1. Using Social Media Dr Rebekah Higgitt School of History @beckyfh to...

2. Social media Microblogging Twitter, Storify, Google+, Facebook, etc Instagram, Pinterest Blogging Personal (Worpress, Blogger, Tumblr etc) Institutional Media Vlogging, Slideshare, Prezi Academia.edu LinkedIn etc

3. Twitter and Blogs https://twitter.com/beckyfh https://twitter.com/KentCHOTS https://teleskopos.wordpress.com/ http://blogs.rmg.co.uk/longitude/ http://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h- word http://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h- word

4. Pros Reaching wider audiences? Reaching new audiences? Evidence … e.g. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/201 5/06/26/reading-list-using-social-media-for- research/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/201 5/06/26/reading-list-using-social-media-for- research/ Diminishing returns? Helps clarify your own thinking Share your passion/message Learn from others online

5. Testing tweet impact

6. “The papers that were tweeted and blogged had at least more than 11 times the number of downloads than their sibling paper which was left to its own devices in the institutional repository. QED, my friends, QED.” Melissa Terras, http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/0 4/19/blog-tweeting-papers-worth-it/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/0 4/19/blog-tweeting-papers-worth-it/

7. Cons Uses up time Online abuse? Speaking to the void? Crowded marketplace Confused identities? Attitude of employers?

8. Tips Decide why you’re using social media and what kind of audience you want to reach Be prepared to change/evolve Have conversations, don’t just broadcast Be a person not an institution/position/faceless academic Good timing (being timely/choosing time)

9. Getting started on Twitter Follow and have conversations with people you already know Find, follow and converse with those you’d like to know Find and create relevant hashtags (#scicomm #loveHE #histsci #museums) Get outside your bubble Have opinions Share content, links and images

10. Writing for blogs Anything goes!....unless you have an aim in mind....

11. Bloggers and audiences Who is your audience? What are you trying to achieve? Reasons for blogging Make money (rarely) Practice skills Showcase skills Campaign Share knowledge, ideas, perspective Learn ditto from others Enjoyment

12. Science blogs Teaching blogs (teachers) Classroom resources Issues in education Research blogs (researchers/academics) Research process/results Expert commentary NB Group blogs Institutional blogs (press officers/staff) PR/media focus Audience building Journalistic blogs (science writers) Quick response to news Reactive/ providing perspective

13. Anthologies & prizes

14. ‘How to...’

15. Unexpected outcomes

16. What works? Have a perspective or USP Have a point (think of a ‘standfirst’ even if you don’t use one) and/or an opinion Have structure Be visually attractive Find easy ‘regular’ features Keep length (post, paragraph, sentence) under control Don’t be relentlessly negative? Don’t be relentlessly enthusiastic?

17. What works? Use different forms of social media together Find communities: get inspiration, understand different views (especially if you seek to persuade) Have content

18. B logging for all? No Time-consuming (unless it’s part of your job You have to thrive on being busy Needs to come (fairly) easily Yes If you have something to say If you want to find a way into professional writing