Improve your Research Profile (6): The why and how of Social Media

The sixth in an 8-part series on improving your research profile, reputation and impact. Discusses the various social media platorms and the pros and cons of social media use.

This presentation is part of an 8-part series that I created in my role as Staff Development Lead at Middlesex University (see: Supportive, inclusive & collaborative research cultures). The series is comprised of three key parts:

Social media for academics

What do we mean when we talk about social media for academics? Broadly speaking there are five categories of online platforms that help academics to communicate with others and build their identity and reputation: researcher profiles, LinkedIn, paper repositories, text based sharing and visual sharing. This presentation briefly discusses each of these in turn and provides key recommendations. Watch it to find out more.

I have also written up a very extensive 8-part blogpost series about this, covering the why of social media, an overview of the key options and their respective strengths, as well as five dedicated posts for Google Scholar Profiles, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Twitter, and blogging. In a final post I also explain how these five options work together, both as a source for professional and academic information and as a way to share news about your research.

Why (not) use Social Media?

There are at least four key reasons to use social media:

  1. to publicize your work and to generate impact, whether that is academic impact or wider societal impact,
  2. to build your academic network and collaborations,
  3. to build public engagement by interacting with people outside academia,
  4. to stay current in the field.

In sum, all of these platforms help you to build a professional identity and reputation. Watch the presentation to find out more.

But academics also mention lots of reasons why they do not want to use social media. They are summarized in the next two slides, where I also include recommendations to deal with each of these concerns. Watch the presentation to find out more.

Other posts in this series

Find the resources on my website useful?

I cover all the expenses of operating my website privately. If you enjoyed this post and want to support me in maintaining my website, consider buying a copy of one of my books (see below) or supporting the Publish or Perish software.

Aug 2022:

Only
 £5.95...
Nov 2022:

Only
 £5.95...
Feb 2023:

Only
 £5.95...
May 2023:

Only
 £5.95...