Talk together with Anna Jobin at a workshop of the DFG Network “Grand Challenges & New Forms of Organizing”, September 20, 2021, Humboldt Institut for Internet and Society, Berlin

1. Twitter Firestorms, Media Attention and Workload:
Challenges of Impact Scholarship Revisited
Leonhard Dobusch & Anna Jobin

2. Challenge: Context Collapse
They say “context is king” but public scholars communicate simultaneously with
peers, other disciplines, the public at large.
Experience with the challenge
● State banalities at an industry
conference
● Make implicit disciplinary
conventions explicit
Confronting the challenge
● Clarify roles
● The sociology of expertise
● Demand more coherence from
institutions (I know!)

3. Challenge: Non-Policy Research in Policy Circles
Policy-makers love to reference science, data, and evidence. They see value in
“translatable” research. How to defend other projects and disciplines?
Experience with the challenge
● Present qualitative research and
why it matters
● Justify the existence of critical
theory
Confronting the challenge
● Narratives are compelling. Share
anecdotes about usefulness.
● Advocate for independent
research.

4. Challenge: Surprise Questions by Journalists
You may be prepared for a particular topic or set of questions but are asked
something provocatively, or about a different topic. During a live broadcast.
Experience with the challenge
● Receiving an interview guide that
was completely ignored
● Questioned on different expertise
● Asked to introduce the topic
● Your talking points are brought up
by the interviewer
Confronting the challenge
● No more discussions
beforehands
● Be a politician: set the agenda
and answer the question that
should have been asked

5. Challenge: Balancing Instant and Delayed Gratification
Publishing on social media and blogs produces instant gratification due to
immediate publishing and audience response. Research is the polar opposite.
Experience with the challenge
● Instant feedback on social media
can be very motivating..
● ..but also become addictive.
Confronting the challenge
● Secure writing/reading time-slots
● Prioritize outreach if your core
area of expertise is in the news

6. Challenge: Your Own Wikipedia Article
Some are unhappy because they don’t have a Wikipedia article. Others are
unhappy because they have one - defining the first thing others learn about you.
Experience with the challenge
● Very lucky to know the author
of my Wikipedia article
● Odd decisions on relevance
(books beat journal articles)
Confronting the challenge
● Find or become a Wikipedian
● Wikipedia needs new rules for
articles on living people

7. Challenge: Accidental Social Media Firestorm
Sometimes social media frenzy finds you unprepared and you end up in the eye of
a firestorm.
Experience with the challenge
● It will soon be over, research
finds little lasting effects..
● ..solidarity and attention may be
an unintended consequence of a
firestorm
Confronting the challenge
● Blocking and muting features are
your friends
● Remember: responses are for the
gallery of observers only
● Keep calm and carry on

8. Challenge: How Do Journalists Recognize Your Brilliance?
Journalists don’t read research papers. Becoming an expert in news media
requires extra efforts so that journalists can find you.
Experience with the challenge
● Journalists love researchers they
know from Twitter
● It’s all about the news cycle
● If you do a good job, journalists
will come back to you.
Confronting the challenge
● Use Twitter to comment on the
news-cycle
● Offer op-eds

9. Challenge: Speaking Beyond Your Own Research
Journalists’ questions are driven by the news cycle, not your core areas of
research.
Experience with the challenge
● What you teach is also where you
are an expert
● The problem is not the lack of
knowledge, but how to present it
Confronting the challenge
● Ask for questions/topics upfront
● Prepare talking points
● Reference the expertise of other
disciplines

10. Challenge: How to Deal with Radicals & Trolls?
Some topics attract organized trolls and radicals, which have experience in online
harassment.
Experience with the challenge
● Don’t mess with the Bitcoin
people.
● The chilling effect.
Confronting the challenge
● Blocking and muting is
mandatory
● It’s okay to ask friends for help

11. Challenge: Give a Damn about Your Reputation?
Taking a stance on controversial issues makes a difference and you interesting
from a media perspective. But what about your (academic) reputation?
Experience with the challenge
● Benefits of prominence outweigh
the downsides (as long as you
are not notorious.. ;-)
● Positivists will never get it.
Haters gonna hate.
Confronting the challenge
● Make sure you put your feet in
the right place. Then stand firm.

12. Contact
Leonhard Dobusch
Universität Innsbruck
@leonidobusch
Anna Jobin
Humboldt Institute for Internet and
Society
@annajobin