KT - KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION - GUIDES

What is social media & where to start? By: Krista Jensen (KMb Unit, York University), Isaac Coplan (KT Coordinator, NeuroDevNet), Elle Seymour

Social media is the ‘catch all’ term for interactive online communication platforms such as LinkedIn, Slideshare, Twitter and Facebook. One key point to take away, is that social media is meant to be interactive. It is not a replacement for advertising in traditional media, or traditional forms of marketing and communication. Social media does require work, and fairly consistent attention. To use social media well, it takes time and energy. In larger organizations, and where more complex activities are required, it takes dedicated staffing. Below are the social platforms that we recommend to start:

LinkedIn is known to cater to professional audiences. They are also well designed so that search engines (such as Google and Bing) privilege information on their pages. This means that they will frequently be higher up when someone runs a web-search on your name (this process is also called search engine optimization).

Slideshareis a subsidiary of LinkedIn. It allows for effective sharing of presentations to LinkedIn networks. Slideshare is a great place to post powerpoint presentations after conferences or meetings.

Twitteris one of the most interactive platforms. Because of this, it is common that news stories will break on Twitter prior to appearing in traditional media.

Facebookis often seen as less formal, but it remains important for interaction partly due to its large number of users. Facebook is a great way to engage in groups that wouldn’t necessarily be on Twitter.

Wordpressis the blog platform of choice for many academics. It allows for a wide range of customization options and add-ons that allow for the creation of a simple, or complex blog depending on the needs of the user. The word blog is a short form of ‘weblog’. As the name implies, blogs provide space for writers to craft short content that contains embedded links to various other articles, academic journals, websites and news pieces related to the topic.

Depending on your needs, platforms have advantages and disadvantages. But it is common for people to have presence on multiple platforms. This guide provides an annotated list of resources to help you as a researcher or research trainee use social media.

This guide was developed by the KMb Unit at York University and the NeuroDevNet KT Core Last updated November 2014 page 1

KT - KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION - GUIDES What is social media & where to start?

This guide was developed by the KMb Unit at York University and the NeuroDevNet KT Core Last updated November 2014 page 2

Can Social Media Increase the Exposure of Newly Published Research?By: Dr. Cameron Webb, (University of Sydney & Pathology West)

http://bit.ly/1iLVdHX

What is this blog post about?This blog post discusses using social media to increase exposure of publications. Publications that are blogged/tweeted about are downloaded ten times more often than those that aren’t. This post explains an experiment the author completed to determine usefulness of social media. The author found that Twitter was particularly useful in bringing people to his article.

How can you use it? • To understand the importance of social media for dissemination of your research

Platforms Discussed: Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress

Top Five Social Media Platforms for Research DevelopmentBy: Professor Andy Miah (Chair in Science & Communication, University of Salford, UK, formerly the London School of Economics, LSE)

http://bit.ly/1fBiW3h

What is this blog post about?This blog post provides a good overview of some of the main social media platforms and their uses. It also provides tips about maximizing social media use. Provides a concise argument for why academics and researchers should ‘opt-in’ to social media.

How can you use it? • Understand the ways you can use social media to add value to your research

Platforms Discussed: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Scholar, Slideshare, YouTube

Using Twitter in University Research, Teaching and Impact ActivitiesBy: Amy Mollett, Danielle Moran and Patrick Dunleavy (LSE Public Policy Group)

http://bit.ly/QM301i

What is this guide about?This guide is meant to be an introduction and provides some basic ideas to new users of Twitter. It walks through the basics of the platform and provides a good starting point.

How can you use it? • As a walk-through for how to set up a twitter account • To understand: • twitter terminology that is important when beginning to use the platform • styles of tweets • how you can gain more ‘followers’ on twitter • twitter metrics and connecting twitter to blogs

Platforms Discussed: Twitter, Wordpress

Why use social media?

KT - KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION - GUIDES What is social media & where to start?

This guide was developed by the KMb Unit at York University and the NeuroDevNet KT Core Last updated November 2014 page 3

Social Media: A Guide for ResearchersBy: Alan Cann, Konstantia Dimitriou and Tristram Hooley

http://bit.ly/1iLUo1R

What is this guide about?This guide provides background information about social media platforms. It is aimed at academic researchers and makes recommendations to aid decision-making regarding the use of, and maintenance of social media. This guide also recommends that researchers use social media platforms to share and conduct research.

How can you use it? • As a reference for different tools including blogging and microblogging • To understand why researchers consume, produce or criticize social media • To understand the importance of curation and quality assurance in social media

Platforms Discussed: Wide variety of platforms – see page 7 of guide.

Why use social media? continued

Planning & Strategic Social Media Guides:

Social Media Starter KitBy: Healthy Community (HC) Link

http://bit.ly/1iLVzi3(French Version) http://bit.ly/1DI4IsB

What is this starter kit about?This starter kit is meant for people who are new to social media, or looking to transform their presence towards an integrated social media strategy. One of the key foci of this document is to provide links to tools that can be helpful in the movement towards strategic communications and social media.

How can you use it? • As a reference when planning, or designing a social media strategy • As basis for designing social media strategy by accessing available templates • To plan, develop policy and strategic approaches to social media • To think strategically about how to handle conflict, prior to a conflict occurring

Platforms Discussed: Twitter (hootsuite/tweetdeck), general information about other platforms

KT - KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION - GUIDES What is social media & where to start?

This guide was developed by the KMb Unit at York University and the NeuroDevNet KT Core Last updated November 2014 page 4

JustPublics@365 Toolkit: A Social Media Guide for AcademicsBy: JustPublics@365 (CUNY Academic Commons)

http://bit.ly/1fBiAts

What is this guide about?This guide focuses on social media and academics as related to: 1) increasing media awareness, 2) informing policy, 3) advanced measurements and metrics. This guide is relatively advanced and discusses topics that can help inform and move social media further, such as data visualization, podcasts and imaging.

How can you use it? • To take your use of social media to the next level • To inform your use of advanced metrics and measurement • When thinking about ways to make your social media channels more engaging • To learn about data visualization, video and audio formats for dissemination

Platforms Discussed: Wide variety of platforms discussed throughout guide

Social Media and Research ImpactBy: Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia)

http://bit.ly/1iLV47B

What is this guide about?This webpage gives a brief overview of social media use to promote research. Some familiarity with social media tools is necessary since step by step instructions are not included. This resource explains ways to track research and discusses platforms that allow various forms of citation management and research sharing. Provides specific information on sharing research, without a major focus on other forms of social media.

How can you use it? • To begin thinking about how to track and determine the reach and importance of journal articles • To learn about sharing research through social media, and tracking using specific tools & metrics

Platforms Discussed: Scopus, Web of Science, ImpactStory, Academia.edu, Mendeley

For other social media for research resources, please visit http://bitly.com/bundles/researchimpact/1b

Advanced resources, metrics and tools for measuring social media reach.

NeuroDevNet KT Core - KT helps to maximize the impact of research and training in neurodevelopmental disordersContact the KT Core: http://neurodevnet.ca/kt-coreteam Twitter: @neurodevnetKT LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/neurodevnet