The "LOOMING DISASTER" for higher education: how commercial rankers use social media to amplify and foster affect.
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| Title: | The "LOOMING DISASTER" for higher education: how commercial rankers use social media to amplify and foster affect. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Shahjahan, Riyad A.1 shahja95@msu.edu, Grimm, Adam1, Allen, Ryan M.2 |
| Source: | Higher Education (00181560). Oct2023, Vol. 86 Issue 4, p827-843. 17p. |
| Subject Terms: | *University rankings, *Affect (Psychology), *Social media, *Higher education |
| Company/Entity: | Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. |
| Reviews & Products: | Times Higher Education, The (Periodical) |
| Abstract: | Despite the ubiquity of global university rankings coverage in media and academia, a concerted attempt to investigate the role of social media in ranking entrepreneurship remains absent. By drawing on an affect lens, we critically examine the social media activities of two commercial rankers: Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd (QS). Based on an analysis of THE's Twitter feed and QS' Facebook page between January and June 2020, we illuminate how rankers use social media for affective storytelling to frame and sell their expertise within global HE. First, we demonstrate how THE uses Twitter to engage an audience of institutions, governments, and administrators, reinforcing universities' increasingly aggressive behavior as market competitors. Next, we show how QS engages a student-oriented audience on Facebook, furthering the role of students as consumers. Before and during the COVID pandemic, we observed that both rankers amplified and mobilized precarity associated with performance and participation, selling hope to targeted audiences to market their expertise as solutions—a strategy that remained amidst the global pandemic. Based on our observation of the front stage of rankers' social media activities, we argue that rankers' deployment of social media as a form of affective infrastructure is conducive to further sustaining, diffusing, and normalizing rankings in HE globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Higher Education (00181560) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 173237100 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=173237100 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10734-021-00762-z Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 17 StartPage: 827 Subjects: – SubjectFull: University rankings Type: general – SubjectFull: Affect (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Social media Type: general – SubjectFull: Higher education Type: general – SubjectFull: Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. Type: general – SubjectFull: Times Higher Education, The (Periodical) Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The "LOOMING DISASTER" for higher education: how commercial rankers use social media to amplify and foster affect. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Shahjahan, Riyad A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Grimm, Adam – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Allen, Ryan M. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 10 Text: Oct2023 Type: published Y: 2023 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00181560 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 86 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Higher Education (00181560) Type: main |
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