Social media influencing as a business – it is all about curatorial logic

The rise of social media influencers (SMIs) across sectors and interest categories is ubiquitous. This is particularly true for lifestyle blogging linking to increased materialism and impact on consumption of fashion products and leisure services. SMIs are mostly defined by academic literature as opinion leaders who are “frequently able to influence others’ attitudes or behaviors” (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). However, SMIs, as opposed to celebrities, journalists and politicians, are ordinary people who have managed to cultivate a following base on a social media platform as a result of knowledge, skill or expertise, or simply passion for certain subjects of interest. Not all SMIs but quite few today (numbers continue growing) are tuning passion for content creation and sharing into profit-making business. SMIs are therefore, entrepreneurial individuals who utlise social media to build a business. In branding literature SMIs are and have been studied as intermediary between audience and brands. However, to our knowledge no studies capture SMIs as business perspective. Hence, in this paper we aim to address this research gap by developing a substantive theory of curatorial logic. This working paper adopts a hybrid exploratory research methodology. Data analysis and discussion represent a work-in-progress phase of this study

Metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetectors based on gallium nitride grown by atomic layer deposition at low temperatures

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Proof-of-concept, first metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetectors based on nanocrystalline gallium nitride (GaN) layers grown by low-temperature hollow-cathode plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition are demonstrated. Electrical and optical characteristics of the fabricated devices are investigated. Dark current values as low as 14 pA at a 30 V reverse bias are obtained. Fabricated devices exhibit a 15× UV/VIS rejection ratio based on photoresponsivity values at 200 nm (UV) and 390 nm (VIS) wavelengths. These devices can offer a promising alternative for flexible optoelectronics and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor integration of such devices. © 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Leadership Chaos: When Power is in the Hands of Followers

Research Background It has been argued that leaders only exist when they have followers (Grint, 2010). However followership has gained a somewhat negative connotation (Carsten et al., 2014) with the word ‘follower’ carrying with it notions of inferiority to the leader and thus reinforcing a power imbalance in the leader-follower relationship (Jackson and Parry, 2011). Nevertheless, there is an increasingly blurred line between leaders and followers in some contexts (Bennis, 2008), with the latter being arguably afforded more power by non-traditional means such as anonymous blogging. According to Kellerman (2012) an increased power of followers can be partly attributed to technological imperatives and cultural constraints. We build on this extant work by focussing on the role of social media, where the term follower has become part of the accepted language of sites such as Twitter and Instagram. The Instagram influencer market alone has grown exponentially in recent years. It’s now a billion dollar industry with a value projected to double by 2019 (Statista, 2018). Social media is increasingly being utilised by users to build their brand, digital celebrity identity and followership (Fischer and Reuber, 2011). These individuals are using their skills, knowledge, and expertise to become social media influencers (hereafter social media leaders – SMLs) and can be defined as content creators who have established a solid base of following through their social media activities (De Veirman et al., 2017). SMLs are able to drive the attitudes and behaviour of social media followers (SMFs) by pushing content at them. In fact this aspect of social media leadership has received an ample attention (i.e. Nair et al., 2010; Khamis et al., 2017; Daniel et al., 2018). However, the nature of SMLs-SMFs relationships remains largely underexplored. Traditional views on leadershipship indicate that follower behaviour is a direct result of what leaders do and that leaders are the active ones within the relationships. But no studies explore if this is the case with social media influencing where followers have interactive means of impacting SMLs’ activities. In our exploratory research we discovered a different side to the SMLs-SMFs relationship, the one where traditional perspective on a follower is transformed. Methodology We adopted a hybrid qualitative methodology, a mix of netnographic observations (Kozinets, 2015) and grounded theory (Glaser and Straus, 2017), to explore SMLs-SMFs relationships. Using unstructured interviews, we first interviewed twelve social media micro-influencers who are part of the Bournemouth Bloggers community. In line with Glaser and Strauss (1967) we used three-step coding process to analyse data. Second step of the data collection and analysis involved an observational netnography of social media influencers accounts. This enabled us to explore how social media influencers are interacting with their followers. A total of 135 posts, accessible and available in the public domain, were collected and analysed using Bolat and O’Sullivan’s (2017) three analytical steps.  Key Findings Our integrated findings show that SMLs are largely influenced by network behaviour of SMFs, meaning sentiment of engagement as well as behavioural social media activities (i.e. likes and comments) are guiding what content SMLs post and how they brand themselves. All SMLs desire to establish a greater followership. SMFs are almost perceived as SMLs’ currency. Consequently, SMLs appear to go through a cognitive thought process of how to curate followership, in line with Grint (2010)’s notion of leaders existing only if they have followers. A fundamental element towards this is a continuous two-way dialogue with SMFs and reciprocity. Moreover, our integrated results support existing literature (Solis 2016) in suggesting that SMLs are able to establish a sense of intimacy by posting elements of their personal everyday lives. We found that SMFs drive content and have a large contribution to SMLs’ activities. This particular finding demonstrates the active role SMFs play within the context of social media – aspect that is largely ignored by existing literature. The SMLs-SMFs relationship can be said to be co-produced and co-constructed (Shamir, 2007), with SMLs interacting with their SMFs to ask for views and recommendations, as well as crucially thanking them and publishing content they ask to be posted. Interestingly, our study found that there could be a dark side to followership, which can have negative repercussions for SMLs. SMLs are driven by an increased sense of confidence, generated by the number of likes and follows they gain. However, we found that despite being empowered through increased confidence, SMLs suffer from anxiety, social media fear and insecurity. Our interviews highlight the manner in which mental health issues can be triggered by SMFs themselves, who play an important role in shaping the direction SMLs take. However this in turn can have an impact on how authentic SMLs see themselves as being - which can create internal conflict. Gabriel (2011) concluded that “followers may love the leader, craving protection and support but they also resent and envy the leader”. In SMLs-SMFs context it is not about resistance but about a continuous power shifts within the relationship. Moreover, when power is shifted to SMFs, followership can take both a light (positive) and dark (negative) turn. Limitations and Future Research Direction Despite integrating both followers and leaders perspectives within our research, we have used different samples within both phases of research. Further studies into power shifts are required to understand dynamics, antecedents and outcomes within various scenarios. Relevance / Importance to Conference Theme The study of followers as key components of the leadership process through their enactment of followership has been largely missed in the leadership literature. Our research demonstrates the social media context presents opportunities to investigate this further. Followers often considered the individuals who lack the capacity to lead – Adidas slogan ‘ never follow’ is exemplar. We discovered that in the context of social media this is not true. SMLs-SMFs relationships are complex and represent various scenarios of power shifts with SMFs taking active role in increasing SMLs’ power but also in destroying it. With this in mind, there is much more to be done in further understanding the role technology plays in leader-follower relationships and power shifts

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Shifting leader–follower power dynamics in a social media context

The democratisation made possible by social media presents leadership studies with an opportunity to re-evaluate the often-neglected role of power in leader–follower dynamics. Drawing on Critical Leadership Studies and using a hybrid qualitative methodology, we discover that relationships between social media leaders and followers are co-produced and largely accompanied by continuous shifts and re-negotiation of power between social media leaders and social media followers. We show that social media platforms and their metrics play an important role in such power shifts by granting equal access to communication whilst potentially tilting information asymmetries in favour of the follower. The study also shows how these relationships can affect and even pervert the leaders’ problematic search for a ‘true self’. From this observation we draw attention to wider challenges in the social media context, which poses important questions for the leadership field

Metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetectors based on gallium nitride grown by atomic layer deposition at low temperatures

Proof-of-concept, first metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetectors based on nanocrystalline gallium nitride (GaN) layers grown by low-temperature hollow-cathode plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition are demonstrated. Electrical and optical characteristics of the fabricated devices are investigated. Dark current values as low as 14 pA at a 30 V reverse bias are obtained. Fabricated devices exhibit a 15× UV/VIS rejection ratio based on photoresponsivity values at 200 nm (UV) and 390 nm (VIS) wavelengths. These devices can offer a promising alternative for flexible optoelectronics and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor integration of such devices. © 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Electronic and optical device applications of hollow cathode plasma assisted atomic layer deposition based GaN thin films

Electronic and optoelectronic devices, namely, thin film transistors (TFTs) and metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors, based on GaN films grown by hollow cathode plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) are demonstrated. Resistivity of GaN thin films and metal-GaN contact resistance are investigated as a function of annealing temperature. Effect of the plasma gas and postmetallization annealing on the performances of the TFTs as well as the effect of the annealing on the performance of MSM photodetectors are studied. Dark current to voltage and responsivity behavior of MSM devices are investigated as well. TFTs with the N2/H2 PA-ALD based GaN channels are observed to have improved stability and transfer characteristics with respect to NH3 PA-ALD based transistors. Dark current of the MSM photodetectors is suppressed strongly after high-temperature annealing in N2:H2 ambient. © 2014 American Vacuum Society

Electrochemical behaviour of ZrTi alloys in artificial physiological solution simulating in vitro inflammatory conditions

ZrTi alloys in artificial physiological solution simulating in vitro inflammatory conditions were investigated for biomedical application. Effect of surface treatment on the corrosion resistance of Zr5Ti, Zr25Ti, and Zr45Ti in acidified Ringer’s solution (pH = 3) at 25 ºC was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization curves, and scanning electrochemical microscopy. Thermal oxidation in air at 500 ºC produces materials with high in vitro corrosion resistance to acidic environments. Higher impedance values related to passivity were observed for oxidized ZrTi alloys compared to as-cast materials. SECM reveals thermal oxidation produced more compact and electrically insulating oxide filmsZirconium-titanium alloysBiomaterialsSurface treatmentSimulated physiological solutionElectrochemical techniquesCorrosion resistanc

A microsatellite marker for yellow rust resistance in wheat

Bulk segregant analysis (BSA) was used to identify molecular markers associated with yellow rust disease resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). DNAs isolated from the selected yellow rust tolerant and susceptible F-2 individuals derived from a cross between yellow rust resistant and susceptible wheat genotypes were used to established a "tolerant" and a "susceptible" DNA pool. The BSA was then performed on these DNA pools using 230 markers that were previously mapped onto the individual wheat chromosomes. One of the SSR markers (Xgwm382) located on chromosome group 2 (A, B, D genomes) was present in the resistant parent and the resistant bulk but not in the susceptible parent and the susceptible bulk, suggesting that this marker is linked to a yellow rust resistance gene. The presence of Xgwm382 was also tested in 108 additional wheat genotypes differing in yellow rust resistance. This analysis showed that 81% of the wheat genotypes known to be yellow rust resistant had the Xgwm382 marker, further suggesting that the presence of this marker correlates with yellow rust resistance in diverse wheat germplasm. Therefore, Xgwm382 could be useful for marker assisted selection of yellow rust resistances genotypes in wheat breeding programs