Public Sphere and Affinity Space on Twitter

Introduction  The start of the pandemic in March 2020 has significantly impacted thousands of educational institutions across the United States that transitioned to offering completely remote online courses and programs. Anecdotally, it has not been easy for students and educators to transit to an all-digital setting. While the development of communication technologies and online social networking sites has allowed for the expansion of online learning opportunities, the radical shift to online education has also yielded new challenges. Both opportunities and challenges can cause educators to turn to social media for sharing and seeking solutions  In this paper, we seek to characterize the space that educators have created for these discussions online. As discussed by McGee, affinity spaces are "the kinds of learning communities to be found on interest-based websites, which he presents as a model for learning that seriously challenges current school practices" (Nygard & Skaftun, 2017). This theoretical model differs from the learning environment of traditional face-to-face classes for various reasons such as the medium of communication, modes of learning, and even the stakeholders present, among others. Thus, in this paper, we begin with the theoretical frameworks of an affinity space and the public sphere to investigate the topical arrangement of these conversations, making a connection between the two theories and approaching the broader theoretical question of whether political and non-political discussions can be fully separated, particularly on such a public forum like Twitter. Then, we consider leaders' position in the conversations of educators on Twitter, investigating user characteristics associated with typical leadership in a given topic area based on affinity space and public sphere literature. Educators on Twitter The literature on Twitter use in education describes various educational applications at different educational levels, from first graders to graduate students. Studies show that educators use Twitter for three primary reasons; (1) to improve communication, (2) to enhance classroom activities, and (3) to promote professional development (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). Carpenter and Krutka (2014) demonstrated that Twitter could boost communication between learners and educators. Through participation in these conversations, educators become more proactive and engage in teaching their students through alternative modes of learning, which is found to increase their efforts (Chawinga, 2017). Although research on communication use of Twitter is limited, numerous practitioner-oriented articles detail its use in communication. According to Carpenter and Krutka (2014), educators can use micro-blogging to inform or update school communities on events, activities, and policy changes. Twitter is also used in professional development (PD). Twitter potentially provides PD opportunities that are different from traditional methods due to its speed in communication (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). Research shows that Twitter can facilitate educator's PD in numerous ways. It allows instructors to contribute and discuss ideas through chats and tweets.  They can also share and acquire resources by tweeting links to education-related articles, wikis, blogs, and other websites(Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). Twitter also encourages micro-blogging, which boosts networking. Studies also show that the effective use of Twitter could influence the students' perception of the professor's credibility. In one study done by Johnson (2011), the authors found out that professors who use both "social and scholarly tweets" are perceived by students to be more credible than professors who only post either 'social' or 'scholarly' tweets in their profile. Perhaps this is related to the advantage found in a more recent study, which shows that professors who are posting social tweets increase their "engageability" on the part of the student compared to professors who are not (Kunka, 2020). Twitter can also connect educators, learners, administrators, and other educational stakeholders through a common hashtag or interaction between accounts. In widespread usage, hashtags help social media users categorize their social posts and join popular conversation topics on almost any form of discussion. Accordingly, Carpenter et al. (2020) have shown that one of the most effective ways of using hashtags is "facilitating professional connections and interactions between geographically dispersed educators with common interests and needs." Additionally, in higher education, micro-blogging can facilitate greater communication between students and instructors (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). An instructor can use Twitter to remind students about assignment deadlines and specific activities. Twitter can also help students interact socially and professionally. Most importantly, Twitter enables students to speak directly to the educator (Ricoy & Feliz, 2016).  In this case, instructors use Twitter to encourage introverted students to participate in learning activities. Another area where educators use Twitter is classroom activities. Examples of classroom activities where Twitter is applicable include back-channeling, resource sharing, historical perspective-taking and reenactment, and media studies(Carpenter & Krutka, 2014).  Back-channeling through twitter refers to an action that enables learners to continue with a conversation or ask questions regarding a lecture, a movie, or any concurrent activity (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). University students have linked Twitter use in-class activities to increased course satisfaction. According to Rehm and Notten (2016), Twitter can engage students with emerging technology, strengthen their interactions with instructors, and increase access to information related to course material. Therefore, the use of Twitter in class activities fosters a community feeling and enhances students' relationships with the educators. Studies also show that it is essential to have educators on Twitter to facilitate learning through this social media platform (Rehm & Notten, 2016). As noted, Twitter strengthens communication between students and instructors. It generates communication and interaction, which lead to the creation and dissemination of content at tremendous speed. A study indicates that educators can use Twitter to increase the learning process. The number of tweets is associated with students' involvement in class activities (Ricoy & Feliz, 2016). It is important to note that the purpose of introducing twitter was to improve writing, develop reflection, and expand the class community.  Therefore, having educators on Twitter improves the learning process. Educators use Twitter as a learning tool and a teaching tool because it increases communication and enhances participation in-class activities. As noted, Twitter helps inhibited students from communicating with their educators effectively. Twitter also enables educators to share and acquire resources by tweeting links to education-related articles, wikis, blogs, and other websites (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). In a more recent study done by Carpenter et al. (2020), of around sixteen popular hashtags that professors were using, the authors have shown that this method of sharing and acquiring resources is increased, not only of the increased traffic towards these resources but also because of the increase sharing and resharing of links, thereby increasing the chances of educators being aware of their existence. Ultimately, these methods improve the learning process as they redound to the benefit of the student. Affinity Space  Affinity Spaces are effective learning environments where individuals with shared interests gather and engage with each other to gain expertise on a particular subject (Gee, 2004). These spaces have no "limitations" and can be either virtual, physical spaces, or hybrid. Involving digital media in an affinity space can provide a rich area for participation in it (King, 2010). An encouraging part of Affinity Spaces stems from the multimodal possibilities for engagement and communication with others in this shared space. Educators can use hashtags, directly engage with others using the @ symbol, utilize videos, podcasts, and many forms of alternative digital expression to demonstrate their expertise and facilitate learning (Curwood, 2013).  Original affinity spaces refer to those affinity spaces that digital media are not involved in. Churches can be good examples of original affinity spaces. People go to churches to share their religious thoughts and values and participate in social events to connect with others. They meet other members face-to-face at a physically existing place. High school newsrooms can also be categorized as original affinity spaces (Gee, 2004). It offers participants to have different degrees of participation. Whoever comes into space is considered part of the affinity space, no matter how long or how often they stay in the space (Gee & Hayes, 2012). According to Gee's article, digital media transformed affinity spaces into a new form that we can call digital affinity spaces. Many previous pieces of research discussed digital affinity spaces. The biggest characteristic of all of them is that they are all structured by digital media, in other words, entirely online. They can be created by online games (i.e., MMORPG), social media, or any other digital content. For instance, in The Hunger Games affinity space, the involvement of players created the affinity space for them to share their common goals and thoughts that are relevant to the game and have discussions in various other platforms such as Subreddit forums, discord, and even in social media groups that focus on the matter. While they can be either virtual, physical spaces, or hybrid, there are 11 features of affinity space, including the importance of common endeavor (rather than race, class, disability, gender) and that people with differing levels of knowledge all share common space (Table 1). Affinity spaces do not necessarily have to incorporate all the elements to be considered successful – a few elements essentially fulfill the 'space' needed for collective intelligence. Most of the elements allow for enormous flexibility for a group of people to share resources and offer a "new analytic lens" in specific topic are...