For this first showcase post, I’d like to revisit White and Cornu’s discussion of online engagement in their paper, “Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement”, in an attempt to better understand my own online profile and specific web uses as compared to others in this class. In recognizing the shift in internet use from information-seeking to profile creation / online community participation, White and Cornu suggest that a new model of describing web users as either visitors or residents is necessary. That is, individuals that see the internet as strictly a means of sourcing information towards the completion of a desired goal, and those that cultivate online profiles and networks for the purpose of engagement and ongoing participation in this new web-based medium.
In comparing my own visitor and resident map to others in the class, it is clear that some striking differences exist both in terms of engagement level and the variety of platforms used. Shaafi’s map, for example, shows a much greater degree of resident engagement in platforms such as Instagram, mail, and even lists platforms that I am not familiar with (Slack, slither.io). Similarly, Ali’s map demonstrates resident engagement on platforms like Discord, iMessage, and WordPress. Again, platforms like Wix and Hypothes.is are unfamiliar to me. What are the reasons for these notable differences? What makes one person gravitate towards a resident role while others strongly identify with being a visitor? Why do some people engage with a plethora of platforms and others choose to participate in only a select few?
In considering the distinction between visitors and residents, the authors of one Jisc study titled, “Evaluating digital services: a visitors and residents approach”, point out that visitors often “have a defined goal or task and select an appropriate online tool to meet their needs” (Jisc, 2014). In this case, the focus is not on social visibility but rather on acquiring information that best meets the current goal / need. In contrast, the resident label describes an individual that “is going online to connect to, or to be with, other people” (Jisc, 2014). Here, social visibility and connection with other online users is the goal.
Whether visitor or resident, it is clear that one approach is not necessarily better than the other. As White and Cornu rightfully suggest, an individual’s preferred approach will largely depend on their interests, goals, and the context in which they are operating (i.e. personal, educational, professional) (White and Cornu, 2011). A further consideration may also be the individual’s concern for privacy and their appetite for leaving even a mild social trace of their activity, which could be partly attributed to the cultural context in which these individuals have grown up. This is supported by findings from an OCLC research report of online engagement among students where the authors found, “At UOC and UC3M, privacy concerns were more prevalent than reported by participants in the US, UK, or Italy.” (Connaway et al., 2017).
In conclusion, it seems there are a number of factors that could explain my own propensity to be a visitor rather than a resident. Being a mature student, I would have thought my age might be a contributing factor however this would be reverting back to Pensky’s model of categorizing users according to their age and background. Rather, my behaviour is dictated much more strongly by my preference to meet and interact with people in person rather than online, and then use the web as an information source when my circumstances require it. Similarly, my concerns over privacy generally trump my interest in cultivating and sharing a highlight-reel online persona with the world which likely explains the lower number of platforms that I participate in.
References
Connaway et al. (2017). The Many Faces of Digitial Visitors & Residents: Facets of Online Engagement. OCLC. https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/2017/oclcresearch-many-faces-digital-vandr.pdf
Jisc. (2014). Evaluating digital services: a visitors and residents approach. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/evaluating-digital-services
White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i9.3171
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