An autoethnographic account of the use of Twitter for professional development by novice academic

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory autoethnographic study of my use of Twitter to support my professional development. It investigated three research questions that focus on my approach to using Twitter, experiences and challenges, and management strategies. Using reflective narrative and data from my Twitter archive, five themes were developed using thematic, lexical, and social network analysis. These themes are: 1) constructing a personal learning network, 2) managing an evolving space, 3) serendipitous learning and staying in touch, 4) spontaneous engagement and opportunistic collaboration and 5) adopting helpful behaviours. These results suggest my use of Twitter evolved over time into a personal and networked space that has positively impacted my development as a novice academic. This networked space offered continuous opportunities for learning, collaboration and engagement. Though several challenges were experienced, deliberate strategies mitigated these challenges. While this study found similarities between my experiences and those of others from the literature, it offers potentially unique strategic insights into the use of Twitter for effective professional development.Keywords: Twitter; social networks; autoethnography; professional development; higher education; novice academicsPart of the special issue Autoethnography in online doctoral education <https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.9415e58d>