Tag: Social networking

December’s community call: Annual community potluck

Phew. Can you believe it’s almost December (again)? And with the end of the year approaching, it means that it’s time for CSCCE’s annual community potluck – an opportunity to connect, share, and reflect (festive accessories encouraged, but not required!). 

This call is for: 

  • Members of the CSCCE community of practice – current and future! (if you’re not already a member of our free Slack-based community of practice, you can request to join here)
  • Anyone working in STEM and adjacent fields whose role involves collaboration or community building
  • Anyone who would appreciate a community space in which to mark the transition from 2024 to 2025 – with scaffolded reflections and opportunities to share and connect

Date: Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Time: 11am EST / 4pm UTC 

Zoom link to join

Add to calendar (or contact us at info@cscce.org to be automatically added to CSCCE calendar updates)

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April’s Community Call – The internet is breaking – what’s next for building community online?

The last few years have seen a shift in how people behave online. More and more, we see individuals announcing that they will leave this platform or that, either for new websites or for a life lived less online. Relatedly, spaces that are more private are increasingly replacing public ones for conference back channels and subject-specific discussions. While these changes may be understandable, as community managers, this shift away from sharing and connecting in public forums presents very real challenges. 

During this month’s salon-style community call, we will investigate how the upheavals in social media platforms (and how people engage with them) are impacting community-building activities online. Please come ready to share your experiences and opinions, as well as any ideas you have for what’s next. This month’s call will not be recorded, but a recap blog post will be made available shortly after. 

Date: Wednesday, 19 April 2023

Time: 11am EDT / 3pm UTC

Zoom link to join: click here

Add to calendar: click here

A blue graphic with umbel flowers in the background. White text reads "The internet is breaking- what's next for building community online?"
How do we engage members on social media when social media networks are less and less places people want to be? Image credit: CSCCE.
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Why do academics use social networking sites?

This post, written by CSCCE Director Lou Woodley, takes a look at the motivations of academics who use social networking tools. Last week our team took a quick look at … Continue reading “Why do academics use social networking sites?”

This post, written by CSCCE Director Lou Woodley, takes a look at the motivations of academics who use social networking tools.

Person using a laptop
“Browsing” by Nick Olejniczak under CC BY-NC 2.0

Last week our team took a quick look at a recent paper, which asks “Why do academics use academic social networking sites?” The paper presents the results of a survey of 81 researchers at three Israeli institutes who were asked about their motivations for using ResearchGate and Academia.edu.

The survey draws upon the Uses and Gratifications theory from the field of media studies for its research questions – exploring whether the five broad motivations for media consumers may also apply to academics that use online professional networks. Here we outline that theory and then highlight some of the findings from the paper.

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