Sharing Your Research With Your Social Network

Author: Penny Freedman

When your research is published and ready for sharing, tackling the best way to share it on social media may seem daunting. If you only frequent social media for personal use, you may feel uncomfortable putting your work out there for all to see. If you’re already using social media to highlight your research, you may worry about crossing the line into being too overly promotional and intrusive.

We’ve compiled this simple plan to get you started with sharing your research on social media.

A few key pointers to keep in mind:

Your journal article’s SharedIt link makes it possible for anyone with the link to read your article.

Readers do not have to be subscribed to the journal your article is published in or to SpringerLink. The SharedIt author link you receive is the best way to start sharing. If you haven’t received it yet, you can do so here.

Staying informed about what people are discussing on social media that relates to your research is important.

Your article may be the key piece of information a thread of information is looking for, or a hashtag away from being the next viral piece of information.

Promotion doesn’t end after the first day your article publishes.

In the busy world of social media, it’s easy to miss a post the first time it gets posted, so don’t be afraid to come back and post something similar a second, third, or fourth time (with ample time in between).

Keep it brief.

You may have a lot to say about your research, but most social posts are consumed quickly. You’re more likely to catch someone’s eye if your postings get right to the point.

Don’t forget the tags and hashtags.

Include hashtags that other researchers may be following. Does your research tap into any trending hashtags on Twitter? Don’t forget to add it to the end of your tweet. Did you work on a paper with another researcher or institution? Make sure your Facebook posts are properly tagged to their profiles and your tweets include the correct @handles.

Read through this detailed action plan for more ideas, and see your research soar with SharedIt 

Featured image: Social-Media-Roadmap750x280 by Yoel Ben-Avraham. CC 2.0 via Flickr.