An Academic’s Guide
to Social Media
How to use social media as an Academic to create a sense of
community and boost your professional profile
Social media is a great resource to connect
with other researchers in your field and share
your work with a broader circle. Setting
up an account and using it properly can be
daunting if you’re not sure where to start.
Similarly, learning how to use social media
professionally or transition your chosen
account(s) from a personal to a professional
focus can be equally challenging.
The Why
If you’ve decided to create an account for
professional purposes it’s important to be
clear on the goal. Make sure to ask yourself
just why you’re setting up an account in the
first place:
• Are you an influencer? Do you
have a unique point of view to
share with others on an important
discussion?
• Are you a connector? Is your aim
to find and connect with people
in your field, university or other
universities?
• Are you interested in distributing
research? Do you need to promote
published journal papers or
interesting analysis of current
affairs or events?
• Is this account for you or your
employer? Are you creating an
account on your behalf or on
your employer’s? Make sure you
understand your liabilities.
If you’re still unsure about the benefits of
social media for academia, The Conversation
posted about the benefits, which include
reducing isolation, promoting openness and
publicizing research. Similar articles have run
in Forbes.
The What
Ensure that you have a balanced approach to
posting content. While you can use Twitter or
Facebook as a stream of consciousness, having
a plan in place and knowing what is coming up
will not only put your mind at ease, but means
you can use your time wisely.
Finding the right content mix can mean
balancing:
• Content you create
• Interesting content created by others
• Content that inspires you
• Conversations
Remember: All social media posts are a form
of publication. If you wouldn’t write it in an
academic review, don’t blog about it or post it
on Twitter or Facebook.
The How
Readers churn through social media posts at
a rapid rate and attention spans are getting
shorter, so when posting assume your
content will be shared or seen in a fleeting
moment. Structuring posts so they’re easy to
understand will not only help your message
cut through quickly, but it will also help
others reply or share your content.
For maximum engagement make sure to:
• Front load your content. Much like the
inverted news pyramid, put the most
important part of your sentence at the
beginning of you post with the least
important information at the end. Utilizing
colons will help you master this style.
This Good Content Co post goes into
more detail.
• Guide your reader. Make sure to guide
your reader to the link or destination
before posting any hashtags. This will
help get more eyes on your research or
content.
• Use hashtags sparingly. Hashtags are a
great way to reach people outside of
your network, by focusing on one or two
hashtags per post you will be able to test
their impact without overwhelming your
audience. They should always add value to
your post, as Campaign Capital illustrate in
this blog post.
• Keep up to date with best practice content
length. Hubspot has a lot of good free
resource for this.
• Cross-promote your social media accounts
– use Twitter to refer to your blogposts
and insert Twitter feeds that you follow in
your blog.
• Develop your own style guide. What you
say online will be around for longer than
you think. Posting in a consistent voice
and in a consistent format will help your
audience feel at ease and build trust.
Follow the Guardian style guide Twitter
account for some witty insights into
developing a style.
The Help
If you experience writers’ block or just don’t
know where to start in the content creation
process, fear not! Drawing inspiration from
others is part of the content creation process.
Try these techniques:
• Conversations. Chat to people, find out
what’s on their mind. This is where the
best inspiration comes from.
Also, check out these examples of academics
using social media:

• Mine hashtags. Searching hashtags is The Thesis Whisperer

an easy way to see if they’re used, what
The LSE Impact Blog
relevant conversations are happening
in that space and whether people are QRFrag
engaging in debates. Frequently used
hashtags for academics include: #PhDchat Social Science Academic Tweeters
#Acwri #Ecrchat.
LSE Impact Blog Twitter Stream
• Use Paper.li. Paper.li can help you find and
Edutopia
organize content. You can then share your
insights with your networks automatically. Facebook in Education
• Use Twitter lists. For your own curated For more ways to utilize social media for
group of Twitter accounts create a list. your career see The Guardian, Times Higher
You’ll get to group conversations by lists Education, Harvard Business Review.
and can see what lists your followers have
created.
• Connect with other likeminded individuals.
Other people’s posts can be a springboard
for your own unique commentary on an Sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive
issue. more best practice tips in your inbox.
• Stay up to date with events. Social
media activity peaks during public
events. You might see more relevant
conversations around these events too.
For event calendars see the international
days observed by the UN or your local
government.