Using Twitter to Enhance Your Research & Teaching: A Brief Introduction for Academics & Postgraduate Students

Using Twitter to enhance your research and teaching: A brief introduction for academics & postgraduate students

Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer

Research FellowCentre for Health Practice Innovation &Australian Institute for Suicide Research and PreventionGriffith UniversityE: [email protected]

November 2013 @Siobhan_ODwyer

So what is Twitter?

Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer, Griffith University, November 2013

Individuals or groups have Twitter accounts from which they send tweets

A tweet is a small burst of information restricted to 140 characters

Tweets can be accessed by signing up for a free Twitter account at www.twitter.com

Twitter is a “real-time information network that connects you to stories, ideas, opinions,

and news”


http://www.twitter.com/

When I log in to my account, this is what I see…


Tweets from people I follow, in real time

Suggestions for who to follow

Topics that are trending (i.e. lots of people are

talking about) on Twitter right now

Links to lists of my tweets, my followers & the people

I’m following

Link to a list of my interactions with other people on Twitter

Link to modify account settings

Search for people or topics


If I click on the ‘Connect’ tab, this is what I see…


A real-time list of people who have• Re-tweeted one of

my tweets• Responded to one of

my tweets • Marked one of my

tweets as a Favourite• Followed me• Mentioned me in one

of their tweets


If I click on the ‘Me’ tab, this is what I see…


Links to lists of • My tweets • The people I’m

following• My followers • Tweets I’ve marked

as ‘Favourites’• Lists of of people I’ve

grouped together by topic

Link to options for editing my profile

Recent photos and videos I’ve tweeted

All of my tweets and my responses to other

people’s tweets, in real time


When you first sign up for Twitter, you’ll need to create a Profile


Tips for a Great ProfileName / HandleShould be factual, easy to remember, & easy to spot in a list of search results

PhotoShould be high quality, reasonably attractive, & consistent with your professional persona

Description (max. 160 Characters)Should describe your credentials & reflect the content of your tweets. Consider the pros & cons of naming your employer

LocationShould be factual, but general. Safety & privacy are a priority

WebsiteShould link readers to a site with more information about you or your work. I link to my latest paper


Once you have a profile, you can start tweeting


Tips for Tweets

140 CharactersThe length of a tweet is strictly limited to 140 characters

LinksYou can include links to websites. Shorten links with bitly.com

PhotosYou can attach a photo or video to your tweet, but the link is included as part of your 140 characters

HashtagsYou can use hashtags to make a point or highlight the topic of your tweet. Use sparingly

ContactsYou can include someone else’s twitter handle in the tweet in order to connect with them or introduce your followers to them. Be kind


Then you’ll be wanting people to read your tweets…


Tips for Getting FollowersFollow peopleReciprocity is the key to a successful Twitter experience

Respond to other people’s tweetsStarting a conversation with someone is the fastest way to get them to notice you

Mention other people in your tweetsThis lets them know: (a) that you exist and (b) that their work is of interest

Be consistent and reliable in what and how you TweetThis is the ‘if you build it, they will come’ rule of Twitter. Get a reputation as a consistent & reliable source of information, and the followers will flock

Tweet regularly But not too regularly! I have ‘unfollowed’ people because they are too prolific


Some other stuff you might find handy…


Retweets (RT)To RT is to send someone else’s tweet out to your followers without modifying it. You can do this by copying the person’s handle and their text into your own tweet and putting RT before it, or by simply clicking on the ‘Retweet’ link underneath their tweet.

Modified Tweets (MT)An MT is when you send a modified version of someone else’s tweet out to your followers. You can do by this by putting the person’s handle and the modified text into your own tweet and putting MT before it.

Favourites ( )★There are two main reasons to mark a tweet as ‘Favourite’. (1) To let the person who sent it know that you like it . (2) As a way of archiving tweets for later perusal. Tweets marked as ‘Favourite’ are kept in a list in your account.

Direct Messages (DM)If you want to correspond with someone on Twitter, but don’t want that correspondence to be public, use the DM function.


So who is on Twitter?


Well, unfortunately…


Kanye West , Kim Kardashian and a ridiculous number of cats are all on Twitter


But, fortunately….


Lots of intelligent, interesting, kind-hearted people & organisations are there too!


Okay, but what about research?


Twitter is useful at every stage of the research process....

Findings jobs

Generating ideas and questions

Identifying funding opportunities

Recruiting participants

Collecting data

Disseminating findings


Department name (edit in View > Header and Footer...)

Supports professional development *See Spotlight

Enhances community engagementShare your research with the people who are the most likely to benefit from it and the least likely to read an academic journal article

Enhances media engagementIf a journalist can’t find you on Twitter, they can’t find you!

Improves writingParticularly for grant applications which often have strict character limits

Enhances the conference experience *See Spotlight

Twitter also....


Professional Development

Twitter Communities of Practice allow you to engage with like-minded

professionals from across the world and share information & experiences.

They also facilitate professional development & evidence-based

practice


ECRChat – A Twitter Community of Practice

Started by two early career researchers @snarkyphd @KL_Wheat

Fortnightly Twitter discussions on topics related to the post-PhD experience

Hashtag #ecrchat allows tweets to be collated (via Storify)

Hashtag also used to alert ECRs to articles of interest between discussions

Accompanying website provides more information http://ecrchat.wordpress.com/


http://ecrchat.wordpress.com/

Hello My Name Is – A Twitter Community of Practice

Started by Elderly Medicine Registrar & cancer patient @GrangerKate

Designed to improve the quality of care provided by medical staff, by encouraging them to introduce themselves to patients

Hashtag #hellomynameis allows staff and patients to share their experiences and facilitates improvements in practice

Accompanying website provides more information http://drkategranger.wordpress.com/

http://drkategranger.wordpress.com/

Share information with followers who can’t attend

Engage with delegates you might not otherwise have met

Provide immediate feedback to speakers & conference organisers

Conference Hashtags

And what about teaching?


Twitter….

Is useful for sourcing up-to-the-minute, real world examples for use in teachingIncluding international events in the news, politics, movies, music, and memes, just to name a few

Can be used to boost engagement during lectures *See Spotlight

Improves student writingBrevity and clarity are essential writing skills, and Twitter fosters the development of both

Is useful for linking students with reliable online sources of information and communities of practiceMost of your students are on Twitter anyway, why not help them maximise its potential?


Using Twitter in Lectures – The Pros

Students & staff can ask and respond to questions

Students & staff can give and receive feedback

Staff can use Twitter polls to assess student understanding in real time

Less confident students can offer opinions without having to speak in front of a large group


Using Twitter in Lectures – The Cons

It isn’t suited to all teaching stylesIf you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all

Discussions can be unruly or get off topic

Too much information too fast can be hard to curate

Affordable access to technology is an equity issueNot all students have access & data download costs on smartphones can be prohibitive

Twitter is a gateway drugStudents who are online for Twitter can be easily distracted by other shiny things online


An example of Twitter in the Lecture Theatre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8





So you’re ready to embrace Twitter, but before you do, here are a few tips for young players…


Stay Classy

Your tweets should be 90% Professional, 10% Personal

Reveal enough about yourself so that your followers can you see are human and

approachable, but not so much that they know what brand of shaving cream you use


Your tweets should be 90% on-message, 10% general interest

Your ‘on-message’ tweets should stick to the topics outlined in your Profile

Stay ‘On Message’


90% of your tweets should be in your own words, 10% should be RTs

Your Twitter account is your brand and people follow you because they are interested in what

you have to say…

But hogging the limelight is just not cool!

Don’t Bogart the Spliff


Aim for 90/10 and you’ll achieve 70/30

Aim for 70/30 and you’ll end up an honorary Kardashian


A few quick Dos and Don’ts

Do engage with peopleIt’s called ‘social’ media for a reason

Do support other people’s causesHelp promote their conferences, events, & information and they will promote yours

Do read websites, links, & documents before tweeting or RTingYou’re an academic, act like one. Put your evaluation skills to good use

Don’t say anything you aren’t prepared to defend in a job interviewAnything you say on Twitter is on the public record

Don’t feed the trollsEngaging in intellectual debates is fine, vitriol is not. If you are the subject of vicious or personal attacks via Twitter, report them, block them, and do NOT respond


Twitter is Addictive!

To ensure family and friends don’t have to stage an intervention…

Use hashtag searches to locate relevant content

Use Lists to group like people together & identify relevant content

Set times for checking/updating Twitter (and stick to them!)

Use platforms like Instapaper.com to archive websites of interest for reading later

ACCEPT THAT YOU CANNOT READ OR TWEET EVERYTHING


Think it’s too hard or you’re too old?


Bollocks!


For a list of interesting articles aboutusing Twitter in research & teachingplease contact me …

Email: [email protected]: @Siobhan_ODwyer

And don’t forget to check out my new account @SUWTues

Thank-you


Using Twitter to Enhance Your Research & Teaching: A Brief Introduction for Academics & Postgraduate Students

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