can social media help with post-graduate studies?
TRANSCRIPT
Can social media help with your post-graduate studies
(and career beyond)Dr Cameron Webb
Medical EntomologyUniversity of Sydney & NSW Health Pathology
Email: [email protected]: @mozziebites
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Social media and post-graduate study
• Social media is a useful tool but it isn’t absolutely necessary for successful completion of your studies
• Perhaps you work in a controversial field?• Perhaps you work in a strongly commercial field?• Perhaps your personality isn’t suited to social media?• At the moment, “academic” social media isn’t given
the weight of other activities (e.g. papers/teaching) • It requires “time out” from your studies
But that “time out” can be productive• It can be a distraction (a productive distraction?)
Social media isn’t for everyone!
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• Connection with colleagues (international)• Connection with institution (awareness)• Connection with community (public health advocacy)• Identify collaborators (participants & specimens)• Assist funding applications• Enhance crowdsourcing for research projects• Networking at conferences (actual & virtual)• Create voice of authority (mass & social media)
How can social media help me as a student?
Social media and post-graduate study
Social media and post-graduate study
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Video sharing & commentsChannelsTechnical considerationsFast growing reference sourceSome technical requirements a
barrier to getting started and may be time consuming
What is social media? Youtube
Social media and post-graduate study
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What is social media? InstagramPicture sharing & commentsGrowing popularitySmartphone specific (mostly) “Networking” limited opportunitiesMore broadcast, less conversationEasily integrated into other
platforms
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Centers for Disease Control [@cdcgov]
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What is social media? FacebookMost used social media platformGrowing diversity of usersHighly interactiveMostly “personal” focus “Stay in touch with family”Professional “groups”Lots of cat videos….
Social media and post-graduate study
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Social media and post-graduate study
Network of users that send short public messages
Growing popularity amongst academics and journalists
Increasingly integrated into mass media
Free and available on many platforms (mobile/desktop etc)
Available online without joining
What is social media? Twitter
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Social media and post-graduate study
Twitter v. Facebook for academics
van Noorden (2014) Online collaboration: Scientists and the social network. Nature 512: 126–129
Twitter Facebook
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• Started using “social media” for public health advocacy around 2005
• Twitter account 2010• Instagram, Tumblr, Wordpress, Periscope• Not Facebook, Snapchat (yet)• Twitter an effective way to connect many
“social media” platforms• Mass media activity• Non-academic writing and The Conversation• Future: YouTube & podcasts?
Social media and post-graduate study
How did I get started?
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Social media and post-graduate study
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Social media and post-graduate study
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Social media and post-graduate study
New avenues to explore useful resources!
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Image: Cameron Webb
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Social media and post-graduate study
Benefits of ‘non-academic’ writing
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Blog post article Publication date Views
Do mosquito repellent wrist bands work? 25 Nov 2013 125,400
Testing the claims of new mosquito repellents 25 July 2013 24,457
Busting five myths of mosquito repellents 22 July 2013 29,130
Are mosquito coils making us sick? 26 Apr 2015 18,455
Should we mix mosquito repellents and sunscreens?
27 July 2014 8,547
Mosquito Repellent Guidelines 10 Jan 2013 5,566
Why don’t mosquitoes spread Ebola? 20 Oct 2014 3,304
Access to my blog posts far outweighs access to my published scientific literature
Social media and public health advocacy
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Social media and post-graduate study
Writing for The Conversation provides many opportunities!
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The Conversation article Publication date Views
Why mosquitoes seem to bite some people more 26 Jan 2015 1.34M
Should I throw away food once a fly has landed on it? 24 Dec 2015 670,600
Despite ‘barely there’ trends, pubic lice are here to stay 11 Feb 2016 94,233
Here’s how you beat ‘indestructible’ head lice 5 Aug 2016 35,884
A user’s guide to repellents 4 Jan 2013 49,585
Taking the ouch and itch out of insect bites 19 Apr 2012 37,506
Does Zika virus pose a threat to Australia 26 Jan 2016 23,105
Tackling the tricky task of tick removal 21 May 2014 22,284
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Does social media increase access to your papers?
Social media and post-graduate study
Social media and post-graduate study
Webb (2013) Can social media increase the exposure of newly published research? https://cameronwebb.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/can-social-media-increase-the-exposure-of-newly-published-research/
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Social media and post-graduate study
Using social media in grant applications?
•How do you demonstrate “research translation”?•How do you demonstrate community engagement?•Social and mass media metrics provide quantitative values to include in grant applications•My social media and mass media statistics have been used for (successful) NHMRC grants and have been selected for showcasing by NSW Health
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• Be patient and persistent (it won’t all happen at once)• Engage with “like-minded” people and hashtags • A huge following helps but isn’t essential• Share a little (but not too much) about yourself• You don’t need to tweet a lot but tweet consistently• More than just your “followers” will read your tweets• Don’t embarrass yourself or your boss (take a breath)
Social media and post-graduate study
My tips and tricks to using social media
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You’re in the public domain, take a moment to think about what you’re tweeting/posting and how it will be perceived!
What would your supervisor say if they saw your tweet?
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Contact me:Dr Cameron WebbMedical EntomologyEmail: [email protected]: 9845 7548Twitter: @mozziebitesBlog: cameronwebb
Social media and post-graduate study