Using Social Media to Communicate Your Research

Nicola Osborne, Social Media Officer

http://edina.ac.uk/

Heriot-Watt Crucible VI, 14th March 2014, Edinburgh

Introduction

What is Social Media?• Social Media are any websites that allow you to contribute, to

engage, to connect with others and are “Web 2.0” tools (O’Reilly 2005).

• Examples include:– Blogs (WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, etc.)– Twitter– YouTube and Vimeo, Vine– Facebook– Google+– Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.– LinkedIn, Academia.edu, etc.– Mendeley, Delicious, Diigo, Reddit, etc.– FigShare– Stack Overflow, Jelly

Why Use Social Media?Social media tools…• Are go-to spaces for expertise and advice. • Offer new ways to tell stories, to engage in dialogue,

to reach out to your audience(s).• Rank highly on Google, Bing, etc. • Can enable direct access to key figures from

Principal Investigators to Research Councils to press and potential research participants.

• May generate media interest in your work, new collaborations and other unexpected opportunities.

• Offer inexpensive ways to raise your own profile and that of your research.

What tools should you use?

• Blogs - make your work visible, enable semi-formal ways to share working methods and progress, and provide a way to find and engage in dialogue with your audience.

• Twitter - very effective way to share key research updates, build a network around your work, find peer support and advice, track news.

• Video or Audio - can bring clarity to complex concepts quickly. Well-made short videos or animations can convey complex concepts and research quickly, accessibly and in very engaging sharable ways.

• Flickr, Pinterest, etc. – any images bring a project to life – research is about people, ideas, events, collaboration, equipment... Images make your ideas, achievements and discoveries far more tangible.

What should you share?• What your research is about and what it aims to

achieve. • Processes, updates, changes of approach – to the

extent that such transparency is appropriate and acceptable.

• Quirky, playful and accessible content around your work and research area.

• Publications, presentations, press mentions and materials that reflect research outputs and expertise.

• CHECK ANY EXISTING PRIVACY, NON-DISCLOSURE OR SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES AND ENSURE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE OR ACTIVITY COMPLIES.

Some examples…

Blogs: What’s on my Blackboard?

http://whatsonmyblackboard.wordpress.com/

Blogs: The Conversation

http://whatsonmyblackboard.wordpress.com/

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Blogs: Mary Beard

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Facebook: I Fucking Love Science

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Good Examples: NPR’s Seed to Shirt

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Twitter: Joe Hanson

https://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe

Planning Social Media Use

• Consider what goals you want to achieve, what you want to share about your research. How can you track progress?

• Think about your audience(s): where do they hang out online? What will engage them in your work? How can you make it relevant to them?

• Be creative – what social media tools could help you to communicate in new ways?

• Be pragmatic - what best fits your project’s style, expertise, and time availability?

Planning Social Media Content

• Brand your presences and ensure you complete your profile information. Always link back to your definitive research profiles and project websites.

• Regularly share interesting engaging content, use images, listen to and engage with the audiences you are reaching out to.

• Ensure you keep profiles and presences up to date and relevant, review their effectiveness, and ensure they represent your work as you want it to be seen.

What should not be shared

• Commercially sensitive data or other material your employer/PI would not want shared or that might breach guidelines.

• Personal information about colleagues, participants, those at partner organisation that might breach Data Protection law or ethical guidance.

• Material (images, discussion board posts, tweets, etc.) that might impact on your own professional reputation or the credibility of your research.

• Anything you would not want a funder, professional peer, project partner, or future employer to see or read.

Q&A

Questions?

Useful Resources• LSE. 2013. Impact of Social Sciences blog.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/

• Minocha, Shailey and Petre, Marian. 2012. UK: Vitae Innovate and Open University. Available from: http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/Vitae_Innovate_Open_University_Social_Media_Handbook_2012.pdf.

• O’Reilly, T. 2005. What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. In O’Reilly, 30th September 2005. Available from: http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html 

• Patel, S. 2011. 10 ways researchers can use Twitter. In Networked Researcher, 3rd August 2011. Available from: http://www.networkedresearcher.co.uk/2011/08/03/10-ways-researchers-can-use-twitter/

Privacy Settings Links:• Facebook Privacy Settings:

http://www.facebook.com/help/privacy• LinkedIn Privacy Settings:

http://learn.linkedin.com/settings/• Guide to Google+ Privacy Settings:

http://lifehacker.com/5827683/a-guide-to-google%252B-privacy-and-information-control/

Managing Your Identity OnlineUseful Search Engine• Google: http://www.google.com and Google Blog Search:

http://www.google.co.uk/blogsearch/• Bing: http://www.bing.com/ and Bing Social Search:

http://www.bing.com/social/• Whos talkin: http://whostalkin.com/• Social Mention: http://www.socialmention.com/• IceRocket: http://www.icerocket.com/• Twitter Search: https://twitter.com/#!/search-home• Topsy: http://topsy.com/

Useful Tools for Automatic Checking and Task Management• Google Alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts• Tweetbeep: http://tweetbeep.com/• IFTTT: https://ifttt.com/