Research Impact

Social Media remains a valuable tool for researchers to share their research and to connect with other members of their professional community. Posting content to social media outlets like Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and X, ensures that you engage in knowledge mobilisation, and associates your name with your scholarly output. By developing a professional voice and reputation on social media, you ensure that your name is well associated with your work.

According to TMU Social Media lab professor Philip Mai (left), the use of blogs and social media is an extremely valuable avenue for keeping up with innovations in your academic field, discovering new ideas, and promoting work. If you develop a professional social media presence (which should be separate to your personal profile), you may engage in professional discourse along with others in the field. Social Media outlets rise and fall with cultural trends, and many become quickly obsolete, but if you can manage your presence effectively, you can use social media as a style of persistent identifier.

Selected reading:

Beer, David. "Social media ennui – the end of academic social media?" LSE Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2023/10/27/social-media-ennui-the-end-of-academic-social-media/

Mojarad, Sarah. "A Beginner's Guide to Joining Academic Twitter." Medium. https://medium.com/@smojarad/a-beginners-guide-to-academic-twitter-f483dae86597 

Potter, Ned. "How to get started with Academic Bluesky." LSE Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2024/11/18/how-to-get-started-with-academic-bluesky/

van Alstyne, Jennifer. "A Guide to Instagram for Academics." The Academic Designer. https://theacademicdesigner.com/2018/guide-to-instagram-for-academics/ 

Works cited

Mai, Philip and TMU Social Media Lab. Loose Connections and the Strength of Weak Ties: How to Use Twitter and Blogs to Enhance Your Professional Academic Profile.

This guide has been created by the Toronto Metropolitan University Library and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License unless otherwise marked.