Post on 18-Jul-2015
Twitter and YouFrom Twit to Tweeter
An AGSO 15-minute Lecture by Meredith Rawls, @merrdiff
September 27, 2013
What is @twitter for?
• Breaking news
• Yelling at sports
• Cat pictures
• Whining about first world problems
• Spambots
• Funny inside jokes
• Wasting time
What is @twitter for?
• Asking & answering science Qs
• Honing communication skills
• Attending a conference
• Networking with fellow astronomers
• Conversing with people not in Las Cruces
• Publicizing your latest research
• Finding a job
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
• I already use facebook.
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
• I already use facebook.
• I won’t have any followers.
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
• I already use facebook.
• I won’t have any followers.
• I don’t want to learn a new thing.
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
• I already use facebook.
• I won’t have any followers.
• I don’t want to learn a new thing.
• I hate outreach and only do it for GSC money.
Excuses…
• Twitter uses some t > 0 amount of time and I’m only allowed to do research, ever.
• I already use facebook.
• I won’t have any followers.
• I don’t want to learn a new thing.
• I hate outreach and only do it for GSC money.
• I don’t believe in talking to people.
Finding the signal in the noise
• Being a “fly on the wall” is OK
• Ask an astronomy question, get an answer
– How do I do this one thing in python / LaTeX?
– Could you see a meteor shower on Titan?
• Links! Tweets are short, but info is dense
• Receive news tailored exactly to your interests
– E.G., chicken, donuts, football, dogs, Seattle, SDSS
Going to a #conference? (1/2)
• “Attend” two sessions at once
• Take notes for yourself and others
• Be first to know about free food & drinks
Going to a #conference? (2/2)
• Advice from @drphilmarshall
DPS, Oct 2013 #dps13
AAS, Jan 2014 #aas223
COMMUNICATIZE BETTERER
• Forces you to be succinct; compelling yet brief
• People love astronomy… do easy outreach
Publicize your work / Find papers
• Write a paper? Tweet a link!
• Follow @Awesome_Ph and similar
• Like dark matter? Follow @DMHunters
• #icanhazpdf
Unlike you, twitter isn’t stuck in bumf*ck nowhere Las Cruces
• Geography doesn’t matter
• Student / postdoc / professor doesn’t matter
Want a job? Twitter can help
• “All of the jobs I’ve had since finishing my PhD I’ve found through announcements on twitter.”
—Australian postdoc in planetary science
• Get invited to give a talk or write a blog post
• People know you when you have an online presence
OK! Sounds good! How to start?
• Pick a short username (I’m @merrdiff)
• Use your 140 characters wisely
• Replies (@ vs .@), mentions, retweets, oh my
• Care and use of #hashtags
Example: brevity
• Long email ( >> 140 chars):Hello Meredith,
I saw your latest paper on the arXiv. Very interesting! I was wondering why you preferentially chose to include orange widgets in your sample and didn’t have very many silver ones? The last time I looked into widgets, silver ones were generally accepted as more representative of the overall widget population. Here is a link to a paper I coauthored 10 years ago on the subject:
http://www.astronomy.myuniversity.edu/~bobisthebest/424242/httpd/html/holtz/APO/UseThisOne/papers/widgets/FrednBobPaper1.pdf
Cheers, Bob
• Long tweet ( = 140 chars):
@merrdiff Saw your paper, very interesting! Why’d you use mostly orange widgets, not silver? http://bit.ly/12345 suggests silver is best.
Example: research conversation
Twitter Summary
• Useful tool for research
• Connects you with other scientists
• Improves your communication skills
• Enhances conferences for everyone
• Might even help you find a job
Learn morehttp://goo.gl/7VtQJ