Slides from the workshop on social media for impact presented at the Economic and Social Research Council final year conference, Edinburgh, 25 April 2014: http://www.socsciscotland.ac.uk/events/esrc_fyc_2014
1. Using social media for impact
Workshop presented at ESRC Final Year Conference
Edinburgh, 25th April 2014
Professor Hazel Hall
http://hazelhall.org
http://slideshare.net/hazelhall
3. Why this session?
This one-hour interactive session covers
1. Consideration of the range of social media tools available to help increase
research impact
2. Practical suggestions and recommendations for researchers keen to
develop their presence on, and use of, social media for a number of work-
related purposes, both at a personal and project level
4. Workshop format
Introductory slides (10 minutes)
These ones!
Exercise (30 minutes)
Team work
Round-up (20 minutes)
Teams report back
Suggestions and recommendations on where you should “be”
5. Established impact measures
Bibliometric indicators measure “academic” impact of individuals’
output
Quantity of publications
Quantity of citations to those publications
Codified in citation databases
6. Established impact measures
Bibliometric indicators measure “academic” impact
Quantity of publications
Quantity of citations to those publications
http://webofknowledge.com
7. Alternative impact measures
Altmetrics assess the impact of individual output using various
criteria across a range of platforms
recommended by others
praised by opinion leaders
mentioned in social media
etc.
downloaded
acknowledged
included in syllabi
quoted in the press
cited in policy documents
Judgements of esteem rely on more than
“mere” publication record. Visibility is
becoming increasingly important for
personal research impact and the
reputational benefits that this brings, e.g.
invitations to collaborate, speak at
conferences, serve on committees etc.
10. But what about wider impact?
Research reach policy action
improvements
Take into account target
audience(s) preferences for
consuming research output
Present output in an way
that is accessible to the
target audience
Ensure project has high
level support
Include target research
audience(s) in the execution
of the research
Activities to ensure that investment in research deliver social and
economic benefit
12. But what about wider impact?
Research reach policy action
improvements
Take into account target
audience(s) preferences for
consuming research output
Present output in an way
that is accessible to the
target audience
Ensure project has high
level support
Include target research
audience(s) in the execution
of the research
Activities to ensure that investment in research deliver social and
economic benefit
Much of this is about how the work is
disseminated and, in particular, output format
(content creation) and accessibility (sharing).
This is where social media come in…
13. Exercise: part 1
Complete your coloured social media bingo card
Approach people who hold cards of a different colour from yours
A person’s name can only appear once on your card
Return to your table when
Your card is complete
OR you are certain that you cannot complete it any further
OR the hooter blows
14. Exercise: part 2
Using the information that you have recorded on your cards (and
prior knowledge where appropriate)
Discuss which social media tools appear best suited to increase:
“Academic” impact: tools that help ensure publications are accessed and cited
“Personal impact”: tools that help enhance visibility and grow reputation
“Research into practice” impact: tools that help support the delivery of social and economic
benefit from investment in research
Group the social media tools according to their main function
Record your findings on the flipchart
15. There are lots of places “to be”
(Local profiles)
CV services
e.g. LinkedIn
Resource sharing sites
e.g. Flickr, Pinterest,
SlideShare, SoundCloud,
Vimeo, YouTube
ID services
e.g. Orcid, ResearcherID
Profile services
e.g. Academia.edu, Google
Scholar, ResearchGate
Blogging and microblogging
platforms
e.g. CoverItLive, Medium, Quora, The
Conversation, Tumblr, Twitter
WordPress
Impact measurement tools
e.g. ImpactStory, Klout
Collaboration sites
e.g. Citeulike, Mendeley
Social networking sites
e.g. Facebook, Google+, Lanyrd
16. So where should you (your projects) be?
For wide dissemination of publications
ID services (e.g. Orcid, ResearcherID) and research profile services (e.g.
Academia.edu, Google Scholar, ResearchGate)
For wide dissemination of presentations
Resource sharing sites (e.g. SlideShare, SoundCloud, Vimeo, YouTube)
If you are interested in tracking your impact
Impact measurement tools (e.g. ImpactStory, Klout)
If you want to keep up to date/others updated
Twitter
And to provide a directory of it all
About.me
17.
18. Should you set up a personal blog?
1. Do you want/need a full “independent” online profile?
2. Do you enjoy writing?
3. Are you prepared to give up your free time to blog regularly?
4. What would a blog give you that you can’t get from use of
other services?
In-house news platform
Update function on LinkedIn
Ad hoc blogging on Medium, guest contributions to The Conversation
19. Resources
For further detail on individual services mentioned in this presentation
see Using social media to promote your research by Hazel Hall.
The London School of Economics blog Maximising the impact of
academic research is well worth following
Sharing the DREaM blueprint gives an account of how social media
extended the reach of an AHRC project in 2011/12
20. Using social media for impact
Workshop presented at ESRC Final Year Conference
Edinburgh, 25th April 2014
Professor Hazel Hall
http://hazelhall.org
http://slideshare.net/hazelhall