Impact Challenge
Impact Challenge Day 9: find your community on Twitter
The next two days of the Impact Challenge will cover the biggest social media platforms on the planet: Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter is a microblogging site with 560 million active users, and more than 1 in 40 researchers are reportedly active on the site.
Scientists who use Twitter tend to be effusive in their
praise: Twitter helps them stay on top of news in their field, find new
publications, get speaking and publishing opportunities, communicate
their research directly to the public, and–perhaps most importantly–find
a sense of community. In fact, among researchers who use social media
in a professional context, 83% declared Twitter to be the most useful tool they use.
praise: Twitter helps them stay on top of news in their field, find new
publications, get speaking and publishing opportunities, communicate
their research directly to the public, and–perhaps most importantly–find
a sense of community. In fact, among researchers who use social media
in a professional context, 83% declared Twitter to be the most useful tool they use.
Today, we’ll explore Twitter’s usefulness for you.
We’ll get you onto the site, engaging others, finding the best sources
of information in your field, and measuring the diffusion of your
research among other researchers and the public.
We’ll get you onto the site, engaging others, finding the best sources
of information in your field, and measuring the diffusion of your
research among other researchers and the public.
Sign up
Creating a Twitter account is dead simple: logon to Twitter.com and sign up for an account.
On the next screen, you’ll be prompted by Twitter to choose
a handle–make it similar to your blog handle or your name, so your
professional “brand” matches across platforms.
a handle–make it similar to your blog handle or your name, so your
professional “brand” matches across platforms.
Complete the rest of the setup steps–find other users to
follow and connect your email account to import other contacts–then head
to your email to confirm your account.
follow and connect your email account to import other contacts–then head
to your email to confirm your account.
All done? Now it’s time to do the important stuff.
Personalize your account
First, add a photo to your “avatar” by clicking the blue
camera icon in the upper left-hand corner, next to your name. Make it
simple by adding the same photo that you used for LinkedIn or your
website; it’s easy change if you want to add another photo in the
future.
camera icon in the upper left-hand corner, next to your name. Make it
simple by adding the same photo that you used for LinkedIn or your
website; it’s easy change if you want to add another photo in the
future.
Next, add a short bio. This is your chance to explain who you are in 160 characters or less. LSE Impact Blog recommends
stating your experience and research interests, university or
organizational affiliation, and a link to your blog. We also recommend
adding a few hashtags (more on those in a moment) that can connect you
to other users with similar interests across the platform. For example,
I’ve added “#libraries #altmetrics #craftbeer” to my bio.
stating your experience and research interests, university or
organizational affiliation, and a link to your blog. We also recommend
adding a few hashtags (more on those in a moment) that can connect you
to other users with similar interests across the platform. For example,
I’ve added “#libraries #altmetrics #craftbeer” to my bio.
To add your bio, click on your username beside your avatar
and on your profile page, click the “Edit Profile” button the right-hand
side of your profile. There, you can add your bio and a link to your
blog or website.
and on your profile page, click the “Edit Profile” button the right-hand
side of your profile. There, you can add your bio and a link to your
blog or website.
Got your basic account set up? Now it’s time to start engaging with other scientists and the public.
Find people to follow
Twitter users share research articles, news, and tidbits
about their lives on a daily basis. Your next step is to find users who
share your interests and to “follow” them to start receiving their
updates.
about their lives on a daily basis. Your next step is to find users who
share your interests and to “follow” them to start receiving their
updates.
Twitter tries to make it as easy as possible for you to
find other people to follow via the “Who to Follow” panel on the
righthand side of your profile, seen above. Their recommendations are
usually either spot on (you can see above they’ve suggested OpenScience for me) or completely off the mark (they suggested WomensHealthMag
to me based only on the fact that I’m female and that I selected
“Health” as one of my interests upon signing up–under the mistaken
assumption that “Health” = “Healthcare”). The more people you follow,
though, the better their system gets at finding you new suggestions.
Click on the “View all” link in the “Who to follow” panel to get a long
list of suggested users.
find other people to follow via the “Who to Follow” panel on the
righthand side of your profile, seen above. Their recommendations are
usually either spot on (you can see above they’ve suggested OpenScience for me) or completely off the mark (they suggested WomensHealthMag
to me based only on the fact that I’m female and that I selected
“Health” as one of my interests upon signing up–under the mistaken
assumption that “Health” = “Healthcare”). The more people you follow,
though, the better their system gets at finding you new suggestions.
Click on the “View all” link in the “Who to follow” panel to get a long
list of suggested users.
Another great way to find people to follow is to search
Twitter for particular interests. From any page on Twitter, type a
keyword into the Search box at the upper right-hand corner of the page.
On the results page, click “People” in the left-hand navigation bar to
narrow the results to Twitter users who match your interest.
Twitter for particular interests. From any page on Twitter, type a
keyword into the Search box at the upper right-hand corner of the page.
On the results page, click “People” in the left-hand navigation bar to
narrow the results to Twitter users who match your interest.
You can see here that I’ve searched for the term
“bioinformatics” and narrowed the results to include Twitter users who
match that term:
“bioinformatics” and narrowed the results to include Twitter users who
match that term:
names and interesting bios. When you find a user you want updates from,
click the “Follow” button to the right of their bio. Now, when you’re on
your homepage you’ll see their recent updates:
- Take a look at who others are following (on their profile, click “Following”) and follow them,
- Find curated Twitter Lists on the profiles of those you follow, like these lists for Scientists and STEM Academics (click “Lists” on their profile pages, then scan the lists they’ve created to find ones relevant to your area of research), and
- Watch the updates on your Twitter homepage for unfamiliar
names–chances are that someone has “retweeted” (shared someone else’s
update with their audience) a user that you’d be interested in getting
updates from.
Try to follow at least twenty colleagues and organizations
in your field to begin with, and take some time to read through each
user’s “timeline” (updates on their profile page) to learn more about
them and their interests. You’re going to start chatting with your
colleagues in our next step.
in your field to begin with, and take some time to read through each
user’s “timeline” (updates on their profile page) to learn more about
them and their interests. You’re going to start chatting with your
colleagues in our next step.
Making connections on Twitter
Now we get into the meat of the challenge: making connections with others in your field.
One of the things that makes Twitter so great is that it is
a no-pressure forum to spark conversations with your colleagues about a
variety of topics, including but not limited to your shared area of
study. Twitter also helps you find members of the public who are
interested in your area of study.
a no-pressure forum to spark conversations with your colleagues about a
variety of topics, including but not limited to your shared area of
study. Twitter also helps you find members of the public who are
interested in your area of study.
Researchers who participated in a recent study of academics’ use of social media reportedly appreciate Twitter because:
- ‘Love the ability to chat to colleagues on Twitter, better than
seeing each other just once a year at conferences and actually I have
“met” people on Twitter before meeting them IRL at conference.’ - ‘My focus is science outreach to general audiences. These formats
[Facebook, Twitter, Storify] are easy to use and my audiences are there.
It helps me disseminate information about science, science news and the
process of science to broader audiences.’ - ‘Twitter allows me to make connections to folks that I would not otherwise have – journalists, policy professionals.’
You’re going to engage with others by tweeting at
them–writing short messages that either respond to one of their updates,
ask questions, or share information with them. Let’s talk now about
what makes for good “tweeting.”
them–writing short messages that either respond to one of their updates,
ask questions, or share information with them. Let’s talk now about
what makes for good “tweeting.”
Basics of composing a tweet
Tweets are the 140 character messages that users compose to
update others on a variety of things: their opinions on a study, recent
news, a thought-provoking blog post, and so on. You can write anything
in your updates, and attach photos and location information, too.
update others on a variety of things: their opinions on a study, recent
news, a thought-provoking blog post, and so on. You can write anything
in your updates, and attach photos and location information, too.
Some things you might want to share with others include:
- recent papers in your field (both papers you’ve written and others’ articles)
- news and blog posts relevant to your discipline (science policy,
funding announcements, articles from Nature News, New Scientist, the
Impactstory blog, and your other favorite sources of information) - your opinion on developments in your field, others’ research, and so on (don’t be afraid to (respectfully) rock the boat)
- a funny thing that happened in your lab, at a conference, or in the classroom
- happenings from your personal life (are you enjoying your vacation?
Did you meet a wallaby for the first time in your life? Are you proud of
your most recent 5k race time?)
No matter what you tweet about, there are some basic things
you can do to make your tweets more interesting to others (and thus
more likely to be shared via a retweet):
you can do to make your tweets more interesting to others (and thus
more likely to be shared via a retweet):
- use hashtags (a word or phrase that follows the “#” sign, like “#scicomm” or “#tenure”)
- attach a photo to your tweet (when composing a tweet, click the “Add photo” camera icon and upload a picture from your computer),
- consider following the 5-3-2 rule:
social media experts recommend that for every 10 updates you post, 5
should be content from others that are relevant to your followers, 3
should be professional content, and 2 should be personal updates
When in doubt, just remember to keep it professional and you can’t really go wrong.
Tweeting at conferences
Now that you’re tweeting, let’s explore some of the benefits (and drawbacks) to tweeting at conferences.
Some academics swear by tweeting at conferences, because it
provides an easy way to learn new things and meet new people by
following and participating in conversations. As Bik & Goldstein explain,
provides an easy way to learn new things and meet new people by
following and participating in conversations. As Bik & Goldstein explain,
Tweeting from conferences
(discussing cutting-edge research developments, linking to journal
articles or lab websites, e.g., …) can introduce other scientists to
valuable content, and consequently provide networking opportunities for
users who actively post during meetings…Journalists and scientists
following a conference tweet stream may be additionally introduced to
new groups of researchers (particularly early-career scientists or those
scientists who are new to Twitter) with relevant and related interests;
conference tweeting can thus serve to enhance in-person networking
opportunities by expanding these activities to online spheres.
(discussing cutting-edge research developments, linking to journal
articles or lab websites, e.g., …) can introduce other scientists to
valuable content, and consequently provide networking opportunities for
users who actively post during meetings…Journalists and scientists
following a conference tweet stream may be additionally introduced to
new groups of researchers (particularly early-career scientists or those
scientists who are new to Twitter) with relevant and related interests;
conference tweeting can thus serve to enhance in-person networking
opportunities by expanding these activities to online spheres.
Further, Jonathan Lawson points out
that it allows students and early career researchers, in particular, to
participate in a “backchannel” that’s not dominated by the most
established researchers, like the conferences themselves sometimes are.
that it allows students and early career researchers, in particular, to
participate in a “backchannel” that’s not dominated by the most
established researchers, like the conferences themselves sometimes are.
The next time you’re attending a conference, find out what
the meeting’s hashtag is, and then search for and follow it to “listen
in” on the conversation. (We searched for and followed tweets for #EuroSciPy, at right.) A popular way to follow conference hashtags is TweetChat, which filters out the non-conference tweets in your timeline, making conference-related tweets easier to follow.
the meeting’s hashtag is, and then search for and follow it to “listen
in” on the conversation. (We searched for and followed tweets for #EuroSciPy, at right.) A popular way to follow conference hashtags is TweetChat, which filters out the non-conference tweets in your timeline, making conference-related tweets easier to follow.
And when you’re ready to participate, you can add your
voice by writing tweets that include the conference hashtag. When you’re
listening to a talk, summarize the main points for your followers, add your own commentary to the speaker’s, and share related papers and websites. Just make sure you have the presenters’ permission to tweet about their talk; some would prefer to keep their findings off the internet until they have published on them.
voice by writing tweets that include the conference hashtag. When you’re
listening to a talk, summarize the main points for your followers, add your own commentary to the speaker’s, and share related papers and websites. Just make sure you have the presenters’ permission to tweet about their talk; some would prefer to keep their findings off the internet until they have published on them.
You can also tweet using the conference hashtag to organize
informal “tweetups”, which can help build relationships and ward off
boredom in unfamiliar cities (“Invigorated after Stodden’s great
keynote! Anyone up for grabbing a coffee before the reception to talk
about it? #meeting2014”).
informal “tweetups”, which can help build relationships and ward off
boredom in unfamiliar cities (“Invigorated after Stodden’s great
keynote! Anyone up for grabbing a coffee before the reception to talk
about it? #meeting2014”).
For more “how to’s” on conference tweeting, check out SouthernFriedScience’s primer on tweeting at conferences.
Measuring your success
Logon to Twitter Analytics and review your latest tweets
that share links to your blog or your papers. On the dashboard view
(pictured above), you’ll see all of your tweets and a summary of your
impressions and engagements.
that share links to your blog or your papers. On the dashboard view
(pictured above), you’ll see all of your tweets and a summary of your
impressions and engagements.
The number of impressions are time your tweets appeared on
someone’s timelines. The number of engagements are the number of times
your tweets have been retweeted, clicked through, or clicked on to learn
more information about what you shared. They help you measure the
amount of exposure you’re receiving and others’ interest in what you’re
tweeting, respectively.
someone’s timelines. The number of engagements are the number of times
your tweets have been retweeted, clicked through, or clicked on to learn
more information about what you shared. They help you measure the
amount of exposure you’re receiving and others’ interest in what you’re
tweeting, respectively.
The dashboard view is good at summarizing your impressions
and engagements over various time periods. The default view is for the
past 28 days, but you can click the calendar button in the upper right
hand corner to select a date range of your choosing–useful if you want
to see what effect tweeting at a conference had upon the amount of
exposure you’re getting, for example.
and engagements over various time periods. The default view is for the
past 28 days, but you can click the calendar button in the upper right
hand corner to select a date range of your choosing–useful if you want
to see what effect tweeting at a conference had upon the amount of
exposure you’re getting, for example.
To see the drill-down engagement metrics for a specific tweet, click on the tweet. You’ll see something like this:
At the end of each month,
Twitter can be used as a painless metric to assess how your tweeting is
working for you and your project. Showing the growth in your followers
and the number of people who read your research blog can also be helpful
for funding applications. You could make short notes on the following:
Twitter can be used as a painless metric to assess how your tweeting is
working for you and your project. Showing the growth in your followers
and the number of people who read your research blog can also be helpful
for funding applications. You could make short notes on the following:
- The number of followers you have
- The names of those who could be useful for future collaboration
- Invitations to write blog posts or speak at events, which have come via Twitter
- Number of hits to your own blog posts via Twitter
Over time, you can build upon what you’ve learned from your
Twitter metrics, tweeting more content that your followers will love,
in a manner that will engage them the most.
Twitter metrics, tweeting more content that your followers will love,
in a manner that will engage them the most.
Limitations
Twitter is, like many of the other platforms we’ve covered
so far, a for-profit company. Though it’s technically free to use, you
pay for your account by allowing Twitter show ads in your timeline and access and sell your personal data to other companies.
so far, a for-profit company. Though it’s technically free to use, you
pay for your account by allowing Twitter show ads in your timeline and access and sell your personal data to other companies.
Twitter has also recently announced plans to experiment
with users’ timelines, meaning that the uncensored, time-based updates
you see on your homescreen could soon be replaced with updates selected by an algorithm. That’s something that Facebook currently does, and it led to a near blackout on updates for its users about one of the biggest news items of the year in the US: the Ferguson protests.
with users’ timelines, meaning that the uncensored, time-based updates
you see on your homescreen could soon be replaced with updates selected by an algorithm. That’s something that Facebook currently does, and it led to a near blackout on updates for its users about one of the biggest news items of the year in the US: the Ferguson protests.
What could it mean for you? Well, if Twitter’s future
algorithms inadvertently decide that your tweets about H1N1 studies or
field research or science funding aren’t compelling to your users, it
could remove them from others’ homepages, killing potential
conversations and connections.
algorithms inadvertently decide that your tweets about H1N1 studies or
field research or science funding aren’t compelling to your users, it
could remove them from others’ homepages, killing potential
conversations and connections.
Homework
For today’s homework, you’re going to find other researchers to engage and begin tweeting in earnest.
We recommend following 20 people to begin with, adding a
few each day using the techniques described above (keyword searches,
Twitter lists, and following researchers that your colleagues are
following). Aim to follow at least 100 people by the end of the month.
few each day using the techniques described above (keyword searches,
Twitter lists, and following researchers that your colleagues are
following). Aim to follow at least 100 people by the end of the month.
In the next few days, as you start to get a few followers,
take some time to learn more about them. Using the Twitter Analytics
“Followers” dashboard, check out their interests, what countries your
followers are tweeting from, and who else they’re following–this can be a
great source of new people to follow!
take some time to learn more about them. Using the Twitter Analytics
“Followers” dashboard, check out their interests, what countries your
followers are tweeting from, and who else they’re following–this can be a
great source of new people to follow!
Finally, commit to tweeting at least 20 times over the next
week. It will help populate your timeline, which will make others more
likely to follow you. Share at least one of your own blog posts, one of
your articles, and engage someone else in conversation.
week. It will help populate your timeline, which will make others more
likely to follow you. Share at least one of your own blog posts, one of
your articles, and engage someone else in conversation.
If tweeting that often seems like a lot–don’t worry! The
day after next, we’ll show you how to automate your social media updates
using tools like Buffer and Tweetdeck. But first, we’ll cover whether
using Facebook in a professional context is right for you during
tomorrow’s Impact Challenge.
day after next, we’ll show you how to automate your social media updates
using tools like Buffer and Tweetdeck. But first, we’ll cover whether
using Facebook in a professional context is right for you during
tomorrow’s Impact Challenge.
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