@Digital libraries: harnessing Twitter to build online communities
| Date | 11 November 2019 |
| Pages | 1263-1283 |
| Published date | 11 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2018-0058 |
| Author | Iris Xie,Jennifer A. Stevenson |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
@Digital libraries: harnessing
Twitter to build online communities
Iris Xie
School of Information Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, and
Jennifer A. Stevenson
Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the types of roles that Twitter played in digital
libraries (DLs) and their relationships in building DL online communities.
Design/methodology/approach –A mixed method analysis of DLs’tweets was conductedto identify the
usage, roles of Twitter i n DL communities and relationsh ips among the roles. Twitter data fro m 15 different
DLs for one year were extra cted, and an open coding analysis was perfo rmed to identify types of Twitter
roles. Pearson correlat ion coefficient was appli ed to examine the relationshi ps among the roles based on
word similarities.
Findings –The results present 15 types of Twitter roles representing five main categories identified from DL
tweets, including information, promotion, related resources, social identity and social connection. Moreover,
word similarities analysis identifies more strong relationships among the roles in four main categories
(promotion, related resources, social identity and social connection) but less with roles in information.
Research limitations/implications –Characteristics of DL online communities are discussed and
compared with physical li brary communities. Suggestions are propos ed for how tweets can be improv ed
to play more effective role s. To build a strong communi ty, it is critical for digi tal librarians to enga ge
with followers.
Originality/value –This study is a pioneering work that not only analyzes Twitter roles and their
relationships in building DL online communities but also offers recommendations in terms of how to build a
strong online community and improve Twitter use in DLs.
Keywords Digital libraries, Online community, Twitter
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There has been a surge in digital libraries (DLs) in the past decade. DLs are defined as
systems that encompass a wide range of multimedia materials that are born digital or
converted from a variety of analog sources through digitization. DLs collect, organize, store
and disseminate digital information. Providing resources and services to patrons is the key
component of every DL (Xie and Matusiak, 2016). DLs take the same premise of physical
libraries and provide the accessibility and dissemination of information only in an entirely
digital format. Despite DLs varying in their collections, users, outreach and engagement
remain important aspects. A question to ask is, “how do digital librarians reach to and
engage with their users to create online communities?”
Twitter is used by individuals and institutions. Social media has been shown to be a
marketing and engagement tool. In the age of instant information gratification, it has
become culturally normative to expect information quickly. Since its conception in 2006,
Twitter’s international user base has grown from 30m to 326m users in 2018. It has a
registered 49.35m users in the USA, which equates to 40 percent of the American population
aged 18–29 years and 27 percent of 30–49 year olds (Statista: The Statistics Portal, 2018).
Twitter is utilized for its potential for reachability, and it is widely used as a marketing tool.
Cavanagh (2016) noted that Twitter, with other social media, enables libraries to create
their communities by not only strengthening their existing connections but also creating
new relationships. This paper uses the basic definition of community as defined by
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 7, 2019
pp. 1263-1283
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-02-2018-0058
Received 21 February 2018
Revised 26 February 2019
Accepted 22 July 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
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libraries
Hillery (1955) “social interaction is a necessary element of the community”(p. 115). Within
that vein, Twitter is a community, despite that “users could never know everyone on
Twitter, but they are certainly aware of other users’presence, especially in their
‘neighborhood’of sources”(Gruzd et al., 2011, p. 1298). Moreover, Twitter fits to the library
environment because it is quick and easy to reach out to its users. One purpose of adopting
Twitter is to create a sense of community among libraries and users. The field of library
science was quick to begin analysis of how and why Twitter should be used as an
outreach tool (Cahill, 2011; Charitonos, 2011; Kidd, 2011; Stvilia and Gibradze, 2014;
Torres-Salinas et al., 2011).
Many researchers and librarians have conducted studies to describe how Twitter was
used in libraries. However, most of these studies only illuminated physical library
Twitter use. There is a difference in how Twitter is used in different types of library
settings (Alsuhaibani, 2018). Despite DLs growing in the past decade, they were often
not a part of the overarching Twitter library and information science research.
Twitter holds the capability to be a tool for digital librarians to reach users. Twitter
engages users, shares knowledge, makes connections and most importantly, builds
communities around the DL stakeholders. Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools assist building
DL communities (Verheul, 2010). The lack of previous research on the Twitter use in the
DLs calls for the need to identify the roles that Twitter plays in the DL communities and
their relationships.
Literature review
Twitter as a tool
Twitter is a micro-blog, and as of November 2017, each user can use 280 characters to
express messages, ideas and updates. That is called a “tweet.”Unlike Facebook, a Twitter
profile does not need to be associated with a real name. Instead, the use of a handle permits
the users to create an identity that suits them. Communities on Twitter consist of
“followers,”who are people receiving other people’s tweets (Twitter, 2018). These people
then “follow”or are “following”a Twitter user. When a Twitter user makes a post to
Twitter, this action is called “tweeting;”the post itself is called a “tweet.”“Retweeting”is
when users forward a tweet via Twitter. Both “tweets”and “retweets”can be tracked to see
which ones are most popular; this is referred to as “trending.”The interactive nature of
Twitter makes it a perfect tool to promote interactions between DLs through digital
librarian and users. In addition, a user can also tweet at someone using the “@”symbol.
Then the tweet is visible to the original poster’s community and the Twitter user’s followers,
who were included in the tweet.
Twitter well suits the environment of DLs. It permits digital librarians the ability to share
new information. Twitter also serves as a communication tool to enable librarians to interact
with their DL users and potential users. Regarding Twitter use for a digital branch of a
library, King (2012) emphasized the importance of user engagement, specifically
pointing to the need to analyze content generated. Consequently, using Twitter as a
community-building tool is a critical part of DLs owing to its ability to reach and share
information with users.
Role of social media in online community building
Social media plays many roles in community building. It is imperative to understand the
depths of social media and its role as a community-building tool, which is why this section
focuses on the general concept of social media rather than a single application, like Twitter.
The literature review discusses the following roles: information, promotion/marketing,
social identity and social connection. As with many human behaviors, these roles are
intertwined and complicated. Wellman and Gulia (1996) found that there are several types of
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