Using Social Media as a PhD Researcher

Chris James Carter @chriscarter83

Brief Background

•  Horizon CDT (2010 – 2014) -  PhD Candidate -  “Understanding Professional Risk and the Digital Reputation

Management Behaviour of Young Adults Upon Social Media” •  Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute (2014 -) -  Research Fellow -  Citizen-centric Approaches to Social Media Analysis (CaSMa)

-  Digital Economy Network (DEN) Social Media Advocate (2015 -)

Social Data, Everywhere

How digitally visible are you as a researcher?

1. Google your name + “University of Nottingham”! 2. Make a note of how many of the 10 results on the 1st page accurately refer to you 3. Identify how many of the 10 results provide links that are relevant to your research/you as a researcher?

Exercise #1: What’s in a name?

Being Chris Carter

Using social media to develop your digital presence as a researcher

•  Information control…

•  You = brand, your research = product -  Lessons to be learned from marketing & SEO •  Key: make it easy for others to find you! -  Create a consistent name & image -  Consider buying personal domain -  Cross-link between your sites

•  Aim to prioritise sites that rank highly in search engines -  Google-owned sites -  Large social network sites

“Centralising” Your Content

•  Relatively painless to set up

•  High search index

•  Citation tracking & alerts

•  Easy linking to own papers via Scholar

Google Scholar

Academic Networking Sites

•  ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.

•  Ability to upload PDFs of papers

•  HUGE potential for connecting & sharing research with academics

•  Insights into who is searching/downloading

UoN Departmental Webpages

•  Tends to rank highly in search engines

•  Availability may depend on dept.

•  Can be a little more difficult to set-up

•  Opportunities for linking out to other appropriate sites

Professional Networking Sites

•  Widely used by professionals, & increasingly students

•  Can be useful for consolidating connections (e.g. after conferences)

•  Less targeted towards academics

•  Topic-specific discussion groups

•  Though possible to link to presentations (e.g. via Slideshare), can feel static

Explore Alternatives!

•  Facebook, Twitter & Google+ •  Potentially huge audience •  More personal touch, though also greater professional risk •  Combine personal-professional, or set up separate accounts?

Social Network Sites

Using social media to communicate your research

Blog Your Research

•  Great chance to engage a wider audience

•  Opportunity to promote your communication skills

•  Chance to show understanding of wider issues

•  Potential issues around confidentiality

•  Risk of “selling the farm”?

Channel Your Inner Journalist

Participate in Scheduled Events

Join Existing Research Groups

Look to Researcher Role Models

Exercise #2: Social Media Role Models

1.  In small groups, share your own examples of researchers who you think use social media effectively

2.  Discuss what it is about the way in which they use

social media that makes them good role models

3.  Discuss any examples in which of social media use that you would tend to avoid as a researcher?

A Final Note: It Really Works!

Thank you! Questions?

email: christopher.carter@nottingham.ac.uk

visit: chrisjamescarter.strikingly.com

follow: @chriscarter83