Abstract
Social media is a ubiquitous part of everyday life. It gives users an easy way to connect and connect with others without meeting in person. This form of communication offers many opportunities for companies and individuals to reach large audiences. What is the purpose of social media and how does it relate to science? Well, you see, it all depends on who you know and how active your social media presence is. Is there any benefit to sharing survey results on social media? The benefits of social media come from an individual's active participation and generation of engaging new content. Research is about producing new information, and social media offers unique opportunities to showcase new content.
download PDFwhole article
The use of social networks and their importance for research
Jessica Rogers
Social media is a ubiquitous part of everyday life. It gives users an easy way to connect and connect with others without meeting in person. This form of communication offers many opportunities for companies and individuals to reach large audiences. What is the purpose of social media and how does it relate to science? Well, you see, it all depends on who you know and how active your social media presence is. Is there any benefit to sharing survey results on social media? The benefits of social media come from an individual's active participation and generation of engaging new content. Research is about producing new information, and social media offers unique opportunities to showcase new content.
Keywords: social media; To look for; engagement
Contact Information: Bioresource Process Editor, Department of Forestry Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; E-Mail: jarivier@ncsu.edu
What is social media?
In today's world, social media is a ubiquitous facet of life around us. Almost every ad, whether it's TV, radio, magazine, movie preview, podcast, newspaper or elsewhere, will make some mention of your social media presence. “You can like us on Facebook, visit us on Instagram” or perhaps “watch our YouTube channel” are just some of the hooks that companies will provide to further build their brand and increase their visibility. As of January 2019, there are approximately 7.7 billion people worldwide, of which 3.397 billion are active social media users (Smith 2019). Furthermore, there are nearly a million new users to some form of social media every day, or one new user every 10 seconds; On YouTube alone, 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute (Smith 2019). In conclusion, if you boycott the idea of social media, I hate to teach you about it, but it's here to stay.
The underlying purpose of social media
For those who don't know, engagement is a key topic on social media. Have you ever contacted a company through their social media for any reason? The various social media are simply interactive avenues on the internet that companies and businesses use to build relationships and connect with others without leaving their desks. As a scientist, it's important to attend conferences, give talks, and lead panel discussions to interact with others about common scientific interests. Today there is an endless amount of resources available to you on the internet that allow you to do the same. Twitter initially emerged as a news and social networking site where users post content and interact with each other through messages known as "tweets". The use of hashtags (a type of metadata tag) across all social media platforms allows people to search for specific interests and see all content related to that specific hashtag. This is a quick way to find and connect with people through common interests. Of course, you should continue to be actively involved in your community by attending conventions and conferences, but if you're really struggling to connect with more people, don't ignore social media until you give it a try, as it can connect with an even larger audience. . Think of it this way: your talk or discussion is probably already being recorded, so what are you going to do with that recording?
Social media has a clear and straightforward purpose for businesses that are selling a product or service and are looking for ways to promote their brand. Of course, there are other ways to use social media. Most people use social media to be social and communicate with family, former classmates or keep in touch with former classmates. The idea of a technological way to keep in touch with people is the basis for the creation of Facebook. Facebook adds 500,000 new accounts every day, which is equivalent to 6 new profiles per second (Smith 2019). So who exactly is on your Facebook friends list? Who subscribes to your YouTube channel? Who Retweets Your Tweets? If you want to expand your impact beyond your discipline, you need a strong base of connections in your network.
The average person has 5.54 social media accounts (Smith 2019). Whatever the purpose of these accounts, are they designed for multiple platforms? Who's really engaged? These are all important questions related to your potential reach as an individual. The bottom line is that if you want community involvement in what you do, you must first be active in that specific community.
Social Media and Search
Now let's switch gears and focus on a different avenue of social media, which scientists are using to advance their research. The same rule applies. While all social media has the potential for massive reach, who you connect or engage with matters. However, the fast-paced, live aspect of social media can discourage skeptical researchers from not posting, but successful responses and quick responses can increase a researcher's credibility. Research is about producing new information, and social media offers unique opportunities to showcase new content.
As a scientist, you want to share your research results with as many colleagues and people as possible after publication, so they can read your new findings. You want to share your hard work with many people. Almost all researchers send emails to their colleagues and individuals within their institution, which is essentially the first step in promoting their work. What if you took it a step further and reached out to the scientific community on social media? Chances are you already have a social media account and possibly one related to the scientific community; ResearchGate is a popular academic social media channel. ResearchGate is a website that provides a forum for scientists to share and discuss their research and find collaborators. If you share your research on your personal account, the only people you connect with will be able to see it. However, if you are active on several community or special interest sites related to your field of study and participate in regular discussions with other researchers on those sites, you can have a much wider reach. Again, it all depends on what you want to achieve with your search.
What does this mean for you?
Before you start, you need to ask yourself what exactly do you want to benefit from social media. If your main goal is broader reach, you need to be active in multiple communities related to your area of expertise. You're already staying up-to-date with industry news and new research, and what others might do when they discover your research. However, if you're looking for engagement and lively discussions, your active presence is required. Participating and leading discussions and posting content will increase your visibility. Sharing and reposting other people's work and being an active member on social media gets your profile noticed and can improve your reputation. A good place to start is the professional social networking site LinkedIn, which allows you to connect with people based on professional interests.
You could always go the old-fashioned route and send an email about your research, but how many new people are you reaching about your work? Next time, maybe try posting your research on some industry sites, tag a few people in the community, and see if you make new connections or start interesting conversations. As social media allows you to instantly interact with people around the world, you might be surprised by who or how many people are interacting with you.
Cited references
Jaring, P. and Back, A. (2017). "How researchers use social media to advance their research and interact with industry",Technology information management review7(8), 32-39. DOI: 10.22215/timreview/1098
Smith, K (2019). "123 surprising statistics and facts about social media",brand watch, (https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/), accessed March 26, 2019.