Disseminating your research through social media can widen your audience, develop research collaborations, and build your professional profile, but the fast-moving and informal nature of social media offers many opportunities to potentially undermine your academic integrity if not performed carefully. Here are ten strategies to communicate research on social media intelligently and credibly.
1. Focus on Research, Not Politics
Be neutral; Stay away from spreading your opinions about political issues outside of your area of expertise. Evidence suggests that scientists who espouse strong political views on social media lose substantial credibility. You should share your data and expertise, not advocacy or your opinions in order to keep trust from the public.
2. Summarize Key Findings in Plain Language
Turn your research into short, wearable summaries understandable to non-experts. Engage your audience with an opening question or statement of interest, and summarize it with an initial insight, and highlight the closest call to the expert. This supports accessibility and encourages movement outward.
3. Enhance Engagement Through Visuals
Use images, infographics, or short videos to capture your audience's attention and digest your content. Visuals can have a significant effect on the impact and shareability of your posts, and make more difficult ideas accessible to broad audiences.
4. Deliver Content in Short Regular Updates
Individuals scroll quickly on social platforms. Delivering your research in pieces, updating the audience with one or two interesting points of a story in each post can maintain engagement and visibility for your work precisely because you're regularly updating your audience.
5. Include Collaborators’ and Institutions’ Tags
You may tag co-authors, your institution, or other relevant organizations. Tagging expands your reach. It can also lend added credibility to your posts when you are associated with organizations people recognize.
6. Be Objective and Professional
If you respond to comments or questions you should respond respectfully, even when someone critiques your post or you're facing a heated discussion. You should not engage in personal attacks, and should keep a professional tone - what you communicate online reflects your reputation and the reputation of your institution.
7. Separate Personal and Professional Identities
If possible, use different accounts when posting personal content and research content. Separating your accounts keeps a clear boundary between your professional research persona and your personal identity, which minimizes credibility loss from unrelated posts.
8. Use Hashtags and Mentions Wisely
Use 1-3 relevant hashtags to reach audiences, but use them sparingly. Tagging people or organizations can also assist in reaching your audiences and may develop new audiences or connections.
9. Promote Engagement & Feedback
Whether you ask questions, conduct polls or solicit opinions, engaging your audience produces two-way communication. Delivering mindful engagements does not only get your post further, it conveys accountability to social dialogue and open processes.
10. Assess & Reflect Your Influence
Track your engagements (i.e. likes, shares, comments) and identify possible analytical methods to strengthen strategy. Always ask yourself what works and reflect on your approach to increase engagement around your research.
If you are a high school student pushing yourself to stand out in college applications, RISE Research offers a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities around the world.
Through personalized guidance and independent research projects that can lead to prestigious publications, RISE Research helps you build a standout academic profile and develop skills that set you apart. With flexible program dates and global accessibility, ambitious students can apply year-round. To learn more about eligibility, costs, and how to get started, visit RISE Research’s official website and take your college preparation to the next level!
Read More
