Dr. Josie Ahlquist Dissertation Defense

student leadership, identity presentation &

decision-making on social media

Developing Digital Student Leaders!A mixed methods study of

California Lutheran University Josie Ahlquist

student leadership, identity presentation & decision-making on social media

Special thanks to my committee Dr. Edlyn Pena, Dr. John Hoffman &

Dr. Diane Rodriguez-Klino

How is social media part of the college experience?

Does higher education provide a road map? What does a digital student leader look like?

How are you navigating social media?

Do you consider yourself a leader in person and online?

Research Questions What role does social media play in the experiences of college student leaders?

What patterns of behavior exist for social media activity of college student leaders in how leadership, identity and decision-making are portrayed online?

Do the self-reported experiences of college student leaders represent

their actual behavior on social media?

College&Student&Leaders&

High&Users&

+/6&Impact&of&Social&Media&Use&

Digital&Educa?on?&

Iden?ty&Explora?on&

Leadership&Development&

Privacy&

Career&Bound&

! Literacies (Ng, 2012)

! Identity (Goode, 2010) (Junco, 2014)

! Citizenship (Greenhow & Robelia, 2009)

! Leadership (Lewis & Rush, 2013)

Digital

Student Identity

Development

Digital Identity

Digital Citizenship

Leadership Development

Social Change Model

Digital Literacies

Theory + Practice = Digital Leadership Research Framework

Chickering Seven Vectors

Developing&Competence&

Managing&Emo?ons&

Moving&through&autonomy&toward&Interdependence&

Developing&Mature&Interpersonal&Rela?onships&

Establishing&Iden?ty&

Developing&Purpose&

Developing&Integrity&

Collaboration Common Purpose

Controversy with Civility

Citizenship Consciousness of self

Congruence Commitment

Social Change Model

Individual Values

G r o u p V a l u e s

Community Values

Change

Mixed Methods Research Sequential Exploratory Design Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011 Tashakkori & Teddlie 1998; 2009

Sequenced PhasesPragmatic WorldviewTriangulation of data &Tell complete student leader social media story

Research Participants

•  Two Universities •  40 Positional Student Leaders •  Nominations from Supervisors/Advisors •  Requirements

•  Juniors & Seniors •  One year in leadership-related role •  Good standing in position •  On at least two social media platforms

Student Leader A college student who is involved in a formal campus role/position for w h i c h t h e y w e re s e l e c t e d , nominated, hired or elected.

Mixed Methods: 3 Phases of Research

Phase I Qualitative

Collection of Focus Groups

Qualitative Analysis

Questionnaire Descriptive

Stats

Phase II Qualitative

Collection of Social Media

Grounded Theory Analysis

Development & Implementation of Social Media

Rubric

Quantitative Analysis

Phase III Mixed

Methods Analysis:

Matrix

5 Phase I Results

+ 5 Phase II Results

2,200 Social Media Posts Two Applications Facebook & Instagram One Year January – December 2014

Phase II: Rubric Development & Social Media Activity

10-20% of Social Media Activity

Qualitative Grounded

Theory Analysis

Social Media Rubric

Develop & Implement Instrument

Quantitize Social Media Activity

Quantitative Analysis

Quantizing Data Defined by Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009) as “the process of converting qualitative data into numbers that can be statistically analyzed” (p. 27).

Decision Making: Level of Appropriateness •  Appropriate •  Blurry •  Inappropriate

Observed Behaviors •  Selfies - Group Photos - Object/Scenery - Leadership Position •  Article/Video – Celebration – Life Event - Hobby/Interest •  #TBT – Reflection – Interaction – Academic - Social Good

Displayed Identity through Relationships •  Self •  Family – Friends - Peer Leaders/Their Students – Intimacy •  Faculty/Staff

Social Change Model •  All Seven Values

Social Media Rubric

Phase III: Mixed Model Analysis

Phase&III&Matrix&

Five&Phase&I&Results&

Five&Phase&II&Results&

(Huberman & Miles, 1983)(Miles & Huberman, 1994)

(Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2004)

Results

Social Media Impact in K-12

Middle School

High School!

Little Guidance in K-12 Controlling Parents Peer Pressure Fear Tactics Trial & Error

Navigating Social Media in College

Visual Posts Rule Social Media

Guidance from Student Affairs •  Informal Agreements •  Training Sessions •  Formal Expectations •  Explicit Contracts •  What not to do

-Senior Resident Assistant & Student Government Communications Chair

“I’ve always been told what not to do on social media. But I’ve never heard what they want me doing.”

Digital Education through

Trial & Error

Presentation of Digital Identity

Presentation of Self Maintaining Relationships

Managing Perception

Self Presentation

Managing Perception

“Perception is everything, right? So people make assumptions based on a first interaction with you. So if you post something that would make you seem bad, people judge in a second you know. You can lose someone's trust over one thing that you say…”

“So I think for me, it's all about perception. You never know who is watching. You're always on stage.”

“I just noticed that as people got more guarded and things

became more fabricated and more generic. It used to be

more fun because you could really understand the person

that was posting.

Now everyone is really afraid to really show anything because we don't want to upset other people, or they don't want to instigate anything.”

The New #FOMO

Fear of Mistakes Online

Digital Leadership Presence & Possibilities

In Person Online

Consistency

Inconsistency

97.5%

Out of 2,200 social media posts 97.5%

of them were defined as appropriate

The Student Leader Filter

Student Public Figure

To the University

Their Families

Future Generations

Social Media Responsibility

Posting Check List

Privacy !

Grandma is the new digital

influencer

What will people think?

Playing Politically Correct

Student Leader Silence

“As a student leader, you become detached from social media… In the past, social media was used to express who you are freely.”

“However, now social media has become our own paparazzi, so as a student leader you’ve become what others expect you to be… Everything personal about yourself seems to become shameful because you have to private everything and no one can see who you really are.”

Digital Change Agents!Social Media for Social Good!

“Not Worth

it” !

Politically Correct

Decrease Conflict

Minimize Controversy

Collaboration Common Purpose

Controversy with Civility

Citizenship Consciousness of self

Congruence Commitment

Social Change Model

Individual Values

G r o u p V a l u e s

Community Values

Change

Students Leaders were presenting…

Individual Values on Social Media

Consciousness of Self

Commitment

•  Consciousness of Self •  Congruence •  Commitment •  Common Purpose •  Citizenship

acebook

than Instagram

more likely to include:

Group and Community values were lacking on social media

student leadership, identity presentation &

decision-making on social media

Significance of !college social media guidance!

Participants who reported a regret on social media were now more likely to:

•  Post more appropriately•  Post more content related to the values

of the Social Change Model

Social Media Guidance in college will make student leaders more likely •  To post more appropriately

•  To post content positively about their leadership positions

•  To post content related to the values of the Social Change Model

Guidance from:

Parents +

Peers

Who needs a course correct?

Student Leaders with Greek Affiliation

Guidance in K-12 Negative Effect

Implications

• Start Holistic Digital Education Interventions Early

• Build an Army of Digital Educators

• Group and Community Digital Leadership Skills

• Positive and Possibilities Approaches

Implications for Practice

Implications for Theory

• Social Change Model individual values present on social media

•  Chickering’s Seven

Vectors confirmed: identity presentation through relationships

Chickering Seven Vectors

Developing&Competence&

Managing&Emo?ons&

Moving&through&autonomy&toward&Interdependence&

Developing&Mature&Interpersonal&Rela?onships&

Establishing&Iden?ty&

Developing&Purpose&

Developing&Integrity&

•  Language: guidelines instead of policies

•  Decrease fear tactics

Implications for Policy

•  Student leader contracts with positive language

•  Inclusion of students in department & university policy development

Future Research Wish List !  Validate Social Media Rubric

!  Gather every post in set time period

!  Add individual interviews with participants

!  Development of a research team &&

Future Research Needs •  Experimental studies with digital education

interventions

•  Grounded theory approach of digital identity presentation

•  SnapChat ethnographic methodology

•  Social media practices of positive social activists

Student leaders don’t need saving on social media

They don’t need a lifeguard patrolling their pages

Student Leaders Need Social Media

Are you a social media lifeguard or a lighthouse?

Questions

(and applause)

!"#$%&&

'()*+,&

student leadership, identity presentation &

decision-making on social media

Developing Digital Student Leaders!A mixed methods study of

California Lutheran University Josie Ahlquist

student leadership, identity presentation & decision-making on social media