Thread by @OpenResLeeds

Day 2 of Research Profile Bootcamp. Today is all using about #SocialMedia to promote your research. 📣 We'll be tweeting tips from workshops with @DrHilaryYoung @448Studio this morning, and @RuthWinden from @UniLeedsODPL this afternoon. ✔

@DrHilaryYoung @448Studio @RuthWinden @UniLeedsODPL This morning's workshop starts at 10:00 and is on Social media essentials and strategy for researchers new to #SocialMedia. We're delighted to be hosting @DrHilaryYoung from @448Studio.🤩Watch this thread for tips🧵

It's fascinating to hear the different motivations for learning more about using social media for researchers: public and policy engagement, finding participants, outreach, finding collaborators, building networks and learning.

Other important motivations are connecting with funders, using social media to disseminate findings, demonstrating the impact of research, and celebrating acheivements.

We're hearing about the demographics of different platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok. If you are wanting to engage with younger audiences then Instagram and Tiktok are the platforms they use.

Take a look at your username and Twitter handle. Does it reflect you? Using your own name and including a picture of yourself on your personal page will help people identify you. Adding any profile image is better than none - avoid the Twitter 'egg'!

Include your role, affiliation with @UniversityLeeds, and your interests in your Twitter bio. Think twice about including hashtags in your bio that might take people away from your profile.

@UniversityLeeds Include relevant hashtags to make your tweets appear alongside other posts on the same topic. These might be on a particular topic, or an event. Use Camel Case for accessibility. #CamelCase #Accessibility

@UniversityLeeds There was not AltText attached to the image above in this thread 👆🏾. This one does, which means someone using a screen-reader can access it. #Accessibility

When you're starting out on Twitter, respond to and share tweets of the accounts you follow, use visuals, and ask questions. Respond to replies to drive engagement. Make social media SOCIAL and create new dialogue.

You can make your tweets easy to read by including white space.

This will make your headline point stand out.

If you're sharing a publication, @ mention the journal and collaborators, add links using the article's DOI and a picture or figure.

Replying to your own tweet will create a thread, allowing your to use a longer form and pose questions after each point you are making.

You can number the posts in your thread if you like, and even add a thread emoji at the start of the thread 🧵

Mix up your social media posts.

Sharing moments from your working life, as well as your insights and new publications will help your audience connect with you and your work.

Do you have any social media tips for researchers to share? Any really great examples of researchers or accounts whose posts you value? What do you think makes them work?

Using bookmarks, lists and topics can help you to curate content and accounts on Twitter to tailor the platform to your tastes and interests.

A short guide from Twitter here: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt…

Follow high profile social media accounts in your area of interest - funders, industry accounts, journals, individuals.

You can also investigate the Lists, Followers and Topics of the accounts you follow to expand your scope.

When thinking about running a social media channel, e.g. for yourself or on behalf of a research group, articulate together your social media mission: WHY you are using social media.

Think about your intended primary audience: WHO would you like to target?

When your mission includes outreach, for example with potential participant groups, Facebook and LinkedIn can be useful for identifying groups, communities and individuals.

Defining some short, medium and long term goals can get you started on social media.

Update your bio, post your first message, follow some key accounts are some suggested ways to start.

Consider building time into your working time to joining in conversations in your area of interest.

Focusing on engaging with others as well as sharing your own content will drive your follower numbers up naturally.

Thinking about your aims, voice, and personal rules and boundaries can help to keep your social media time manageable.

And if it's not working for you, you can change it.

Contacts in your Faculty or School, the Press office and Social media team at the University can help you to engage with the official @UniversityLeeds accounts.

@UniversityLeeds Now we're live at our LinkedIn session with @RuthWinden, keep an eye on this thread for live tips!

@UniversityLeeds @RuthWinden Make yourself more visible on LinkedIn by including a headshot, descriptive headline and appropriate keywords in your profile.

You can now add live links to websites into your LinkedIn profile - this could be to your personal website/online staff profile page/departmental website/ORCID profile etc.

You can add up to 50 skills onto your profile - employers will search for these skills on LinkedIn. Make sure you add your skills to your profile.

You need to be clear who your audience is and you need to tailor your LinkedIn profile to that audience.

Everyone is unique, and the right people want to see what you are all about! Share your experience, interests expertise, perspective, approach & attributes. Show people what you are about and share your expertise.

LinkedIn is a search engine - you need to use keywords that will help people find you.

Put the keywords in the right places on your LinkedIn profile - especially in the headline, job titles and about section.

Share your research & content - comment, share, tag, create your own posts and updates. Don't just like things! Commenting and engaging in discussions raises your visibility.

Share useful information in your own LinkedIn feed. Interesting updates for your community and your own contributions and successes.

Make it easy for people to see quickly who you are, what your role is and what your research interests are - add this info to the headline section of your LinkedIn profile. You can also add keywords to this section.

You can always try engaging on Twitter first. It is more information than LinkedIn and is more likely to result in influential people accepting your invitation to connect.

@dorkatamas got a special mention in the LinkedIn session for having a great example of a LinkedIn profile! 😍

@dorkatamas Tag relevant people in your posts and comments - this can be a really good start in helping you to raise your visibility.

@dorkatamas Join relevant groups and start to engage with members and their posting: quality over quantity.

And finally - don't give up if you don't see much engagement on your LinkedIn posts at the start! Keep going!

That's it from bootcamp today. Back tomorrow to focus on how you can showcase all of your research contributions. 🏋️‍♀️🏋️‍♀️