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It’s no secret that a lot of scientific conversation happens on Twitter. It’s a great place to share your research, keep up with trends, and connect with collaborators.
But many grad students and postdocs have questions.
Is it okay to promote my own work?
Can I just retweet other scientists, or do I have to write my own material?
Which topics can I write about, and what should I avoid?
Well, we’re here to help. Twitter can have wonderful benefits for your career and your research, but there are certainly pitfalls. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting started on Academic Twitter.
Twitter can do wonders for your research career. In fact, we shared five ways scientists SHOULD be using Twitter to share their research, connect with colleagues, and keep up on the latest literature.
But even if you know the benefits of Science Twitter, some researchers may feel hesitant to get started.
Most researchers have experience with social media, but it’s sometimes hard to know how to separate the ‘personal’ from the ‘professional.’
That’s where Sarah Mojarad’s Medium post picks up. It’s called “A Beginner’s Guide to Joining Academic Twitter”, and it tells you everything you need to know to set up an account and send your first tweet.
We walk through Sarah’s advice for setting up an account, step-by-step. She covers everything from choosing a user name, to taking a professional-looking photo, to writing a useful bio.
But her advice goes beyond the basics. She encourages scientists to create some ‘personal rules’ that will guide how they tweet and retweet. Simple rules like “Only retweet high quality posts” and “Limit politics” can help new users check themselves before they hit ‘submit’.
And it’s rules like these that keep your Academic Twitter account separate from your other social media expressions. This is a place to discuss your work and advance your career, not to post photos of your dog or share your love of Taylor Swift.
If you follow the article step-by-step, you’ll be up and running with a Science Twitter account in no time. And we hope you’ll follow us and send a note to @hellophd! See you in the Twittersphere!
