introduction to social media for researchers
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to Social Media for researchersHow Social Media can benefit your research and career
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Gilles Couzin16th December
2015
About this workshop What are Social Media? How are they relevant to you as a
researcher? Key Social Media tools for researchers Risks and concerns Examples
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2 May 2023
Photo by Mariano CC BY-SA 3.0
Show of hands…How many people in this room are currently using some form of social media :
For personal use? To support their research activities?
What are social media?
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I wish Twitter had
been invented!
A cynic’s definition:
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“A continuously evolving collection of time-wasting web-based and mobile applications that demean communication and collaboration between internet trolls* and other social misfits, through the exchange, creation and discussion of mostly irrelevant drivel.”
* Internet troll : a person who submits deliberately inflammatory articles to an internet discussion (The Free Dictionary)
An evangelist’s definition:
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“An umbrella term for a continuously evolving collection of web-based and mobile applications that empower people to interact, communicate, collaborate, connect and learn, through the exchange, creation and discussion of user-generated content.”
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Social Media types: Content aggregation and
curation: e.g. RSS feeds, Feedly, Pinterest, Diigo
Collaboration & productivity: e.g. wikis, Google Docs/Drive, Prezzi, Evernote, Basecamp
Media sharing: e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, SlideShare
Blogging & microblogging: e.g. Blogger, WordPress, Twitter
Social networking: e.g. Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn
Researcher specific: e.g. ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley, CiteULike
8 Photo by Jean-François Chénier CC BY-NC
Consuming vs. producing social media
Lurking is ok… a good way to get started and
learn the rules; a good way to discover people
with similar interest; can be more effective than
search engines to gather and filter relevant information.
9 Photo Wikimedia Commons
Consuming vs. producing social media
…but, making your own is the goal! become a participant in a
community; build your reputation; start small (e.g. ‘like’, post a
comment on a blog).
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A conversation space…
Photo by boellstiftung CC BY-SA 2.0
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…rather than a broadcasting platform…
Photo by garryknight CC BY-SA 2.0
Social Media bingo…
91% of millennials (15-34 year olds)…
39 million students & recent
graduates…
Over 1 billion of all internet users
(almost 1 third)…
Over 90% of Twitter ‘retweets’… 300 hours… Almost 90% of
Twitter users…
11 million researchers worldwide…
29% millennials (15-30 year olds)…
94% recruiters who use social media…
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Social Media bingo…
91% of millennials (15-34 year olds)
use Facebook
39 million students & recent graduates
are on LinkedIn
Over 1 billion of all internet users
(almost 1 third) use YouTube
Over 90% of Twitter ‘retweets’ are based
on interesting content
300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every
minute
Almost 90% of Twitter users access their account on a
mobile device
11 million researchers
worldwide use Academia.edu
29% millennials (15-34 year olds) use
94% recruiters who use social media use
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How are they relevant to researchers?
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I must write a
blog about this!
Activity:
In pairs, discuss what it is what you do as a researcher.
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“If we knew what we were doing,it wouldn’t be called research, would it?”Albert Einstein
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Some of the things you do… Talk to colleagues and exchange ideas. Attend conferences, listen to speakers and
discuss their ideas with them and with your peers.
Have an idea for a paper or project and discuss it with potential co-authors and collaborators.
Write the paper, project proposal or submission jointly with others.
Listen to and ask questions of the stakeholders. Do the work with project partners and
collaborators. Engage with the public and talk to the media. Ensure that the outcome is known about by:
• your peers (who may cite you)• others, including the general public, in
order to enhance the impact of your work.
The academic research cycle
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From the Research Information Network’s Social Media: A guide for researchers(http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/social-media-guide-researchers)
The academic research cycle
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From the Research Information Network’s Social Media: A guide for researchers(http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/social-media-guide-researchers)
DISCOVER CREATE
EVALUATESHARE
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Discover…Tools like RSS feeds, social bookmarking sites and social citation sharing, enable you:
to make the most of your professional network.
to pull and discover relevant content; to filter and organise this content
more effectively; to share this content with others.
Photo by amphalon CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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Create…Social media like wikis, blogs, Google Docs or Freedcamp can help you:
to collaborate more effectively with colleagues;
to create opportunities to forge new collaborations and benefit from the experience of others;
to draw in expertise to help you with research processes (e.g. techniques, methods);
to receive feedback as you go; to raise the profile of your work more
rapidly.
Photo by ragesoss CC BY-SA
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Evaluate…Social Media provide tools:
to source relevant and valuable information from your network (crowdsourcing);
to share recommendations through social bookmarking and social citation sites;
to review and discuss new ideas and research;
to get feedback on your ideas and work.
Flicker photo by olalindberg CC BY-NC-SA
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Share…Social Media like blogs, Facebook pages and YouTube allow you:
to disseminate your work more widely and more effectively;
to build and establish your online presence;
to reach out to new audiences; to enhance ‘impact’ and
maximise dissemination; to raise awareness of your
research activities.
Flickr photo by an untrained eye CC BY-NC
Some key social media tools for research
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Photo by Lukeroberts (Wikimedia Commons) CC BY-SA 2.5
Maybe I should use a different
brush!
RSS feeds
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Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed
An RSS news feed is a format for delivering regularly changing web content.
RSS feeds
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Feedly (feedly.com) is an RSS news aggregator for managing feeds
Use RSS feeds and Feedly: to pull, discover and filter
relevant content; to receive updates from
relevant blogs, websites, journals, etc;
to receive notification of news and events from relevant organisations;
to monitor funding opportunities.
Social bookmarking: DiigoDiigo: Social bookmarking and much more
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Use a social bookmarking site like Diigo: to collect and organise
bookmarks to relevant websites, blogs, etc;
to share bookmarks with colleagues and others;
to keep up-to-date with resources bookmarked by others;
to annotate and comment on bookmarks.
Social citation-sharing: Mendeley
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Use Mendeley: to collect, organise, cite and
share your research sources; to network and discover
papers, people and public groups;
to manage citations and bibliographies;
to read and annotate PDFs; to connect with colleagues
and securely share your papers, notes and annotations.
Other social citation sharing tools
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Wikis: UoB Confluence wiki (wikis.bris.ac.uk)
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Use a wiki: as a reflective space; to build a knowledge base; to draft research papers,
grant applications, etc, collaboratively;
to keep records of meetings agendas and minutes;
to compile a manual or glossary of useful terms.
A website developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to create and modify content.
Wikipedia
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Dr Evan Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History in the Department of History.
Wikipedia
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Dr Evan Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History in the Department of History.
“Given the great public interest in the exploits of John Cabot, millions of people had followed the story in the media and many came forward with important information. Some of this information has been used by Evan to update the page on John Cabot in Wikipedia, using the page as an effective way of sharing research findings with the public and as a tool to garner further public contribution. All these developments have resulted in the research becoming an international collaboration, encompassing academics in Italy, Canada, Australia and the United States. It also led to him receiving additional funding, of £120,000, from a private Canadian benefactor.”http://www.bris.ac.uk/research/impact-stories/2012/john-cabot.html
Media sharing: videos (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)
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Use YouTube: to tell stories around your
research; to communicate your
research to wider audiences;
to embed videos in your website or blog;
to build a community of researchers with similar interests;
to articulate ideas clearly for a range of audiences;
to get feedback via comments and reviews.
Media sharing: images (e.g. Flickr)
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Use Flickr: to create a photographic
record of your research; to keep a photographic
record of an event; to showcase your work
to a wide audience; to easily embed images
in your website or blog.
Media sharing: SlideShare
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Use SlideShare: to store and share your
presentations; to embed presentations
in your website or blog; to promote yourself as a
presenter/speaker; to get feedback from
others; to view presentations by
others; to publicise and promote
your research.
Micro-blogging: Twitter
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A waste of time? Yes, for those with time to waste…
…a valuable filtering, communication and dissemination channel for everyone else!
Use Twitter: to follow and connect with
people with similar interests; to filter relevant information; to participate in discussions
(e.g. #ecrchat). to exchange short reflective
notes during an event (using the event #tag)
to share updates, opinions, resources and information with followers;
to keep up-to-date with funding opportunities, calls for papers, etc.
Blogging
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Use a blog: As a collaborative space to keep
a log of ideas, resources, events attended, etc.
As a private space for reflection and note-taking (similar to a personal diary).
As a public-facing website to: develop a personal voice and
presence; receive early feedback on research
ideas; record reflexions on research or
events attended; engage with a wider audience; tell stories related to your
research.
Blogging tools
Blogging tools:
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(http://www.blogger.com)
(http://wordpress.com)
(University hosted, can be UoB branded, including UoB URL, e.g. mygroup.blogs.bris.ac.uk)
(http://blogs.ilrt.org)
Social networking: Facebook
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http://www.facebook.com/CHI2012
Use a Facebook page: to create a conference or
workshop page; to disseminate your
research to a wider audience.
to recruit research participants.
to engage with your audience(s)
Use a Facebook group: to create private or public
spaces for themed discussions.
Social networking: LinkedIn
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Use LinkedIn: to promote your research
activities and publications; to join groups and engage
in discussions with peers; to build a professional
network beyond the boundaries of academia;
to promote visibility for jobs & consulting opportunities.
to network for funding and employment opportunities.
Social networking for academics: ResearchGate
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Use ResearchGate: to create exposure for
your work; to discuss your research
and connect with other researchers in your field;
to ask questions to get help with your research;
to showcase your skills and expertise so that potential collaborators can find you.
Other social media tools for researchers Academia.edu (www.academia.edu) – aimed at
academics around the world MethodSpace (www.methodspace.com) – aimed at
social scientists, run by SAGE publishing Colwiz (www.colwiz.com) – research collaboration
and productivity platform to manage the entire research lifecycle
ORCID (orcid.org) – an international standard for creating and maintaining a registry of unique researcher IDs and a method of linking research outputs to these identifiers.
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Managing risks and concerns
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I don’t like this pigeon sitting on my head!
Activity:
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In pairs, discuss what concerns you about using social media.
What concerns do you have? “I don’t have the time.” Information overload… or “filter failure” Privacy and confidentiality Ownership, IPR and copyright Stability of technology: what’s here/free
today, may be gone/charged tomorrow (e.g. Nature Network)!
Quality and authority: how to separate the wheat from the chaff?
Keeping up with the speed of change of social media technologies
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…you need a social media strategy
Illustration by hikingartist.com CC BY-ND 2.0
People: Is it just you or your team? Purpose: What are your primary goals (e.g. are you
trying to communicate research results; find collaborators; promote your work?)
Audiences: Who are you trying to reach (e.g. other researchers; lay people; funders, etc)?
Current conversation: Who are the thought leaders in your field? What are they saying? What tools do they use?
Tools: What are the best tools for your goals and audiences?
Content: What content will you share (e.g. news updates; research activities; photos; videos; views; etc)?
Identity: What name, logo, etc are you going to use? Evaluation: How will you measure success?
Things to consider when building your strategy*
Photo by kenteegardin CC BY-SA 2.0 * Krista Jensen, (http://www.slideshare.net/KMbYork/social-media-for-research-caura-2013)
Final thoughts
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Photo by Stefano Bussolon CC BY-NC
10 tips to get started1. Explore online guides (start with delicious.com/
uobittraining/social-media-for-researchers).2. Do some “lurking” (look at examples of good practice).3. Locate pertinent and relevant online sources (e.g. who
to follow on Twitter, interesting bloggers).4. Start using content aggregation and curation tools (e.g.
RSS, Diigo).5. Identify a few key tools and start with those – know your
limits!6. Develop your network (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter).7. Join academic social network sites (e.g. ResearchGate,
Mendeley).8. Create your own website.9. Start blogging and twittering about your research (or
whatever else takes your fancy!).10.Keep your purpose and audience in mind.
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Photo by Ben (Falcifer) CC BY-NC 2.0
Some (free) tools for measuring success Google Analytics – can be used to get stats
(including social sources) on your website or blog.
Facebook Insight to track your Facebook activity
Klout, TweetStats, SocialBro or TweetCounter to track your Twitter activity
TweetDeck is great to manage and monitor and track your Twitter activity
SumAll – a dashboard for monitoring most of your social media channels
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Where to find more information List of social media accounts at the University:
www.bristol.ac.uk/connect/directory Making use of social media and mobile applications at the
University:www.bristol.ac.uk/web/guide/social-media
Research Information Network – Social Media: A guide for researcherswww.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/social-media-guide-researchers
Vitae Innovate / Open University – Handbook of social media for researchers and supervisorswww.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/567271/Handbook-of-social-media-for-researchers-and-supervisors.html
Links to social media resources for researchers on Deliciousdelicious.com/uobittraining/social-media-for-researchers
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Good examples of social media use by researchers
Blogs:• jonathansaha.wordpress.com• www.alexsarchives.org• policybristol.blogs.bris.ac.uk• cabot-institute.blogspot.co.uk• getalifephd.blogspot.co.uk• theresearchwhisperer.wordpres
s.comTwitter accounts:• twitter.com/Jonathan_Saha• twitter.com/algarfaria• twitter.com/glacier_ecology• twitter.com/AcademicsSayPinterest:• uk.pinterest.com/urbanstudies• uk.pinterest.com/TxWRI• uk.pinterest.com/environhealth
Facebook pages:• www.facebook.com/childrenofthe9
0s• www.facebook.com/academics• www.facebook.com/WomenInRese
arch• indianapublicmedia.org/
amomentofscience/facebook-science-pages
Flickr:• www.flickr.com/photos/artsci_ucla• www.flickr.com/photos/kazutakats
utsui• www.flickr.com/groups/koehllabYouTube:• www.youtube.com/user/CO90s• www.youtube.com/user/TheCabotI
nstituteSlideshare:• www.slideshare.net/signer• www.slideshare.net/benlaken
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Questions?
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Photo by Leo Reynolds CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Credits and licenceSome of the ideas in this presentation are based on Using Social Media to Enhance Your Research Activities by Brian Kelly available at http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/using-social-media-to-enhance-your-research-activities-workshop/ under the Creative Commons Attribution Unported 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
This presentation is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
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