presentation of research june 2015
TRANSCRIPT
The performance of expertise on social media by creative
and cultural workersKaren Patel
Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK
The social media use of creative and cultural workers• What is the role of social media use in the everyday lives of creative
and cultural workers?• How is expertise performed on social media?
• What insights can these provide about the culture of the creative industries?
What do I mean by social media?“Social media are Internet-based channels that allow users to opportunistically interact and selectively self-present, either in real-time or asynchronously, with both broad and narrow audiences who derive value from user-generated content and the perception of interaction with others.”Carr and Hayes (2015:50)
Why expertise?
“An individual may style himself an expert and be penalised by nothing stronger than sniggers” (Goffman, 1959:68)
Defining expertise• “The product of a symbolic attribution of status and authority,
changing over time” (Arnoldi, 2007:50)• “The condition where a particular community of actors possess
specialist knowledge that cannot be adjudicated on its own terms by actors from outside the community” (Prince, 2010:4)• “Expertise may be substantiated through reputation, or more formal
modes of accreditation” (Smith Maguire and Matthews, 2014:10)
Defining expertiseA social process, involving a generally positive consensus about someone’s knowledge and competency in a particular field. This is substantiated by reputation, which is forged through experience in the field and relationships with others.
Expertise and the digital
Professional and ‘lay’ expertise
STS (Science and Technology Studies) Co-creative expertise
Expertise in the creative industriesArt Worlds (Becker, 2008)
“Art worlds routinely create and use reputations, because they have an interest in individuals and what they have done and can do.” (p.351)
• Self as project to work on• Self as product to be marketed
Importance of reputation and expertise
Social - digital“Current definitions of reputation hinge on its dynamic, co-constructed nature as a process dependent on both direct and symbolic experiences between individuals or between individuals and organizations […] Online tools such as Twitter are therefore a logical extension of existing and emerging public relations practices, a site where professionals can engage in reputation management for themselves”(Gilpin, 2011: 236)
MethodFramework of Candace Jones (2002) signalling expertiseDraws on performance work of Goffman (1959)
• Institutional context – platform norms, (e.g. hashtags), and the context of her profession, her University.• Signalling content – identity, performance, relationships• Signalling strategies – status enhancement, reputation building,
impression management
Pilot study• Birmingham based artist• Also an art teacher• Completing a PhD• Twitter and Instagram
Reputation building
Qualifying signals
Signalling as expertise
Considerations• Anonymity• Sampling and time• Platform conventions
