Znaczenie Internetu dla zarządzania reputacją naukowca

Abstract

The article aims at drawing attention to opportunities of reputation management by researchers using new media, considering the importance of internet tools for image creation and identifying opportunities and threats. The research problem of the article focuses on answers to the question formulated as follows: What might the possible importance of the Internet for reputation building be? The problem relates to the issue of researchers’ active participation in creating and shaping their reputation online. The presented considerations have been based on literature and studies on the subject. The article attempts to clarify the distinction between the concepts of identity, image, and reputation. It discusses image-creating factors and refers to the question of immanent credibility and guise in research. The author describes examples of internet tools and points to their importance for reputation management, which concerns the sum of partial images accumulating over time. Communication plays an important role in building reputation. Owing to its availability, interactivity and variety of forms, as well as the speed of information transfer, the Internet has become an indispensable channel of communication. All researchers should recognise the fact in order to build their reputation thoughtfully. Their reputation involves a multitude of accumulated images formed as a result of interactions between factors associated with the subjects themselves, information the recipients obtain, and factors relating to the recipients. The conclusions of the study point to the necessity of reputation management by planned and deliberate actions taking advantage of internet tools. Thus, every effort should be made to prevent a situation where reputation is shaped irrespective of the interested person’s participation.