Many bios are lists of academic positions and acronyms
Its not a great way to get a 'feel' for who you are
Your profile should say
▫️ Who you are
▫️ What you do
▫️ How to engage with you
It should introduce you like a handshake, not a CV.
2. Tag your organisation
You're at CSU? Which one?
Colorado State Uni 🇱🇷
Central South Uni China 🇨🇳
Charles Sturt Uni Australia 🇦🇺
Most of us use our institute's acronym but few of us know all 25000+ universities worldwide. Tag your organisation so we know exactly where you are
3. Let them know why you are here
You never know who will read your Twitter bio. Don't waste the attention.
Writing a book? 📕 Tell them!
Looking for a job? 👋Tell them!
Learning a new skill? 🛠 Tell them!
Making a community? 🫂 Tell them!
Help people join your journey
4. Buy words with pictures
I whole-heartly recommend emojis (hear me out 🙏)
▫️they save space (think flags vs country names)
▫️they add interest (think pops of colour among monotone words)
▫️they increase accessibility to non-native speakers
5. Maximise other profile space
Twitter banners take up more space than bios. But they are often underutilised
Use your banner to showcase your work, your personality, your blog - anything hard to summarise in 160 characters
Avoid an empty blue space at all costs
TL/DR
Improving your academic Twitter bio
1. Don't write a CV 2. Tag your organisation 3. Let them know why you are here 4. Buy words with pictures 5. Maximise other profile spaces
As a PhD student, all I focused on was getting a PhD.
As a PhD supervisor, I focus on training students on the long-term process that leads to getting a PhD.
Here's some examples🧵
The student wants to publish alot
Instead of chasing papers, I recommend we work to become the kind of researcher that has a writing system: read thoroughly, develop writing habits, seek feedback and maintain consistency.
Good papers start with good writing systems
The student wants to join a 'famous' lab
Instead of chasing the lab head, I recommend we work to be the kind of researcher others want to work with: critical thinking, verbal communication, ability to work autonomously and in a team.
This function detects patterns in data between columns and automatically fills. Useful for separating survey responses, data strings, people's names, it goes on