademische Freiheit; Unterrichtsmedien; Computerkonferenz; Computernutzung; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Fakultät; Hochschullehre; Berufsfreiheit; Positionspapier; Großbritannien
Abstract	The last 5 years have seen a growing number of universities use social media services such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to engage with past, present and prospective students. More recently still, a number of universities have published policy or guidance documents on the use of social media for a range of university-related purposes including learning, teaching and assessment. This study considers the social media policies of 14 universities in the United Kingdom (UK) that are currently in the public domain. It addresses some of the ways in which Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are responding to both the positive potential of social media as well as its perceived threats. Drawing inspiration, if not actual method, from critical discourse analysis, this study argues that marketisation has been the main policy driver with many social media policies being developed to promote university "brands" as well as protect institutional reputation. The creation and implementation of social media policies are therefore playing a role in helping universities manage both the risks and the benefits of social media in the context of an increasingly marketised Higher Education (HE) environment in which protecting institutional reputation has become a priority. However, in the defence of the metaphorical institutional "share price", some policies constrain both academic autonomy and the possibilities for innovation and risk-taking. (Contains 3 figures.) [This paper was published in the ALT-C 2012 Conference Proceedings.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10