An overview of research-related media relations and social media. Presented to the research staff and trainees of several U-M health services research centers June 2018

1. Expanding
Your Horizons:
Social Media
& Other Tools
Kara Gavin, M.S.
IHPI/Michigan Medicine
Communications

2. A new era of communication
• Erosion of traditional news media’s gatekeeper role
• Large institutions = trustworthy news sources
• Everyone’s a publisher
• If you don’t participate,
your voice won’t be heard
A new era of communication

3. News media: Still crucial for wide dissemination
• Press release/blog post
on newly published research or other work, to share
online and potentially attract reporters’ attention
• Expert opinion
on a topic in a particular specialty
• Commenting
on research by others or on a societal/policy issue
• In-depth stories on a weighty topic
• Crisis/problem situations

4. Use the time AHEAD of publication
The “Scout’s honor” embargo system
for research news
• Relies on researchers to alert communications staff
• Institution/journal reaches out to reporters a few
days ahead
• Reporter agrees not to publish or broadcast
results until a set date/time
• Used by all major journals &
scientific/medical societies

5. Who needs reporters anyway?
• Social media & search
• Institutions & individuals
create & share directly
• Visuals & videos are vital
• Rapid response to
controversy

6. Why should researchers use social media?
• Connect with others in the field & beyond
• Share new findings, publications, news items, observations,
opinions, timely links
• Engage with individuals/institutions around the world & next door
• Retain professional tone while engaging
• Get the most out of conferences & events

7. Creating a personal or group “brand”

8. Researchers’
personal brands…
• NOT a logo
• Must be built, over time
• Comes from the ways they present themselves to the world…
and what people can find about them when they look
• Affects how people will interact with them
and their work

9. Why else? Altmetrics!
• Aggregating activity around journal articles:
• media coverage
• blog posts
• social media activity
• more
• Traces links & specific mentions of individual
papers by DOI
• Assigns a score & percentile
• Not perfect! But getting better
https://www.altmetric.com/explorer/outputs

10. Why else? Journals, funders & societies!
Increasingly they ask researchers to:
• Connect with their own communications staff, and/or
the researchers’ institutional communication staff
• Write lay summaries and lay abstracts
• Tape videos and audio podcasts
• Write the tweets that they will send out about your work
• Make visual abstracts & infographics
• Share news coverage quoting them

11. Every researcher’s essentials
• A robust, updated professional web profile
• Know your PR person & when you should
contact her/him
• Basic LinkedIn profile,
updated along with CV
• Google them/set up a Google
alert for their name
(google.com/alerts)

12. “Laying low”
• Start by “lurking” – follow individuals,
institutions, organizations, news media
• Monitor Twitter traffic at conferences
via hashtags (& use them!)
• Subscribe to lists of Twitter
users compiled by others in your field
• Join LinkedIn groups for professional societies
• Send ideas for tweets/posts to your PR person
to share on an institutional account

13. Take it to the next level
• Put your full name on your Twitter handle,
write a brief bio & link to your page, retweet
and like others’ tweets occasionally
• Share links & posts on LinkedIn or Medium
• Write a “plain English” web blurb on
research focus
• Post/tweet about each
paper and talk

14. Engaging more fully
• Share links to your own work &
the work of others
• Post slide sets on website/SlideShare
• Take part in tweet chats, Reddit AMAs,
online awareness campaigns, virtual journal clubs, etc.
• On your personal social media, educate friends
by sharing news/observations

15. Tools to use:
• Making graphics: PowerPoint templates, Canva, Noun Project
• Visual Abstracts: https://www.surgeryredesign.com/resources/
• Making short videos/podcasts:
• Smartphone with tripod and lapel microphone –
ALWAYS in LANDSCAPE mode!
• Lumen 5 for short videos: still images, text, stock footage/music
• Record slide show with narration in PowerPoint
• Use HITS podcast studio in THSL –
http://michmed.org/Mor5z

16. I challenge you…
• Take advantage of this new era’s tools.
• Consult with professional
communications staff early & often
• Don’t just hope someone else
will do it for you!
• See it as part of a research career.

17. Need more help?
My slide sets & social media “how to” sheets:
https://www.slideshare.net/KaraGavin
Help with writing in plain English:
www.aaas.org/pes/communicatingscience
NIH Checklist for Communicating Science & Health to the Public:
http://michmed.org/EzD1O
National Patient Safety Foundation: Health Literacy
http://npsf.site-ym.com/?page=healthliteracy
Joyce Lee, M.D.’s Slideshares on social media:
http://www.slideshare.net/joyclee/presentations
Find hashtags for your topic:
https://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/