Social media is not just a place to watch funny cat videos or share with the world what are you up to. Then why do we need social media as researchers? Well, it’s also a great way to develop a professional network and build an expert profile!

Let’s talk today about how you can use social media to promote your work as a researcher, meet mind-a-like people and build your personal brand as a researcher. I’m going to share some of the social media rules for students and researchers that helped me and Dawid to build our networks on Instagram and LinkedIn. Ready? Let’s talk about social media tips! 

1. Benefits of social media – active social media presence is a free way to connect with others in your research area. 

I often get asked how can social media help students in their studies and what are the uses of social media in academia? You also often ask me about the best social media tips. Let me answer with another question! 

Do you know how many people use social media? According to Emplify, currently (Nov 2021) monthly active users on Facebook is 2.90B, Instagram 1B, and LinkedIn 0.76B. What does it mean in terms of the benefits of social media and how social media help students and researchers?

If you look at each social media platform as a network of potential friends, collaborators or even clients, just imagine how many people you can meet over there. And the best part is that by sharing your work, you can actually help many people and achieve a real impact with your research! Wow – isn’t it amazing?  

Social media is and will be a free way to connect with people who are interested in your work. Can social media destroy real-life communication? I don’t think so! It’s true that the vast majority of content includes pretty, unrealistic pictures, funny stuff or other stuff that gives us a good laugh. But I do believe that social media is a great place for sharing your research, building relationships and inspiring others to use the outcomes of your research. 

2. What social media to choose? 

With so many social media platforms available these days, you may wonder what social media platform would be best to share your research and whether is social media good for students and researchers. I must disappoint you – there is no simple answer.

In my opinion, the best social media is the one where your potential clients or fellow researchers are present, and the one with which you are most comfortable. I would say that there are no good or bad social media. But there are more or less effective! 

Before I share my view on which social media is the best for researchers, let me explain how does social media help spread information. Broadly speaking, each social media platform cares about the value that you add to your network. This largely means that the posts and updates that you share on your profile should be engaging or teach your network something. At the end of the day, social networks are interested in keeping people on their platforms for as long as possible, right?

I wouldn’t explain what is social media addiction here, but it is in social media networks interest to stay on their platform for a long time. Hence it is so easy to procrastinate and get distracted! One of the best social media tips I received, therefore, is to focus on the social media platform you find most engaging, but can resist the temptation to spend hours scrolling through the feed!

So which social media to choose? Well, the most popular, Facebook has 2.90B active users and it gives you the most possibilities. it has a large selection of groups and there is a likelihood that you’ll find one related to your research area. By the way, check out our group on PhD Motivation and Wellbeing! It also means, that there is a lot of people you will compete with for attention and reach.

Instagram is all about photos (and lately – also videos). Although it doesn’t have groups or communities, Instagram has a specific content categorisation system that uses hashtags. It allows you easily find the community you want to belong to. Check out our Instagram profile!

Finally, LinkedIn is one of the most professional social networks. It allows you not only to share your research with relevant audiences and spread awareness of your research area. It is primarily a fantastic way to connect with business professionals and academics relevant to your line of enquiry. Of course, there are significant differences in social media versus face to face communication and networking, but LinkedIn is one of the best places for students and researchers to build an expert profile. Check out our Motivated Academic page, as well as my and Dawid’s profiles.  Dawid also shared his view on why LinkedIn is the best platform to develop your research profile.

So how to select the best social media to build your expert brand? Well, it all depends on what is your goal by using social media. Do you want to share your research, find business partners, make changes in the world, show your everyday life as a young academic at the entry to your career, or build your professional brand?

Here is my view on which and how social media can help researchers build an expert profile and share their research: 

• Facebook is best to engage in groups and connect with friends in your research lab
• Instagram is best to share behind-the-scenes and your research journey via photos and videos
• LinkedIn is best to build a professional network with other academics and professions 

3. How to make an impact on social media? My best social media tips for individuals and researchers?

Wondering how social media can help in communication of your research and how you can effectively use social media to enhance the impact of your research? Here’s my view on how social media can help in higher education!

No matter which social media platform you decided to use, make sure that you will follow these simple social media tips:

• Be regular! You won’t make a difference if you’ll publish just once in a while. If you want to gain attention and recognition, make sure that you’ll share high-quality content on a regular basis. It doesn’t mean that you need to publish every day! I strongly advice you to develop repeatable patterns, choose interesting topics you like and want to share with others. If you struggle to come up with a good content plan, think about how TV schedules their programmes. You can also contact me for help! 

• Engage with others! Remember that social media still has a *social* part in the name. Some people actually wonder how social media affects communication and how does social media help spread awareness. We’ll, it is all about engaging with your network and building relationships! Talk with others to achieve best results! Send them a direct message, comment, or even repost their content. Make sure you are really interested into the content that you reshare and comment in a professional manner. This will help you build authority. We all share things and want to be “awarded” with likes and comments. Otherwise social media doesn’t make sense – it’s all about sharing and reacting. Don’t just stay in the corner and check out others.

• Be authentic! This is the simplest, yet most difficult aspect of being on social media to achieve. We all want to be seen as strong people who succeed all the time. But remember this – nobody is perfect and gets things done in the first attempt. We are not robots! What it means? Well, many people get discouraged to share on social media because they think they haven’t achieved anything great or don’t have anything interesting to say. They struggle in a daily life and that will not be helpful to others. Here is the trick – we all struggle. You will add much more value to your network if you reflect on how you resolved your problems and share it with your network, rather than posting only about your successes or reposting content of others. Social media can be a great support bubble! 

Conclusions

I trust that through this article, I gave you some insights into my social media tips for students and researchers. But before I conclude this post, I wanted to give you one final tip – don’t force yourself! The more you enjoy the process, the more likely you are to develop an authentic and expert profile on social media. It doesn’t matter which social media platform you select, as long as you are consistent, engage with others and add value. 

What social media tips you would give to other researchers? I am also thinking about running a social media workshop for researchers. Would you be interested to attend? Let me know!