Use of social media by social science academics for scholarly communication

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate social science academics’ use of social media for scholarly communication at Kuwait University.

Design/methodology/approach

Phase One data were collected through web-based and paper responses to questionnaires. Faculty members, teachers and teaching assistants in the social science faculty were invited to participate. Forty-six of the 100 invited participants responded. Phase Two comprised interviews with 10 respondents.

Findings

Social connection platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, received the highest mean score for use (M = 4.35), followed by mobile apps, such as WhatsApp (M = 4.24), and multimedia platforms such as Instagram and YouTube (M = 3.59). Moderate to low use was recorded for academic social media. ResearchGate recorded the highest use (M = 3.09), followed by academia.edu (M = 2.93). “Keeping in touch” was the most frequently reported activity (M = 4.04). Two-thirds of respondents used social media for informal scholarly communication with people they knew. “Lack of university encouragement” received the highest score (M = 3.54) as a factor inhibiting use and almost half the respondents (47.2 per cent) cited “lack of time” as a barrier.

Practical implications

Improving academics’ understanding of the uses of social media might increase their visibility and improve their research and other scholarly activities. Study findings support the development of relevant training programs that include a focus on integrating social media into research activities and the dissemination of research findings.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the limited literature on this topic in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf region.

Citation

Al-Daihani, S.M., Al-Qallaf, J.S. and AlSaheeb, S.A. (2018), "Use of social media by social science academics for scholarly communication", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. 67 No. 6/7, pp. 412-424. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-11-2017-0091