Presentation to Monash PRM staff about social media use for researchers and students.

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HughStephens
Social media in research
PRM Communication Seminar, 5 Aug 2014
Available: http://bit.ly/monashPRM14

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• Introduction to social media
• Where are researchers?
• What are the opportunities?
• What are the risks?
• How people use it
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Agenda

3. 4-Aug-141. Introduction to social media
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Social media is any tool that
uses the internet to facilitate
conversation.
It is the shift from a broadcast model of communication to a many-to-many
model of communication.
(adapted from Solis, 2010)

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The Social Media Exchange
adapted from Larson & Watson,
2011

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Use Between
Researchers
Use with
media,
“the public”
Personal
Use
Blogs
Google+
Facebook
Flickr Tumblr
Facebook Profiles
Reddit
DeviantArt
Non-research blogs
Pinterest
Research outcome blogs
Facebook Pages
Closed Facebook
Groups
LinkedIn
Sector blogs
Twitter
YouTube
CEO blogs
Sector-specific
??
Internal networks
e.g. Yammer
Journal platforms
e.g. BMJ forums
Academia.edu

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0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
14-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+
%ofUsers
Age Bracket
Proportion who Access the Internet
minor trend:
 as age 
Source: Yellow Social Media 2013

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Do not use
social media
Frequency of SNS use
More than five times a day Everyday Most days
A few times a week Once a Week Less than weekly
Never

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0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
SNS platforms used Source: Yellow Social Media Jun-13

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Audience and activity
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Think not just of where they are, but where they engage
Audience
Activity
?
?

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2. Where is research online?

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Researchers online
• General
– #phdchat on Twitter
• UK: 1930-2030 GMT Wed Nights
• AU: 1st Wednesday monthly, 1900-2000 AEST
• #PhDtoPresent: what happens ‘post-PhD’ (seminar)
– http://bit.ly/1mfaNig
– Blogs++++++
– Inger Mewburn (@thesiswhisperer) ANU academic
• Sector specific
– …anywhere and everywhere
– Look @ your key stakeholders/influencers
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2. What are the opportunities?

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• “Learn stuff” & access experts
• Motivation (e.g. getting the damn thesis
written)
• Disseminate research findings
• Build collaborations locally/globally
• Become well-known in a sector (?future
career)
• Social opportunities / meet people with
similar interests
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Opportunities activity
Opportunities abound, but you need to choose your poison

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4. What are the risks?

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Be careful when talking about results & data
• Publications – is it already in the “public
domain”?
–Little evidence to date about
publications vetoing papers as they
have had bits Tweeted
• Data privacy/confidentiality breach (!)
• Citations / re-use by others
• Time sink / stuck in the rabbit hole
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Not everything is sunshine & roses

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5. How is it used?

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