“That’s My Face to the Whole Field!”: Graduate Students’ Professional Identity-Building through Twitter at a Writing Studies Conference

Abstract

Abstract Twitter usage (“tweeting”) at academic conferences is quickly gaining prevalence. This fast-growing practice is an example of the complexity of academic discourse communities and how digital interactions aid scholars in building meaningful working relationships. Graduate students, in their position as “peripheral participants” in their academic disciplines (Lave & Wenger, 1991), have a unique perspective on the process of building their academic identities and relationships that will last a career. This qualitative interview study examines the perspectives of five Ph.D. students at universities across the United States who used Twitter at the academic conference Computers and Writing in May 2015. Building on previous studies on digital communication among academics (Hyland, 2012; Leon & Pigg, 2011; Li & Greenhow, 2015), this study reveals the behind-the-scenes perspectives of graduate students who used Twitter at this academic conference. Findings include a look into the intentionality these graduate students bring to their conference tweeting, explanations of their efforts to connect with others and build name- and face-recognition in the academic discourse community, and other useful insights into graduate students’ conference tweeting.