In the age of the internet, social media tools offer a powerful way for scientists to boost their professional profile and act as a public voice for science. Although the type of online conversations and shared content can vary widely, scientists are increasingly using social media as a way to share journal articles, advertise their thoughts and scientific opinions, post updates from conferences and meetings, and circulate information about professional opportunities and upcoming events. Google searches now represent the standard approach for discovering information about a topic or person—whether it be search committees collecting information about faculty candidates, graduate students searching out prospective labs, or journalists on the hunt for an expert source. Consequently, in today’s technology-driven world, lack of an online presence can severely limit a researcher’s visibility, and runs the risk that undesirable search results appear before desirable ones. A growing body of evidence suggests that public visibility and constructive conversation on social media networks can be beneficial for scientists, impacting research in a number of key ways.
Why Social Media?
Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue. (Wikipedia)
Google Hangout with Scientists using Social media on “The Science of Science Communication in Social Media“ (12-17-13)
- Social Media for Scientists Part 1: It’s Our Job:Part 2: You Do Have Time,Part 2.5: Breaking Stereotypes,Part 3: Win-Win,Part 4: On the Road Related article: On Naïveté Among Scientists Who Wish to Communicate (Scientific American)
Part 5: It’s Time To e-Volve: Taking Responsibility for Science Communication in a Digital Age.
Part 6: Social Media for Scientists: The Wiki – Filled with resources
- Social Networking for Scientists – The WikiTwitter | Facebook | Blogging | General
- Scientists: Social Media Is Not Necessarily a Waste of Time
- PowerPoint: Scientists and Social Media – The Importance of Being On-line
- Paper: An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists
- Social media for teaching, learning, and researching (slideshare presentation)
- Archived Video: Engaging with Social Media from the AAAS Annual Meeting 2013: Communicating Science Seminar
Social Media Planning
- CDC Social Media Tools, Guidelines & Best Practices
- CDC In the Know: Social media for Public Health Webcast Series
Background and Misc. Resources
- 10 Ways to Increase Usage and Citation of your Article Using Social Media (SAGE)
- How to Cite Social Media in Scholarly Writing | SAGE Connection
- In the Know: Social Media for Public Health Webcast series from NPIN
- Social Media Today – Stories, stats, and perspectives
- Social media increasingly used to gauge public health
- Public Health 2.0 Slides on Slideshare
- Social Media Comment Policy | Example from EPA
- Scientific Literacy: How Do Americans Stack Up?
- How Social Networks Can Harness the Power of Weak Ties
- Six ways to say thank you and support one another using social media
- Pew Internet & American Life Project (articles/stats on Internet Use)
- Pew Internet: Social Networking (full detail)(Aug. 2013)
- 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users (Aug. 2013)
Project Examples
Video Examples
- TED-Ed– Lessons worth sharing
- Facebook Stories Sept. 2012 highlighted OSU professor Video: Speeding Up Science
- Contaminants in the Environment: How Can I Be Exposed? from OSU SRP
- Mercury: From Source to Seafood from Dartmouth SRP
- Voices Of Coal: An EarthFix Multimedia Special
- Risk Bites
- Doodles in Motion – Alphachimp studio video examples
Mapping Examples/Resources
- Coal Export Terminals in the Northwest. Built with ZeeMaps, uses audio
- “NPL Superfund Footprint: Site, Population, and Environmental Characteristics” Mapper from Columbia SRP
- UCSF – Committed to the City, interactive map, video, social networking
- Right to Know SFSU – Interactive maps, video
- HealthMap: interactive map, visualize health | ehp article
- Forgotten People: Participatory Mapping and Environmental Justice
Digital Storytelling Examples
- The Waiting Room Storytelling Project
- ShotbyShot: digital storytelling, youtube, Facebook
- Center for Digital Storytelling
- Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
Mobile Tech and App Examples/Articles
- Microsampling Air Pollution (NY times, 6/3/13)
- Seven Guidelines to Great Public Health Mobile Messaging
- Apps for the Environment – The EPA challenged the public to find new ways to use and deliver EPA data in an app.
- GreenRN: mobile ap provides tips for nurses three times a week to educate and inspire nurse professionals and students about environmental health factors and ways to positively affect their patients and themselves.
- Locavore site and app to find and share local, in-season food.
- Healthy Child Healthy World: mobile apps (pocket guides), social networking
- Text2Quit: mobile, texting
- AirNow Mobile App from the EPA
- State of the Air App from the American Lung Assoc.
- CitiSense from UCSD scientists
- What’s on my food? from Pesticide Action Network
- Daily dose of toxics to be tracked – Nature article on how exposome studies tie environmental exposure to biological triggers of disease
- Article: It’s Time for Scientists to Tweet
- Making a Case for Social Media Twitter can help scientists build networks, develop ideas, and spread their work, report says.
- Paper: The role of twitter in the life cycle of a scientific publication
- How to effectively set up a Twitter chat – video from the Mayo Clinic
- Article and paper: Who gives a tweet? Evaluating microblog content gives us an insight into what makes a valuable academic tweet
- Slides: Twitter For Scientists – The Changing Face of Science Communication
- CDC In the Know: Twitter for Public Health webcast archive
Tweeting at Conferences
- Life Science Conferences and Twitter: What Factors Lead To Better Engagement?
- Storify of #AAAStweets: Twitter for science communication
- Live-tweeting best practices from Twitter
- How to live tweet a conference by David Shiffman
Training Opportunities and Resources
- Scientists with Stories from Duke and UNC
- SpotOn is a series of community events for the discussion of how science is carried out and communicated online.
- “Finding Your Voice” video presentation by Liz Neeley
- Communicating Science 2013: a science communication workshop for graduate students. Cambridge, MA, June 13-15, 2013. comscicon.com #comscicon Story from Harvard Gazette
- Workshops offered through the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University
- AAAS Communicating Science 101 – videos and resources
- Communicating Outside the Box from Duke
- Translating Research beyond Academia to Stakeholders and Decision- and Policy-Makers from UC Davis
- Notes from the UC Davis graduate seminar on Nov. 14, 2012“Translating Research Beyond Academia: Communicating Science and Outreach for Broader Impacts”. Using Blogs to Enhance Your Scientific Career
- Science and Policy for Environment and Health from UC Berkeley
- ENGAGE – The Science Speaker Series Seminar at UW
- Mind the Science Gap – blog to train MPH students in communicating science via social media
- From the Trenches – Student blog examples
Superfund Related Training and Professional Development Resources
Multimedia & Data Visualization
- ESRI GIS on-line Mapping
- WorldMap – on-line map development tool from Harvard
- Examples of “Health infographics” on Pinterest
- Data visualization tools
- 10 Steps to Designing an Amazing Infographic
- Alphachimp Studio Gallery
- Using Storify to tell a digital story
Science & Health Communication
- The Science of Science Communication – On-line videos, May 21-22, 2012 National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
- Video: Alan Alda: Helping the Public Get Beyond a Blind Date with Science
- Science Communication Papers in #scioSciComm | Mendeley Group | #scicomm
- Translating Your Research: An Investigator Toolkit from NWABR
Groups
- ScienceOnline Community | #sciox
- COMPASS is dedicated to helping scientists connect themselves and their science to the wider world.
- ScienceOnline 2013 archived sessions | Get resources from the OSU ScienceOnline Watch Party
- OSU Science Communicators blog and events | #OSUSciComm
- Mayo Clinic Social Media Network
Assessment and Evaluation
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Partnerships for Environmental Public Health Evaluation Metrics Manual. NIH Publication No. 12-7825. [Metrics are included for web and social media]
General
- How To Measure Social Media Efforts
- Social Media Metrics for Federal Agencies
- Google Analytics – Useful for web site and blogs and evolving and growing for social media stats
- Twitter Map: Enter Twitter search terms and visualize tweets by a users location on a map. A great visual for a report or presentation.
- 5 Twitter Metrics Beyond Follower Count
- Topsy – Real time search and analytics
- 10 Awesome Twitter Analytics and Visualization Tools (April 2012)
- The New Facebook Insights Explained in Plain English
- How to Analyze Facebook Insights to Improve Your Content Strategy [With Video!]
- Pinterest for businesses – examples and best practices
- Pinterest Analytics
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Author: admin
I am the creative director at IGRAPHI and an award winning designer and web developer with 20 years of experience conceiving and implementing design and technical solutions across traditional, digital, and social media platforms to effectively engage target audiences with clients’ messages and products. Built and managed brands from the ground up, worn every hat on the rack, one brand at a time.
