developing a scholarly web presence & using social media for research networking

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Dr Tama Leaver, Dept. of Internet Studies

Developing a Scholarly Web Presence &

Using Social Media for Research Networking2 May 2016



To begin: Five(ish) Questions For You!

1. Who knows what results turn up when you Google

(search) your own name?

2. Where online (if anywhere) do you read or engage

with discussions relevant to your research?

3. Who writes their own blog or website? Has a

Facebook profile? Twitter account?

4. What do you think would be useful about using

social media for research and/or research

networking?

5. What problems can you envisage in using social

media for research and/or research networking?

Image by www.lumaxart.com



Want these slides now?

Go find me on Twitter, and a link to these slides will

be the most recent tweet!

So, that’s either Google “Tama Leaver Twitter”, or just

type twitter.com/tamaleaver into your browser.

If you’re a Twitter user already, then you’ll know this

means you write my Twitter profile as …

@tamaleaver

If you’re on Twitter (or sign up now) you can leave

comments & questions there by starting a message

with “@tamaleaver”, or using the hashtag

#acawebpresence.



Outline

1. Why have an Academic Web Presence?• Before you start

• Scholarly Context

2. How: tools of the Trade • Blogs and Personal Websites

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Scholarly Networks & Platform Profiles

• ORCiD

3. When to Engage?1. Academic Conferences & Networking

2. Publication & Promotion




[1] Why have an academic web presence?



Image courtesy of Paul Watson.

Why have a Web Presence?To exist, to share and to discuss …

• So people can find you.• So people can find your topic (and then you).

• To share and get feedback on your ideas as they develop• To share resources and insights (and have them shared right

back!)• To promote your published work and find as wide an audience

as possible

• To be part of your scholarly area, discussion and community(it’s less lonely with PhD Comics)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwatson/

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1296

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http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/30/cv-of-failures-princeton-professor-publishes-resume-of-his-career-lows



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Before you start …

• Decide what you want to say or do with your web presence!

• How ‘professional’ or personal will your web presence be?

• Who are you writing for?• Do you have different tools for different purposes? • How often will you update your web presence?• How often will you check your chosen tools or

platforms? (Or how many notifications do you want?)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwatson/



Scholarly Context …

Lupton, D. (2014). “Feeling Better Connected”: Academics’ Use of Social Media.

Canberra: University of Canberra. Retrieved from http://www.canberra.edu.au/faculties/arts-

design/attachments/pdf/n-and-mrc/Feeling-Better-Connected-report-final.pdf

http://www.canberra.edu.au/faculties/arts-design/attachments/pdf/n-and-mrc/Feeling-Better-Connected-report-final.pdf



Disclaimer!

Different scholarly areas and disciplines flourish in different

online spaces.

There are commonalties, discussed today

You should find who is talking online in your area, and

which tools they’re using: that’s your people!

(Still, you should definitely be using Twitter!)



[2] How: tools of the trade



Websites & Blogs: the Practicals ...

What is a blog? (My blog.)

Wordpress: http://wordpress.com/

Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com

Blogger: http://www.blogger.com/

The (Old) Academic Blog Portal:

http://academicblogs.org/

index.php?title=Main_Page


http://www.tamaleaver.net/

http://wordpress.com/

http://www.tumblr.com/

http://www.blogger.com/

http://academicblogs.org/index.php?title=Main_Page



Blogs & personal websites: a few examples…

Jill Walker Rettberg’s ‘Jilltxt’ (Uni of Bergen)

http://jilltxt.net

Laura Portwood-Stacer (NYU),

http://www.lauraportwoodstacer.com/

Jason Mittell’s ‘Just TV’ (Middlebury College)

http://justtv.wordpress.com/

Melissa Gregg’s ‘Home Cooked Theory’ (Intel)

http://homecookedtheory.com/

Tim Highfield’s ‘…and then the world’ (QUT)

http://timhighfield.net/

Sky Croeser (Curtin) http://skycroeser.net/


http://jilltxt.net/

http://www.lauraportwoodstacer.com/

http://justtv.wordpress.com/

http://homecookedtheory.com/

http://timhighfield.net/

http://skycroeser.net/



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http://crookedtimber.org/

Readings Blogs (and other websites)

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

Separates the form and content, so updated

content can come to you!

RSS Readers (aka Aggregators)

eg Feedly http://feedly.com/

http://feedly.com/



Social Networks (aka Facebook)

Decide in advance which social

networks are just social and which

will include academic networking and

sharing!

Use privacy settings and groups (not

the whole world, all the time!).

Learn about PAGES and GROUPS –

many academic groups and

conferences have one!



Social Networks (aka Facebook)

“Context Collapse” (Marwick & boyd, 2011)

Don’t forget if you’ve used social networks for

professional interaction, some things are best not shared

…



Twitter?

• Micro-blogging? (eg @tamaleaver)

• Quick sharing and commentary

• Good in combination with other services (Eg

Blogs)

• Conferences: official twitter profiles, pre-

conference discussions and #hastags

http://twitter.com/tamaleaver



Twitter: Immediate Answers

Twitter: Sharing references, resources,

pointers, etc.



Interface with the media



Academia.edu

https://www.academia.edu/about

(But … Adema, Aventurier, Fitzpatrick, Hall & Parry, “Why Are We Not

Boycotting Academia.edu?”, 2015)

https://www.academia.edu/about

https://www.academia.edu/18973680/Why_Are_We_Not_Boycotting_Academia.edu_-_symposium_Coventry_University_8th_December_2015

Academia.edu

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https://curtin.academia.edu/TamaLeaver



(Very similar …) Research Gate



ResearchGate



Academia.edu or ResearchGate for you?

Source: Bianca Kramer

and Jeroen Bosman,

Innovations in Scholarly

Communication Survey,

2016, (n = 20,670) https://101innovations.wordpress.com/

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/feat

ures/do-academic-social-networks-share-

academics-interests

https://101innovations.wordpress.com/

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/do-academic-social-networks-share-academics-interests



ORCiD (eg http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4065-4725 )

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4065-4725



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http://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/orcid-how-to-include-it-in-your-online-submission-and-why-you-should/?hootPostID=5580c8cbf64d0cf5bb107e28800bf323



Scopus (eg http://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=39963062500 )

http://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=39963062500

Google Scholar

Publons (publons.com)



& so many other tools …

Social Bookmarking

Eg Delicious www.delicious.com

“Professional” Social Networks

Eg LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/

Referencing/citation software profiles & communities:

Mendeley, Zotero etc.

http://www.delicious.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/



[3] When to engage?



1. Academic Conferences & Networking



Conference hashtags (#ir14)

Conference hashtags = specific way

of finding your conference on Twitter.

‘Backchannel’ during conference (or

just ‘channel’).

Often now used before and after to

build and maintain community

around specific conferences.



Slideshare / Content-Specific Sites

Slideshare.com – like

the YouTube of

powerpoint slides

EG

http://slidesha.re/17R

6rw9

http://slidesha.re/17R6rw9



Conferences

Engage via social media before the conference via official

hashtags (Twitter) and on dedicated Facebook pages &

groups.

During the conference engage in commentary about talks

via social media

Share your presentation (eg Slideshare, Prezi, a blog post,

etc.)

Afterward: maintain networks established to continue

scholarly engagement & networking



2. Publication & Promotion



Publications … (preprint sharing)



Publication Repositories

Submit pre-prints of publications to OPEN ACCESS

institutional repositories.

Quickly indexed by search engines, including Google

Scholar.

Makes research visible and findable quickly (often long

delays between article acceptance and publication).

eSpace librarians sort out copyright issues.

Curtin’s eSpace: http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au

http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/



eSpace:

Profile &

Statistics



Op Eds, etc: The Conversation



The Conversation: Building Impact …



The Conversation: Detailed Statistics, Good Reach &

Encourages Republication (Creative Commons licenses)



Blog posts …



Impact & Altmetrics



Big Impact!

See boyd, danah, and Kate Crawford.

“Critical Questions for Big Data.”

Information, Communication & Society

15.5 (2012): 662–679.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.10

80/1369118X.2012.678878

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2012.678878



http://editorresources.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/putting-

altmetric-data-to-use-an-introduction-for-journal-editors/

http://editorresources.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/putting-altmetric-data-to-use-an-introduction-for-journal-editors



Publications

Share ideas, discuss early findings via social media

Post drafts and pre-prints to build attention and early citations (subject

to the copyright terms of your targeted publication; see

Sherpa/Romeo)

Share widely upon publication via social media, scholarly networks

(Academia, Researchgate, etc) and scholarly profiles (Google Scholar,

ORCiD, etc)

Use blog posts, op eds, reports, other sources to promote, mention

and diversify you audience, impact and attention.

Build impact measures beyond traditional citations (but also those!)

such as those measured by Altmetrics.

http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/



To Reiterate …

Different scholarly areas and disciplines flourish in different

online spaces.

There are commonalties, discussed today

You should find who is talking online in your area, and

which tools they’re using: that’s your people!

(Still, you should definitely be using Twitter!)

References / Further Reading Adema, J., Aventurier, P., Fitzpatrick, K., Hall, G., & Parry, D. (2015). Why Are We Not Boycotting Academia.edu? Coventry University.

Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/18973680/Why_Are_We_Not_Boycotting_Academia.edu_-_symposium_Coventry_University_

8th_December_2015

Adema, J., & Hall, G. (Eds.). (2016). Really, We’re Helping To Build This ... Business: The Academia.edu Files. Open Humanities Press.

Retrieved from http://liquidbooks.pbworks.com/w/page/106236504/The%20Academia_edu%20Files

Barbour, K., & Marshall, D. (2012). The academic online: Constructing persona through the World Wide Web. First Monday, 17(9). Retrieved

from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3969/3292

Carrigan, M. (2016). Social Media for Academics. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Haak, L. L., Fenner, M., Paglione, L., Pentz, E., & Ratner, H. (2012). ORCID: a system to uniquely identify researchers. Learned Publishing,

25(4), 259–264. http://doi.org/10.1087/20120404

Kramer, B., & Bosman, J. (2016). Innovations in Scholarly Communication: Changing Research Workflows (Survey). Utrecht University.

Retrieved from https://101innovations.wordpress.com/

Martin-Martin, A., Orduna-Malea, E., Ayllon, J. M., & Lopez-Cozar, E. D. (2016). The counting house: measuring those who count. Presence

of Bibliometrics, Scientometrics, Informetrics, Webometrics and Altmetrics in the Google Scholar Citations, ResearcherID, ResearchGate,

Mendeley & Twitter. arXiv:1602.02412 [cs]. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.02412

Marwick, A. E., & boyd, danah. (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience.

New Media & Society, 13(1), 114 –133. http://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313

Niyazov, Y., Vogel, C., Price, R., Lund, B., Judd, D., Akil, A., … Shron, M. (2016). Open Access Meets Discoverability: Citations to Articles

Posted to Academia.edu. PLOS ONE, 11(2), e0148257. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148257

Priem, J., Taraborelli, D., Groth, P., & Neylon, C. (2010, September 26). Altmetrics: A Manifesto. Retrieved from

http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/

Reisz, M. (2015, October 25). Tips for academics on blogging and social media. Retrieved March 3, 2016, from

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/career/tips-academics-blogging-and-social-media

Sandvig, C. (2016, February 11). How To Get a Social Media Ph.D. Retrieved from http://socialmediacollective.org/2016/02/11/how-to-get-a-

social-media-ph-d/

Singh, S. S. (2016). Hashtagging #HigherEd. In N. Rambukkana (Ed.), Hashtag Publics : The Power and Politics of Discursive Networks. (pp.

267–277). New York: Peter Lang. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1080548&site=ehost-live

Tsou, A., Bowman, T. D., Sugimoto, T., Lariviere, V., & Sugimoto, C. R. (2016). Self-presentation in scholarly profiles: Characteristics of

images and perceptions of professionalism and attractiveness on academic social networking sites. First Monday, 21(4).

http://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i4.6381

https://www.academia.edu/18973680/Why_Are_We_Not_Boycotting_Academia.edu_-_symposium_Coventry_University_

http://liquidbooks.pbworks.com/w/page/106236504/The Academia_edu Files

http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3969/3292

https://101innovations.wordpress.com/

http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.02412

http://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313

http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148257

http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/career/tips-academics-blogging-and-social-media

http://socialmediacollective.org/2016/02/11/how-to-get-a-social-media-ph-d/

http://search.ebscohost.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1080548&site=ehost-live

http://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i4.6381



Questions & Comments?

Or find me later …

www.tamaleaver.net

@tamaleaver

[email protected]

http://www.tamaleaver.net/

developing a scholarly web presence & using social media for research networking

Education