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Communicating Your Research with Social Media
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Communicating Your Research with Social Media
A Practical Guide to Using Blogs, Podcasts, Data Visualisations and Video

First Edition
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May 2017 | 328 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

This dynamic, engaging guide empowers you to go beyond bar charts and jargon-filled journal articles to bring research your online and present it in a way that highlights and maximizes its relevance through social media.

Drawing upon a wealth of timely, real-world examples, the authors present a framework for fully incorporating social media within each step of the research process. From visualizing available data to tailoring social media to meet your needs, this book explores proactive ways to share cutting edge research. A complete "how to" for communicating research through blogs, podcasts, data visualizations, and video, it teaches readers how to use social media to:

  • Create and share images, audio, and video in ways that positively impacts your research
  • Connect and collaborate with other researchers
  • Measure and quantify research communication efforts for funders
  • Provide research evidence in innovative digital formats
  • Reach wider, more engaged audiences in academia and beyond

Through practical advice and actionable strategies, Communicating Your Research with Social Media shows how to achieve and sustain research impact through social media.


 
Chapter 1: Social media: Why they matter and what they can do
1.1 What is social media?

 
1.2 The history of social media

 
1.3 Social media as an influential force in the world

 
1.4 Social media in education, research and digital scholarship

 
 
Chapter 2. Social media and the Research Lifecycle
2.1 Models for understanding the research environment

 
2.2 The Research Lifecycle: an inclusive framework

 
 
Chapter 3: Creating and sharing blog posts
3.1 What is a blog? Defining blogs

 
3.2 History of blogs and blogging - From pamphlets to Orwell - blogging’s antecedents

 
3.3 Why blogging is useful across the research lifecycle

 
3.4 How to create and maintain successful blogs and blog posts

 
3.5 Sharing your blog posts on social media

 
 
Chapter 4: Creating and sharing infographics and data visualisations
4.1 Defining infographics and data visualisations

 
4.2 Infographics and data visualisations: a history in research communication

 
4.3 Why infographics and data visualisations are useful across the research lifecycle

 
4.4 How you can create successful infographics and data visualisations for your project

 
4.5 Sharing your infographics and data visualizations on social media

 
 
Chapter 5: Creating and sharing audio and podcasts
5.1 Defining podcasts

 
5.2 A recent history of podcasts

 
5.3 Why podcasting is useful across the research lifecycle

 
5.4 How to create a successful podcast series

 
5.5 Sharing your podcasts on audio platforms and social media

 
 
Chapter 6. Creating and sharing photos and videos on social media
6.1 Defining photos and videos on social media

 
6.2 Photos and videos: a history in research communication

 
6.3 Why photos and videos on social media are useful across the research lifecycle

 
6.4 How to create successful photos and videos for social media

 
6.5 Sharing your photos and videos on social media

 
 
Chapter 7: Digital strategies for research dissemination, engagement and impact
7.1 Crafting a coherent social media strategy

 
7.2 Measuring dissemination, engagement and impact

 
7.3 Navigating the risks of online visibility

 
7.4 Conclusions

 

Written by experts on communicating research to publics, this book is a steadfast guide to the fast-paced world of social media.  It usefully positions the use of social media in the broader contexts of its history as well as the research lifecycle, and the practical chapters are brilliantly illustrated with informative and entertaining examples.  From the novice social media dabbler to the platform veteran who wishes to expand her repertoire, academics and other knowledge workers will benefit from this sharply-written book.

Ella McPherson
University of Cambridge

Adopting social media as a vehicle to communicate academic research is not an easy task and is generally not very well understood. The true value in this book is in providing a step-by-step breakdown of the strategic capabilities of this medium and highlighting the almost endless possibilities, as well as the pitfalls, when using it to promote one’s research. It will be a guiding light for professorial ‘noobs’ looking to espouse the value of their efforts through digital and social channels. 

Brendan J. Keegan
Manchester Metropolitan University, @BKeeganMMU