3. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
Why a weak connection can be a good one
What deep thinking scientists can gain
from superficial social media
How Twitter and LinkedIn can boost your
career
What’sthistalkabout?
3
5. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
• Past: Editor of University Post (University of
Copenhagen)
• Present: I do workshops and courses on
social media for researchers and universities
• My mission: More international impact for
science and scientists
Aboutme:
5
Twitter:
@MkeYoung
@MkeYoungAcademy
6. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
Why do more people find new
jobs via peripheral contacts
rather than close friends?
Original article: Weak ties, Granovetter (1973)
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The strength of weak ties
1 point if you
have thought
about this
paradox!
7. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
Twitter and LinkedIn are good at adding longer, ‘weaker’, ties
within specific professional fields. This means:
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Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn
• more focussed research inspiration
• more specialised career networking
• a more precise match between your skills,
ambition, jobs and projects
8. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
Surveys among scientists - Twitter
and LinkedIn the most effective
social media platforms to:
.
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• Find recommended papers
• Share links to content
• Discuss research
• Discover peers
• Search for specific skills
• Discover jobs
Source: Online collaboration: Scientists and the
social network; Van Noorden, Nature 2014
To these can be added:
• Test the scope of your
research
• Boost your status
• Find the right people for
conferences and events
• Get tips on projects related
to your research inside and
outside academia
12. Now she is also a
cyberanalyst
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12
“Data can be anything. It can be something that
you collect from a telescope, or it can be
something that you collect from a computer
network.”
The specific skill is applied to a different
field…
13. What happened to Ia (from a
LinkedIn point of view)?
She unpacks
specific,
underlying
methodological
skills,…
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
13
…discovers and
gets interested in
a new field,
where her skills
can be applied,
and…
finds a job where
her underlying
skills are
appreciated
Social media help foster ‘open innovation’ – the application of new
knowledge/skills in one field to another
14. Who is where?
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
14
Your personal
network who
you know
personally, to
whom you add
value
Some of your
personal
network but
also your
broader sphere
of research
throughout the
globe
15. Bringing influential
people into your
personal network
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15
Your personal
network and
who you now
add value
Broader sphere
of research
• 1 point if
you have a
LinkedIn
account
• 1 point if
you have a
Twitter
account
17. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
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The tweet. A simple routine that is
effective, but oh… so… hard
Speakers
always get
tweeted like
this. And this
is good…
But it can be even
better!
• 1 point if
you have
once
tweeted
about a
lecture (not
this one)!
• 1 point if you
have tweeted a
video,
summarising a
lecture (your
own or an
other’s)!Example of ‘working
out loud’ philosophy
18. • In the bio: WHY should we follow you? What makes you
unique? What is your expertise? What will you tweet?
• USE a pinned tweet to mention new projects, and update it
regularly!
Weaponise your Twitter bio
• 1 point if
you exploit
the ‘pinned
tweet’
• 1 point if
you say
what you
tweet in
your
Twitter bio
20. Weaponise your LinkedIn
profile headline
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20
1 point if your headline
includes:
A word that someone would
use if they were looking for
your specific skills, (not just
a job title).
21. How do you look at other
people’s profiles?
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
21
One point if
you are
NOT
anonymous
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In her LinkedIn’s Groups
Comments (f.ex. suggest
diagnoses under threads where
people post on difficult cases)
Charlotte is a
vet doing her
PhD in
neuroscience
Example of ‘social media
arbitrage’ method
24. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
What is happening to Charlotte from a
network perspective? She makes herself a
hub between separate networks
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Charlotte’s
connections on
LinkedIn
Veterinary
LinkedIn
Group
Neuroscience LinkedIn Group
25. ‘Searches’ on LinkedIn
• To find someone
specific, for some
specific skill
• To get an overview
of your network.
• To find the right
people for
conferences,
seminars and
meetings
• Before visits to
other cities
• Search strings work
like on Google
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
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26. Bookmark the good
search strings!
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
26
1 point if you have
bookmarked (in your
browser) search strings
on LinkedIn for specific
subject areas, job types,
keywords
27. 02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
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Conferences and events – a routine
• Use Twitter while you are listening to
the presentations
• ‘Like’ or comment tweets under
conference hashtag #
• Write direct messages
• Continue discussion face-to-face in the
break!
• Connect on LinkedIn. This is your
‘business card’!
• One point if you
have made a new
connection either
in Twitter or
LinkedIn during
this talk!
28. Tiebreak
Number of Twitter followers multiplied by number of
LinkedIn connections
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28
29. 1. Use Twitter and LinkedIn to forge new weak
ties
2. Show your specific expertise on your bio!
3. Use the deeper functionality of Twitter and
LinkedIn, like ‘bookmarking searches’
4. Use Twitter and LI at conferences and events
Take home messages
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
29
30. Deep work, close
collaboration, serendipity
02-12-2019MikeYoungAcademy
30
Shared
whiteboard
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
We need all of this:
• isolated deep thinking
• collaboration of close colleagues -
‘the shared whiteboard’
• serendipitous encounters helped by
purposeful discovery
Shared
whiteboard
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
deep
thinker
