Social Media for Early Career in Higher Education

Web & Social Media for Early Career Researchers

in Higher Education

Jennifer M. Jones, @jennifermjones http://www.jennifermjones.net

Developing awareness of your professional profile online

University of Sheffield Doctoral Conference 21st June 2016 @SheffieldDAC

Presentation Summary• Present a ‘live’ case studies example of the

effective use of social media for strategic impact as an early careers researcher;

• Examine the multiple uses for using different types of social media for developing an academic profile online;

• Demonstrate benefits and provide tips for starting or developing a professional research identity online.

What this workshop could be…

• An opportunity to hear about how social media can be used in and around research practice, using researcher-led case studies;

• A reflection on how certain digital technologies can be used in an academic environment and a cursory overview of what is possible;

• An argument for the need for wider discussion and debate in this area;

• Ongoing dialogue - audience participation is welcome.

What this workshop isn’t…

• A one size fits all approach;

• A tick-box training course, you will need to build your profile beyond the session;

• Social Media 101.

Demystifying the process by focusing on practice, not the technology being used

What is your academic digital footprint?

“Jennifer M Jones”

Challenges

Concerns of over privacy, self promotion, confidence and time.

Opportunities

Types of social media• Blogs and content management systems;

• Collaborative documents;

• Social Networks;

• Discussion Forums;

• Content Communities.

Types of social media• Blogs and content management systems:

Wordpress, Blogger, medium.com

• Collaborative documents: Wikis, Google Drive, Dropbox;

• Social Networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter;

• Discussion Forums: Reddit, Stumpleupon;

• Content Communities: YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat.

Types of social media• Blogs and content management systems:

Wordpress, Blogger, medium.com

• Collaborative documents: Wikis, Google Drive, Dropbox;

• Social Networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter;

• Discussion Forums: Reddit, Stumpleupon;

• Content Communities: YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram.

Blogs and content management systems

Case Study 1: Academic Blogging

What could you write your academic blog?

• Conference reports and summaries of events attended as participant;

• Conference and seminar presentations, including slides and accompanying links;

• “Live field notes” on research project, impact and dissemination as you go;

• Notification of grants, papers, books, invited talks - writing your own press releases & make it easier for University corporate media team.

Benefits of academic blogging

• Control over your own content & identity and how you wish to be represented online;

• Engage with audiences who are within and across disciplines, academic and non-academic audiences;

• Practice writing for different audiences and for different forms of impact;

• Dissemination,can keep track of work and progress being made, not just the final ‘product’ at the end.

Research

Social Networking Websites

Case Study 2: Twitter at academic events #CJ15

How could you use Twitter at/for an academic event?

• Provides a ‘back channel’ for the conference audience to engage and respond to presentations;

• Connect with other academics who are attending the event and follow their activity;

• Amplifies event activity to promote and engage beyond the conference room;

• Produces a immediate record of documentation & evaluation of feedback.

Benefits of social networking in academia

• Curate a relevant network by subscribing to relevant information from individuals, institutions, disciplinary fields (journals, associations, policy);

• Learn how to communicate concisely and converse about all aspects of an academic career, not just the final ‘product’ (i.e. #phdchat #ecrchat);

• Network with academics by joining conversations, stay in touch with people and what they are working on and let them know what you are doing.

Research

Content Communities

Case Study 3: Using video to capture impact of practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4QmSfiHZSs

How could I use multimedia in my academic practice?

• Capture short interviews with participants in a research study;

• Record a short summary of a new journal or publication, a ‘trailer’ for the full article;

• Record presentations or seminars so others can watch later;

• Pictures can tell 1000 words. They also are very compatible with other forms of social media.

Benefits of using multimedia• 60 seconds of video can convey more than 500

words of text, can save time but also illustrate work effectively;

• If you host on a content community, you can embed the materials else where, increasing chances of people viewing;

• Can use your photos, audio and videos you’ve made in presentations and blog posts without needing copyright permissions.

• Collaborative documents: Wikis, Google Drive, Dropbox;

• Discussion Forums: Reddit, Stumpleupon;

How could you use them, what are the benefits what are the risks?

Summary and Conclusions

“Jennifer M Jones”

Tips for developing a professional profile online

• Set up web and social media accounts to reflect your professional development goals, evaluate your strengths and where you’d like to improve i.e. using a blog to experiment with writing;

• Capitalise on existing activity i.e. document events that you attend, suggest a hashtag for a future seminar or event, interview guest speakers using audio recorder or smart phone;

Tips for developing a professional profile online

• Search for others in your field to see if they blog/use social media and subscribe to their social media feed. Your network is as only as useful as the people you chose to follow.

• A small presence is better than no presence. Make it easy for people to contact you. Search engines favour active accounts that link to other websites. Update frequently. No formal activity is too small.

Where do you want to be next year?

Thank you!Jennifer M. Jones, @jennifermjones

http://www.jennifermjones.net jennifer.jones@uws.ac.uk