Academic Freedom
university . Consequently , as academics social media is hard for us to avoid , whether we are lurkers , personal creators , active users or habitual consumers ( IP & Wagner , 2008 ; Donelan , 2016 ) – I personally span all four depending on the platform .
Most of us working in the strange world that is academia will have , whether we control it or not , an online identity – often reinforced through social media ( whether our own or our institutions ). We all will have felt , at one time or another , a push to promote ourselves , and our work online . Indeed , during my first week as a Graduate Teaching Assistant , we were required to complete a training session on ‘ open access research and social media ’. Even in 2010 , increasing pressure was being placed on those working in universities to engage with the public , through social media ( Lipsett , 2010 ). As social media usage has increased ( Titcomb , 2017 ; Smartt , 2017 ; BBC , 2020 ), so has the pressure ( Lupton , 2014 ; Kieslinger , 2015 ). ‘ Implications are that the academic role is something that can no longer only be nurtured within specialist academic groups and subscription based journals ’ ( Donelan , 2016 , p . 708 ). As a free marketing tool , why would universities not want us to have an online presence ? To be fair , every industry has had to embrace social media as the world becomes more digital , why would higher education be any different ?
Yet the benefits of having a social media profile are not just felt by universities , they can and have had significant positive outcomes for those who use social media to promote their teaching and / or research ( Donelan , 2016 ). For me , though not a big following , my Twitter page has allowed me to connect with journalists , obtain radio and television interviews and network with others . And dare I say it , make friends with other academics across the globe , some of whom I have never even physically met . Social media can help to aid an academic in their career , aid in self-development and widen and maintain their networks ( Donelan , 2016 ). After all , it ’ s not what you know , it ’ s who you know .
The benefits of social media usage are well recognised by Weller who candidly acknowledges ‘ The Digital Scholar ’ is heavily influenced by conversations and interactions with others on Twitter and his Blog :
‘ Sometimes I would put out a direct call to this network [ Twitter ], along the lines of “ Does anyone have a good example of …”. In other cases , I would post drafts of the content to my blog and receive comments and links to relevant material .’ ( 2011 , p . 3 ).
We will leave aside the arguments around ownership . However , what intrigued me most about Weller ’ s thesis surrounds his somewhat cyberlibertarian approach to publication – it ’ s the lawyer in me . He seems to suggest , at various points , that one of the biggest benefits of social media usage for academics is the ability to write freely , without the constraints of peer review or having to adhere to journal article guidelines ( and the whole paywall nonsense ). In fact , for Weller :
‘ Blogs are also the epitome of the type of technology that can lead to rapid innovation . They are free to set up , are easy to use and because they are in the user ’ s control , they represent a liberated form of expression ( emphasis added ).’ ( 2011 , p . 5 ).
Spoiler alert … this is not necessarily true .
Academic Freedom
Leaving aside the arguments around Freedom of Expression , that ’ s another story for another day , it is well recognised that social media can no longer be considered the ‘ wild west ’ ( Bernal , 2012 ). Legal rules and regulations do exist online ( though with the increasing use of social media websites to abuse others , you can be forgiven for thinking this may not be the case ). Take , for instance , the use of social media sites to send racist comments to several footballers , following England ’ s defeat in the 2020 Euros ( BBC , 2021 ), some individuals did feel the full force of the law ( CPS , 2021 ) – and through my social media accounts , I was invited to discuss these cases on the radio . Like I said , social media helps advance our reach as academics .
Now that ’ s not to say that academics fall within the same category as those who send racist abuse online , but what this does demonstrate is that we cannot say whatever we want , despite comments made by Weller to the contrary ( 2011 , p . 5 ). Many companies across the globe will have a social media policy in place , and universities are no exception ( Pomerantz , Hank & Sugimoto , 2015 ; Higson-Bliss , 2023 ). Put simply , all academics who are connected to a university by a contract , are subject to a social media policy and failure to adhere to that social media policy could result in the termination of your employment , something Professor David Miller found out the hard way , following his sacking by Bristol University over a comment he made online about Israel ( BBC , 2021b ). Even I , and indeed Weller ( as an academic at the Open University ) is subjected to a social media policy – something that still shocks some – even in today ’ s digital-age ( Higson-Bliss , 2023 ).
For example , at Keele University as an employee I am prohibited from ‘[ m ] aking seriously offensive , derogatory or defamatory remarks ’ ( Keele University , 2018 , p . 4 ) even on my own personal social media accounts . Now that ’ s not to say I should be able to make ‘ seriously offensive , derogatory or defamatory remarks ’ online , but it does impose a clear boundary disputing the claims made by Weller that a liberated form of expression is felt when
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