Social Media in Research Dissemination

lather. rinse. repeat

an introduction to social media in research dissemination

Aerin GuyThe Wellesley Institute

Research with PrideOctober 2, 2009

hi

aerin@wellesleyinstitute.com@wellesleyWI

@aeringuywww.wellesleyinstitute.com

agenda

• Part 1: Intro to the social web

• Part 2: What happens online....

• Part 3: Disseminating research online

• Part 4: Tools

• Part 5: Pie eating contest

• Part 5: Q&A

Part 1: The Social Web

commonly referred to as.....

•web 2.0

•social media

•the social web

•the internetz

•but really......

•the way we connect today

powerful stuff

• introduction to social media

The web is about conversations,

not top down delivery of information or messages.

people are talking to each other online

you have a choice

•resist it and it will happen anyways, elsewhere, outside your infludence

•support it, participate, influence it, and leverage it for your message/initiative/brand

the world has changed

and so has the way we connect

“when we change the way we communicate, we

change society”“new technology enables

new kinds of group-forming”

• listen and learn and build relationships

• publish valuable news and information

• disseminate quickly and effectively

• create or extend your brand personality

• engage in conversations and services

• efforts lead back to your website - your hub or repository of information

some benefits of using social media

dissemination vs marketing

•goal is action in user

•policy impact vs “sale”

•dissemination is marketing

some basics

•feeds/tags/RSS

•blogs

•wikis

•Twitter

•social networks (Facebook etc)

feeds/tags/RSS

•why? metatag, search

•selective

•relevant

•audience

•instant gratification

•organization

feeds/tags/RSS

blogs

•recent + relevant = ranking

•procedural

•personifies

•project catalogue

blogs•wordpress (free, minor learning curve)

• blogger (google) (free, very easy to use)(attach a domain)

•www.mashable.com (great social media advice and great blog section)

• good free resources on compendium blogware

•NTEN

•www.readwriteweb.com

wikis

•collaborate

•share

•network

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

•research

•identify audiences

•listen

•connect

•3rd party clients allow for management

social networks

•online communities

•partnerships

•research

•behavioural

applications for social media

•depend on goals, strategy, and audience

•not one size fits all

•iterative, flexible, responsive

•good communication comes from understand how people act online

Ladder of Engagement

Pyramid of engagement

online behaviour

what happens online

•what you see is what you get

•scan instead of read (8/10 people)

•active, not passive

•impatient

•expect instant gratification, especially with speed of search and page load times

•reading online is 25% slower than reading on a printed page

•users make value judgments based on appearance of websites

•credibility issues

•readers don’t scroll down long pages

•readers want to print documents

•readers want to share and bookmark easily

•key actions: print/share

good dissemination•scans easily

•concise, journalistic

•page values are immediate

•cluster summaries

•convinces users to print longer documents

•splits information blocks into multiple pages

more than just putting a paper

online

•users demand relevancy

•you have to point it out

•shift in language

make it easy to find

•posting your work online will attract new audiences who may not know anything about your initiative/organization/subject

•use prominent links

•advertise your work

•make your work visible to search engines

•email - helpful links

choose an appropriate digital

format•make it easy to open and to print

•should present your work in a way that won’t be distorted by users’ hardware

•don’t split documents users are likely to want to print into separate files or pages

•don’t zip something you’d like people to read

•if posting in HTML, create a printer friendly version

•create files in the oldest version of software available to ensure the widest possible access

•social media and electronic journals will be the future of information dissemination. Current journals won’t disappear, but the business models creating them will change.

•reseachers will continue to use traditional sources for information discovery, but social media applications will provide additional indicators of quality and discovery

tips for your site•please make it easy to find

•prominent link to research documents

•short, tantalizing home page descriptions that encourage the reader to print or share

•customize search engine for publications pages

•metatag

let users identify

•general public

•academic

•public sector

•third sector

•*this will improve your analytics

a really good example

http://www.homelesshub.ca/Default.aspx

tools

•www.wikispaces.com

•www.slideshare.com

•www.2collab.com

2collab.com

•an online collaboration tool for researchers

•share, connect and discuss relevant research with your peers

http://www.2collab.com/nonLoggedInHomePage;jsessionid=5963495EB9490BB6E2AD2F149D8A30FA

propaganda• http://www.usnowfilm.com/

•www.commoncraft.com

•www.broganbranding.com

• Video for Change training guide

•www.witness.org

• The New Rules of PR - David Meerman Scott

• t

websites•www.webword.com

•www.usabilityviews.com

•www.usability.gov

•www.ning.com

•www.wetpaint.com

more

•www.12seconds.tv (upload short videos from your mobile phone to your facebook, twitter etc)

•www.advocacyonline.com (e-campaigns, fundraising, social networking jamii, very cool)

•www.verticalresponse.com (10000 free emails month for non-profits) ** not confirmed

•www.frogloop.com (social network calculator for ROI)

• google groups - great way to connect people together

how do i know it works• listen!

• google alerts

• google reader

• survey monkey

• zoomerang

• google trends

• netvibes

• twitter search

• digg

• technorati

• comments, responses, reciprocal links, feedback

• google analytics (free!)

where will you start?

Need help? Call me.

Thank you!

•thank you

•thank you

•thank you

•and you

•and you