This document summarizes a presentation about how to promote one's academic career using social media. It discusses principles of branding science including brand identity, experience, and image. It provides tips for building an online platform through consistent branding, selecting the right social media platforms, and contributing relevant content regularly. The document also offers advice for disseminating research through leveraging metrics, blogging about publications, and amplifying work with tools like audio/visual abstracts. Finally, it stresses using one's platform to teach and advocate for public health issues relevant to one's audience.

1. M I C H A E L A . G I S O N D I , M D
P R O F E S S O R A N D V I C E C H A I R O F E D U C AT I O N
D E PA R T M E N T O F E M E R G E N C Y M E D I C I N E
A S S I S T A N T D E A N F O R A C A D E M I C A D V I S I N G
S TA N F O R D S C H O O L O F M E D I C I N E
HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR
ACADEMIC CAREER
USING SOCIAL MEDIA

2. The speaker has no pertinent disclosures, financial or otherwise.
Engaged attendees will be able to:
(1) Define ‘Branding Science’
(2) Compare and contrast the concepts of ‘Platform’ and ‘National Reputation’
(3) Build your ‘platform’ using social media
(4) Explain how to strategically disseminate your research online
@MikeGisondi
@mikegisondi

3. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

5. “From Twitter to Tenure”
Michelle Lin, MD (ALiEM) - May 2014

6. Stanford
Undergraduate
Course

7. Editorial Board
International
Clinician
Educators
Blog

8. Podcast
Co-Host
Academic
Life in
Emergency
Medicine

9. A Stanford Conference on Social Media and
COVID-19 Misinformation

13. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

14. What is a Brand?
A Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or feature
that distinguishes one good or service from others.
It is the sum total perception of an entity.

15. Product
.65¢
Brand
$2.65
The power of strong BRANDS

16. Branding?

18. Professional
Identity

19. Branding Science
Definition:
The use of evidence-based
strategies to advance a brand

20. Principles of Branding Science
BRAND IDENTITY BRAND EXPERIENCE BRAND IMAGE

21. Your self-notion:
Who you truly are, what you do
BRAND
IDENTITY

22. All interactions consumers
have with your brand
BRAND
EXPERIENCE

23. The opinion one holds
about your brand
BRAND
IMAGE

24. “Your brand is what
other people say about
you when you’re not in
the room.”
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

25. Principles of Branding Science
BRAND IDENTITY BRAND EXPERIENCE BRAND IMAGE

26. Branding Science
Brand Identity & Image Misalignment
- Burnout
- Resentment
- Endless work without advancement

27. Branding Science
When Brand Identity and Image Align:
- Know when to say yes or no
- Activities for career advancement
will align with your actual interests
- Pathway to professional fulfillment

28. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

29. Platform
Definition:
Platform is the opportunity to leverage
your brand to act or communicate in
ways that are powerful and impactful.

31. National Reputation = Promotion

32. Platform = Promotion

33. Success in
Business =
Compelling
Product
+
Meaningful
Platform

35. Academic
Promotion =
Compelling
Scholarship
+
Dissemination of
Expertise
Success in
Business =
Compelling
Product
+
Meaningful
Platform
Platform Matters

36. https://www.animateyour.science/post/visible-or-vanish

38. 3 Tips: to Build Your Platform
Consistent
Professional
Brand
Produce
Relevant
Content
Correct
Social Media
Platform

39. Tip 1:
Consistent
Professional
Brand
“My research improves
patient care by
developing the most
effective ways to train
physicians.”

43. Stay on Brand

44. Digital Brand
Confession
I Broke My Brand
Rules in 2020

45. NEVER:
Post About
Patients
Digital Brand Pitfall

46. Homework:
Manage Photographs for Consistency
Steps:
1. Select a preferred professional photo
2. Google yourself to find all websites
that have your photo posted
3. Replace with preferred photo
4. Do the same with all social media

47. Homework:
Control Your Online Story (Biography)
Steps:
1. Update your bio, state expertise
2. Google yourself to find all websites
that have your biography posted
3. Replace all instances with new bio
4. Consider a personal website

48. Tip 2:
Select the
Correct Social
Media Platform

49. These are simply tools.
Choose the right tool for the job.

52. Getting Started on X/Twitter or Threads App
1. Download Twitter or Threads App on your phone.
2. Upload a professional headshot.
3. Write a very brief description of yourself.
4. Follow 10 other academic physicians.
5. Post clinical pearls and your thoughts on research publications.
6. Never post about a patient.
7. Spend 10-minutes per day or less.

54. Tip 3:
Contribute
Content

63. Synthesis
Exchange
Application
Dissemination
… of knowledge…
… to improve health.
Knowledge Translation

64. Synthesis
Exchange
Application
Dissemination
… of knowledge…
… to improve health.
Knowledge Translation

65. Homework:
Contribute Content Regularly
Steps:
1. Curate brand-relevant content
2. Offer your perspective
3. Post in 5-min or less… daily?
4. Give 1 pearl for every 5 you take

66. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

67. ‘Science is not completed until it is communicated.’
Mark Walport. UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser

68. Out with The Old

69. Medical Teacher Impact Factor: 3.65
15 citations

70. In with The New

76. 3 Tips: to Disseminate Your Research
Leverage
Metrics
Blog
Every
Publication
Amplify
Your Work

77. Tip 1:
Leverage
Altmetrics

78. Article Level Metrics = Altmetrics
Altmetric score =
Volume of Mentions (Twitter, Blogs)
+
Sources (Digital vs. Mainstream Media)
+
Frequency of Posts by Author (Curation)

79. Credit: Wiley

80. h-index
J.E. Hirsch (2005), Proceedings of the NAS.

81. h-index vs. m value
Example: h-index = 10
10 publications
Cited 10 times
20 in 20 years = successful
40 in 20 years = outstanding
60 in 20 years = exceptional
m value
h-index / years since 1st paper

83. Homework:
Manage Your Research Metrics
Steps:
1. Google Scholar, Scopus: h-index
2. ORCID, Web of Science
3. Dimensions
4. Citation Alerts

84. Tip 2:
Blog
Every
Publication

85. Blog Every Publication

86. Main Idea
Background &
Evidence
Other
Information
Credit: ALiEM.com

87. Further
Reading

90. Digital Scholarship Citations
Last name, First Middle Initials. Title. Website. URL. Date.
Carter M, Gisondi MA. Leadership in Medical Education: When
Remediation Fails. International Clinician Educators’ Blog.
https://icenetblog.royalcollege.ca/2021/01/12/leadership-
in-medical-education-when-remediation-fails/ Published
online 1/12/21.

91. Digital Scholarship Citations
Last name, First Middle Initials. Title. Website. URL. Date.
[Blog Post] Carter M, Gisondi MA. Leadership in Medical
Education: When Remediation Fails. International Clinician
Educators’ Blog.
https://icenetblog.royalcollege.ca/2021/01/12/leadership-
in-medical-education-when-remediation-fails/ Published
online 1/12/21.

92. Tip 3:
Amplify
Your Work
Record Audio Abstracts
Design Visual Abstracts

93. Homework:
Create Digital Scholarship
Steps:
1. ‘Digital Scholarship’ section of CV
2. Draft blog about latest manuscript
3. Find appropriate online outlets
4. Disseminate visual abstracts
5. Disseminate audio abstracts

94. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

95. Who is your audience?
What is their likely social
media platform?

96. Where are your learners?

99. ‘Skinfluencer’ vs. Dermatologist
Who to trust?

100. Learning
Goals
Promote Your Career Using Social Media
1. Principles of Branding Science
2. How to Build Your Platform
3. How to Disseminate Your Research
4. How to Teach
5. How to Be a Public Health Advocate

102. Use Your Platform!

103. Final Assignment:
Find Your Voice, Use Your Platform
Steps:
1. Identify the important topics
2. Craft and share your message
3. Speak to your desired audience
4. Be deliberate and strategic
5. Control your brand experience

104. Suggested Reading
Chan TM et al. Social Media and the 21st-Century Scholar: How You Can Harness Social Media to Amplify Your Career. J
Am Coll Radiol. 2018 Jan;15(1 Pt B):142-148. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2017.09.025. Epub 2017 Nov 15. PMID: 29154102.
Husain A, Repanshek Z, Singh M, et al. Consensus Guidelines for Digital Scholarship in Academic Promotion. West J
Emerg Med. 2020;21(4):883-891. Published 2020 Jul 8. doi:10.5811/westjem.2020.4.46441
O'Glasser AY, Jaffe RC, Brooks M. To Tweet or Not to Tweet, That Is the Question. Semin Nephrol. 2020 May;40(3):249-263.
doi: 10.1016/j.semnephrol.2020.04.003. PMID: 32560773.
Cabrera D et al. More Than Likes and Tweets: Creating Social Media Portfolios for Academic Promotion and Tenure. J
Grad Med Educ. 2017 Aug;9(4):421-425. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-17-00171.1. PMID: 28824752; PMCID: PMC5559234.
Acquaviva KD et al. Documenting Social Media Engagement as Scholarship: A New Model for Assessing Academic
Accomplishment for the Health Professions. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Dec 2;22(12):e25070. doi: 10.2196/25070.
Erratum in: J Med Internet Res. 2020 Dec 14;22(12):e26225. PMID: 33263554; PMCID: PMC7744266.
Dong JK, Saunders C, Wachira BW, Thoma B, Chan TM. Social media and the modern scientist: a research primer for
low- and middle-income countries. Afr J Emerg Med. 2020;10(Suppl 2):S120-S124. doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2020.04.005.
Epub 2020 May 25. PMID: 33304794; PMCID: PMC7718451.

105. Thank
you!
Feedback or Questions?
@MikeGisondi
Obtain a copy of my slides from
Slideshare.net