Social Media for Research

David Phipps, PhD, MBA, Executive DirectorResearch & Innovation Services

York University@researchimpact

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Knowledge Mobilization Translation

Knowledge Mobilization

community

campus

campus

community

collaboration Social InnovationHOW WHAT

Knowledge mobilization helps make research useful to society

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Why Use Social Media?

• Disseminate knowledge and research in an iterative and interactive way

• Build communities for partnerships, collaboration and sharing

• Get academic research into the hands of people who can use it

Image adapted from http://webbiquity.com/social-media-marketing/the-four-cs-of-social-media-marketing/

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Everyone is on social media (aren’t they?)

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0

500

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"Today's ResarchSnapshot"

Because something happens

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Agenda

• What is Social Media?

• Overview of Select Tools

• Developing a Social Media Strategy

• Social Media and Grant Proposals

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What is social media?

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Social Media- Some Definitions

• “A group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and

technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange

of user-generated content”

• “Includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into

interactive dialogue”

• “Online communications in which individuals shift fluidly and flexibly between

the role of audience and author. To do this, they use social software that

enables anyone without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on, share or

mash up content and to form communities around shared interests.”

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010).Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons,53(1), 59-68

Social media. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Thornley, J. (2008, April 8). What is “social media?”. Retrieved January 10, 2012 from ProPR blog http://propr.ca/2008/what-is-social-media/

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Social Media: Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/08/18/web-10-vs-web-20-the-visual-difference/

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Social Media is like learning to swim

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Overview of *select* tools

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Blogging• Allows you to share stories and information with

wider audience• Way to promote research results, services, events

and activities• Information you would put into a newsletter can go

into a blog• Often a good way to get started using social media• You don’t often get a lot of conversation with blogs-

it is more of a push type of communication

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Blogging– Mobilize This!

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Blogging- ASD Mental Health CIHR Chair

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Blogging– Homeless Hub

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Twitter• Send out short (140 character) messages called tweets• Allows you to share updates, opinions, resources and

information with followers• Good way to connect with other people with shared interests

and build communities of practice• Aim for at least one tweet a day• Be sure to retweet other people’s tweets- it’s all about

sharing!• Try to include a link to something in your tweets

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Twitter is like a cocktail party

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Twitter- PREVNet

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Twitter- Homeless Hub

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Twitter- Roger Keil

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Facebook• A fan page allows you to share updates, links, resources and

have discussions• People can follow your updates and activities and post

questions or comments on your wall• Includes facebook Insights which gives you some analytics

so you can see who is visiting your page• Set up a vanity URL www.facebook.com/projectnamehere• Set up a fan page and post updates there to keep it separate

from your personal facebook page• If you decide to set up a facebook page, you need to post

daily and monitor for any comments• If you are concerned about inappropriate comments, it is fine

to develop a policy that states that you will remove such comments- post this on your About page

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Facebook- PREVNet

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Facebook- Mobilizing Minds

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LinkedIn

• Acts as an online resume or CV• Allows you to connect with colleagues and

others in your field• You can add your publications or projects to

your profile• Good way to stay connected to people you

meet at conferences• LinkedIn Groups are another way to

connect to others with similar interests

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LinkedIn- Laurier Research Services

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YouTube

• Videos are a great way to tell a research story• Viewers are able to put a face to research• You can create a channel for all of your

videos, as well as other favourited videos • You can embed videos from YouTube onto

your blog or website easily• Videos should not be longer than 3 minutes

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YouTube

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Pinterest- University of Virginia

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SlideShare- KMb Unit at York

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Developing a social media strategy

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Why Develop a Social Media Strategy?

Helps you:• Avoid “shiny object” syndrome• Plan in a thoughtful and strategic way• Carefully consider what you will do before investing

time and resources• Plan content and a schedule for releasing content• Identify who will work on what when working in a

group setting• Manage expectations

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Social Media Landscape

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Social Media Strategy Building

Need to consider:• Team• Primary Goals• Audiences• Current Conversation• Selecting Tools• Content• Measuring Success• Name and Design• Evaluation

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Team – who is going to do this?

• If you are working in a group setting, put together a team of people to work on social media

• Identify the person or persons who will have primary responsibility for populating, maintaining and monitoring your site

• Ensure they have the time and enthusiasm to devote to this project. List the team members

• Is this you?

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Primary Goals

• What are you hoping to accomplish?

• Define your goal(s) for your social media presence

• Are you trying to communicate research results, find partners to collaborate with, generally promote your work?

• Keep in mind that you may want to do all of these and may need to select a collection of tools

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Selecting Social Media Tools

Storytelling ResourceSharing

Disseminating Research

Networking

Blogging Twitter Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube Flickr SlideShare

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Audiences

• Who do you hope to reach?

• Identifying your audiences will help you tailor your content and also choose the right tool

• List your primary audiences

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Hands On Exercise

Thinking of your work or project, work in pairs and complete Sections 1-3 of the Developing a

Social Media Strategy Worksheet.

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Current Conversation

• This is when the listening begins. Survey the social media landscape for the “thought leaders” in your field

• What are people already saying? Who is saying it? What tools are they using?

• List the topics, people and sites that are leading the conversations that are relevant to you

• This will help decide which tools to use and the type of content to present

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Remember - Twitter is like a cocktail party

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Selecting Specific Tools

• Now that you know your goals, audience and where the current conversation is happening, you can start thinking about which tools to use

• At the beginning, it may be best to just pick a few tools and concentrate on doing them well but you can plan to add new ones in the future – pick the tools your audience is already using

• Map out which tools you will use now and which you will work towards using

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Content• What content will you share?

• Identify the content you already have to share, as well as the content you plan to develop

• Is it primarily news updates, research developments, or networking information? Photographs? Video?

• List the content you will be sharing via social media

• Also think about how often you will post content

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Hands on Exercise

Storytelling ResourceSharing

Disseminating Research

Networking

Blogging Twitter Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube Flickr SlideShare

Working in pairs again, complete Sections 4 and 5 and 6

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Measuring Success

• Determine how you will measure the success, or lack of success, of your various social media tools

• Possible ways to measure include:– Increased traffic to your website – Better communication with prospective partners– A new network of colleagues– You can also count but remember that

engagement is more than just numbers

• List how you plan to measure each tool’s success, and what you’ll use to track that success

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Measuring Success

Tools you can use for tracking:• Wordpress has built in analytics• If you use twitter, you can use:

– TweetCounter, TweetStats or Klout to track followers

– HootSuite also provides analytics• Facebook has its Insights analytics• If you pay for a professional account, you usually get

access to improved analytics and many tools offer a discount to educational institutions like universities, for example SlideShare

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Name and Design• Identify a simple and descriptive name for your profile

that clearly identifies your affiliation with your university, research project or organization

• Do you already have a logo you can use? If not, do you have a photo you can use as your logo?

• Try to use the same logo, photos and colour scheme across all of your tools

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Evaluation• How will you know you are being successful?

• Set a timeline for when you will conduct an evaluation of your tool’s success with your social media team members

• Consider:– What’s working?– What’s not working?– Do we need to change anything?– Are there any new tools we could be using?

• Ongoing evaluation should also be part of your strategy. Define your timeline

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Hands On Exercise - homework

Complete Sections 7-9 of the worksheet.

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Grant proposals

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Grant proposalsThings to keep in mind:• Reserve research project naming rights on social media• Develop a social media strategy before you start the research

project– Stakeholders– Social media channels stakeholders already use– Blog instead of a newsletter

• Allocate money for developing videos, purchasing pro accounts

• Make it someone’s job• Social media strategy should support the knowledge

mobilization plan which should support the outcomes statement and benefit to Canada (Australia?)

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Resources

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Resources

General Social Media

Bit.ly http://bit.ly• URL shortener that lets you track who clicked on your links and creates a

QR code for your shortened link that you can add to print materials

Cambridge Community Television www.slideshare.net/cctvcambridge• Good presentations on how to develop a social media strategy

The Conversation Prism www.theconversationprism.com• Visual of many social media tools for various purposes

NameChk http://namechk.com/• Let’s you see if your username is available on social networking sites

Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report 2012http://nonprofitsocialnetworksurvey.com/index.php

• Report that summarizes how nonprofit organizations are using social media and the top factors for success

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Resources

General Social Media

Online Database of Social Media Policies http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

• Links to over 175 social media policies and guidelines in use by various organizations, including many universities

SlideShare www.slideshare.net• Post your presentations online and allows you to embed them on your

website

Vanderbilt University Social Media Handbook http://web.vanderbilt.edu/resources/social-media-handbook/

• Very good resources on how to create a social media strategy and how to start using various tools

York University Social Media Guidelines http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/standards/documents/yu-social-media-standards_may2012_r3.pdf

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Resources

Facebook

HOW TO: Set up a facebook Page http://mashable.com/2011/05/22/how-to-facebook-page/• Includes step by step instructions to set up a fan page

Twitter

10 Ways Researchers Can Use Twitter http://www.networkedresearcher.co.uk/2011/08/03/10-ways-researchers-can-use-twitter/

Introduction to Social Media Measurement with HootSuitehttp://www.slideshare.net/hootsuite/introduction-to-social-media-measurement-with-hootsuite-7919595

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Resources

Twitter

LSE Guide to Using twitter in University Research, Teaching and Impact Activites http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter-guide

TweetBackup http://tweetbackup.com• Twitter doesn’t archive tweets but you can backup your tweets and export

them to Excel with this tool

TweetChat http://tweetchat.com/• Allows you to have a tweetup, a kind of twitter “conference call”, using

hashtags. This tool with show only conversations with your chosen hashtag

TweetStats http://tweetstats.com• Show some statistics and analytics on your tweets. Also can create a word

cloud of all the words you tweet

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Resources

Twitter

Twuffer http://twuffer.com/• Allows to you schedule in tweets for a later time. Good to use if you are

going to be away or plan to tweet daily about a resource, eg. ResearchSnapshots

Twitter Help Center http://support.twitter.com/• Articles to get you started, as well as information about solving common

problems and how to report a violation

Using Twitter for Research https://www.martineve.com/2011/05/23/using-twitter-for-research/

• A Prezi presentation outlining ways to use twitter aimed at researchers

David Phipps, Executive DirectorResearch & Innovation Servicesdphipps@yorku.ca @researchimpact

www.researchimpact.caWebsite

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