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Dear Friends,
I am sending this a bit late because – it’s summer! I thought it would be an opportune time to pontificate on the topic of social media and academia. There are many social media beginner’s guides available online (here’s one), and I am confident that all of you can figure out the mechanics. Instead, I hope to share the rationale for using social media, some of my best practices, and pitfalls to avoid. I’ll end by giving you summer homework! (for the new people, aren’t you glad you asked to get these emails?!)
You should be on social media because. . . you will encounter and engage future colleagues and stakeholders (journalists, policymakers, community activists), you will learn how your work resonates and challenges different audiences, and it is a great way to experience the thinking of mentors and leaders in your field. Your social media amplifies your voice. Don’t be invisible!
Make social media useful for you by. . . following only people who interest you, finding your tribe who will amplify your work (me! Send me your papers! I’ll tweet them!), identifying future collaborators, and learning on the fly.
What social media? I recommend three actions:
Create a LinkedIn profile
Start a Twitter account linked to your professional email
Write one blog post
Best practices include . . .
Keep it professional, or what I call “professional adjacent.” Professional-adjacent topics include daily challenges of academia, public policy, and journalism related to your work, being a working parent, et cetera. I think the occasional shout-out to your favorite sports star (SERENA!) or TV show is humanizing and endearing, but remember why people follow you and try to honor that. I sometimes tweet about sexist or racist micro-aggressions I experience, in the spirit of sharing my experience with followers with different experiences.
Lurk. You don’t have to post at first. Start by following leaders and journals in your field, high-quality journalism (NY Times Health, Vox), and professional peers you respect. When you’ve read/ seen a lot of posts, you will feel more comfortable.
Start simple. If you find yourself wanting to talk about a paper you read or a talk you listened to, post about it. #you #dont #need #toomuch #flash or to tag @everyone tangentially related to the topic. Images make tweets more likely to be shared.
Share your handle. Put your Twitter handle on the first slide of your talks, visible on your posters, and in the signature line of your email.
Avoid pitfalls
Be frank, honest, and political and still be professional. I try to retweet factual political content rather than random inflammatory statements (even if I agree with those statements!)
Don’t engage with trolls. It is stressful, pollutes your feed, and I have never heard of it bringing benefits.
Only retweet information you know to be correct. Make sure the link to the source functions and is reputable.
Don’t say in 280 characters what could be said in 140 characters!
Homework- write a blog post
Possible outlets include KevinMD, Doximity’s Op(med), The Conversation, Medium, NIH’s many blogs, and journal blogs.
Writing a blog is more like writing an email than a scientific paper. Short, simple, and actionable. Don’t overthink it.
You might want to write a blog as a complement to a recent study. Write why you did the study, what you learned and what it means, and what the next steps are. You can also post your blog on your Linkedin page.
Blog posts (and op-eds) that get attention include those with a surprising twist (“man bites dog”), are especially timely (in the same theme as a current event), or something that sounds novel and science fiction-ish (CRISPR).
I’ll look forward to liking and sharing your work and posts! Some housekeeping for my new readers: feel free to forward this, but cc me so I know where this message goes. This is an opt-in email list, so if you have colleagues whom you think would like to be on the list, I will gladly add them. Don’t forget that I love to hear from you! Please let me know when you have papers, talks, or other accomplishments that I can promote. If you have ideas for future topics, please drop me a line and let me know.
Happy summer,
Urmimala