Social media

By Ella Gilbert, British Antarctic Survey

 

One of my favourite quotes is “Science isn’t finished until it’s communicated”. What a line from Sir Mark Walport! And in geography, it’s especially relevant. After all, we are working on subjects that impact everybody – so everybody should have a right to understand the research.

The good news is that if you have something you want to tell the world about, you no longer have to rely on the traditional method of press releases and media interviews. In fact, it’s never been easier to communicate online with a diverse range of audiences.

Because love it or hate it, social media is here to stay.

In the early days of social media, engaging audiences with your research was easy. You got a Twitter account, you posted a little bit about your work with a picture, and hey presto – engagement. If you were feeling enthusiastic, you could make a YouTube video and tell your friends on Facebook.

But as the number of platforms and users has increased exponentially, so has the quality of content. Which means it’s important to optimise! So here, I’m sharing a few tips and tricks to super-charge your communication.

Before you start making any content, some of the key questions to ask yourself are:

• What do I want people to take away? This is the most important part. Keep it simple. Stick to one message for short-form (photo, short video, tweets) or three messages for long-form (podcasts, longer videos)

• What kind of format does your research lend itself to? A podcast? A 10 second video? An image? How can you tell your story best?

• Who do you want to communicate with? Different platforms tend to focus on different demographics and so content needs to be tailored to those audiences.

• What’s your style? Which platform matches best?

 

I mainly use YouTube and Twitter but am increasingly making videos for Tiktok and Instagram to talk about climate change and polar science. It’s a fun way to engage with people beyond academia and for my work to have broader impact. But each platform has its own vibe…

Facebook

• Why?: Once the only site that mattered, Facebook is now in its death-spiral, especially amongst younger people. At any rate, no-one under 30 seems to use it. But it can still be helpful, e.g. if you post in groups.

• Do: Post pictures, ideally with faces.

• Don’t: Embed external links in posts – the algorithm will penalise you. Get around it by posting a picture (screenshot, photo, video thumbnail etc.) and posting the link in the comments.

 

Twitter

• Why?: It’s interactive and lets you reach a wider audience than you otherwise might. I’ve made lasting and valuable professional connections here. However, it’s changed a lot recently! Is it still worth it? Hard to know. Many scientists are moving to Mastodon.

• Do: Curate your feed by choosing who you follow wisely.

• Don’t: Engage with the trolls.

 

LinkedIn

• Why?: Increasingly being used following the demise of Facebook/Twitter for professional content.

• Do: Keep the tone more serious and work-oriented. Videos do quite well.

• Don’t: Post the same type of thing you’d put on e.g. TikTok on LinkedIn – it’s a different audience.

 

TikTok

• Why?: A great way to connect with younger audiences. Very trend-focussed and fast-moving

• Do:

  • Piggy-back on current trends to get your content seen (did someone say Wednesday Addams x Monster Mash?) – do some research to see what’s popular.

  • Add trending music

  • Post regularly to feed the algorithm

  • Keep it fun

  • Keep it short

  • Create a good cover image with brief(!) descriptive text

  • Grab the viewer’s interest within the first 2-3 seconds

• Don’t: Be disheartened if your videos don’t get loads of views – keep trying!

 

Instagram

• Why?: Generally a more supportive and positive environment if your work can be visual. It has more space for descriptive captions than elsewhere on social media.

• Do: Post portrait videos (reels) – these can be similar/the same as those you post to TikTok (two birds one stone!).

• Don’t: Post links in captions (they’re not clickable). Instead send people to your bio where you can have one link. Use a site like linktree to direct people to a curated list of links that you want to promote (eg personal website, recent publications, video).

 

YouTube

• Why?: My favourite platform, although not really social media.

• If you create good content, you can build a real community of people that keep coming back and engaging with your work.

• Do:

  • Take inspiration from other creators and try to emulate what you like about their work.

  • Research search terms in your field – you can find where there are gaps in the market and aim to fill that niche.

  • Think of fun/interesting angles and ways to present your topic, ideally reacting to topical or current events.

• Don’t: let yourself down with poor quality videos. The standard of videos on YouTube is really high, and a bad technical set-up can really distract from the content. So make sure you get the basics right: decent audio, lighting, framing and focus. Most smartphones these days should be good enough for the video, and you can find phone tripods pretty cheaply online. Try to have something interesting behind you (and be aware of what you’re showing in the background!). Plants, books, scenery etc work well. Invest in a proper mic and make sure you’re well (and consistently) lit throughout the video, and not backlit.
  
  

Some general tips

• Find something you enjoy. It should be fun, not a chore!

• Imaginative and creative takes do best – catch the audience’s imagination and make them interested to find out more.

• Be prepared to fail a few times before you find something that works – get feedback, try new things, and experiment.
  
  

Good luck!

 

How to cite

Gilbert, E. (2023) Social media. Communicating research beyond the academy. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Guide. Available at: https://doi.org/10.55203/PPCK7896