Ilpc Presentation 2007

Unmediated workplace images from the Internet: An investigation of work blogging By James Richards Heriot-Watt University

Presentation outline • Overview of paper • Overview of blogs • Overview of work-related blogs • Outline of paper • Research methodology • Findings • Conclusion and further research

Overview of paper • Recent advances in Internet communication technology (i.e. ‘Web 2.0’) and how such technology is being increasingly applied by workers, represents vastly under-researched terrain • Looks at one angle of Web 2.0, i.e. people who blog about work on their own time

Overview of paper • Importance of study – No published research on work blogging – Little research looks at creative use of Internet – New (easy to use) technology means Internet users are no longer passive recipients of information, i.e. Web 2.0 associated with ‘user-generated content’ – Normalisation of Internet behaviour – Normality of social networking sites for youngest generation of workers (and those to come) – Internet new way to augment human powers of organization or integration? – New way to do old things in line with changing lifestyles? – People coping with increased social isolation? – People trying to construct identity as old identities are

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Overview of blogs definition ‘A user-generated Website where entries are made

in journal style and displayed in reverse chronological order (Wikipedia, 2007). • Weblogs are filtering the news, detailing daily lives, and providing editorial responses to the events of the day. For many people, a weblog is a soapbox from which they can proclaim their views, potentially influencing many people that they can in their everyday lives. For others, a weblog is a creative space that allows them to experiment with the tools of the Web itself, or to document their offline projects for anyone who in interested. Some webloggers use their weblogs to tell personal stories, others to keep in touch with faraway friends and family. Businesses use weblogs to

Overview of blogs - an example

Overview of blogs - technical dimension

Overview of blogs statistics • • • • • • • • •

In 1998 just a handful 2006 57million 2007 ‘set to peak’ at around 100 million Two-thirds not up-dated after three months Part of ‘social networking’ 60 per cent of public ‘never heard’ of blogs 30 per cent ‘regularly read’ blogs Most bloggers spend 1-2 hours per week 10 per cent spend ten hours or more

Overview of blogs general research • Rise of blogs noted by mostly press and bloggers (Viegas, 2005) • Initial blogs ‘sites of resistance’ (Ratliff, 2004) • Motivations to blog (Nardi et al, 2004; Dan Li, 2005; Lenhart and Fox, 2006) • Blogs work at three levels (Kumar et al, 2004) • Impression management (Trammel and Keshelashvili, 2005)

Overview of work-related blogs media reports • High-profile dismissals • ‘Loose cannons’ - People Management magazine • ‘Unpleasantly honest reviews of life inside corporate houses’ (The Times) • ‘Spilling the beans’ (The Guardian) • Random Acts of Reality and Policeman’s Blog • ‘Shaping public opinion’ - ‘A capacity to bypass and undermine official sources of

Overview of work-related blogs research • Represents a further means by which organizations can harness the tacit knowledge of workers (Hoel and Hollins, 2006) • Potentially play a part in ameliorating the increasing social isolation of American workers (Gely and Bierman, 2006) • A forum for resistance in that workers use their blog as a buffer against the company’s attempt to secure their

Overview of work-related blogs - definition • Contain strong reference to the effects of being managed: the experiences of employees in organizations as they cope with the strategies, tactics, decisions and actions of managers • Reflect the plurality of interests at work

Outline of paper • Explore blogs in relation to media reports, i.e. blogging as misbehaviour or whistleblowing? • Explore blogs (in much more depth) than recent research (empirical) • Explore blogs from perspective of bloggers • Who reads work-related blogs?

Research methodology • Design based on nature of work blogging, i.e. many written anonymously and want to protect anonymity • 744 work-related blogs (screened and collected over two years) • Researcher ‘went native’ to gain trust and consent • Content analysis of blog posts • Self-reporting on-line questionnaires

Findings - part one • Strong evidence to associate blogs with – Misbehaviour or creative resistance – Low-level whistleblowing – Influencing workers with similar occupations and wider public – Sharing tacit knowledge – Applying blogs as a coping mechanism

Findings - Why blog about work?

Findings - Motivations to start blog

Findings - Motivations to continue blogging

Findings - who reads workrelated blogs?

Conclusion and further research • Methodology suitable for preliminary overview of work blogging • Confirmed many perspectives of work blogging • Of value to critical labour and managerialist researchers • Contradiction between third party views and blogger views, e.g. very few claimed idea is to resist or influence • Case study research required to explore