Social networking has become the go-to marketing strategy for everything from small businesses to billion-dollar corporations. With so much impact on how everyone approaches communication, it’s no wonder that social networking has made its way into the world of academics. But it’s been a hotly contested integration for many scholars. 

The ease of gathering misinformation through social networking is a legitimate concern. To counter that problem and still make use of the benefits of this communication strategy, many academic social-networking sites have been created. In these forums, only credible, legitimate information is allowed to be shared.

What Academic Social-Networking Sites Do

Finding ways to utilize technology to gain wider audiences and improve shared communities of knowledge is important to many scholars today. Without taking advantage of the ability to social network, a huge target market is neglected. The trick is to find sites that allow you to network amongst credible peers, knowing that anything you see is, in fact, reputable.

Sites like ResearchGate and academia.edu, as well as platforms like Google Scholar, have demonstrated consistent reputability over the years. They have become the place to go when you want to upload relevant academic articles or link to a published article, as well as interact with other professionals in your field of interest.

When social-networking sites are used correctly, they can build your credibility and further your academic impact.

Making the Most of Social-Networking

Social media has come a long way from its origins. At its core, it is a place for people to connect and engage in shared interests. However, it is no longer a world of chat rooms and interactive games. 

Now, online platforms are created purposefully to allow users to connect, share, and engage through multiple forms of mixed media, based on the user’s preferred method. Text, videos, sound bites, podcasts, images, and more are all acceptable and common modes of communication of ideas and products.

From tweets to blogs and everything in between, scholars can connect with people in real-time, all over the world. The problem now becomes one of too many choices rather than too few. If you didn’t grow up in the evolving world of social media, this can be overwhelming.

To make the most of your social-networking experience, stick with the most relevant social media platforms for your industry. In academia, there are scholarly communities available on public forums like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

If you prefer a more scholarly approach with less of an open-public audience, you can look into academic forums. Academia.edu, Altmetric, Google Scholar, Mendeley, ORCID, and Research Gate are a few of these reputable avenues.

Each site offers different pros and cons for the typical researcher. For instance, Academia.edu would be where you’d go if you want to share your work and follow the impact it makes.

You’d start by creating an academic profile of your bio and relevant information, allowing you to connect with others with similar interests. Then you can search for anything you are interested in, within limits on the free version. A paid subscription allows you to complete advanced searches. 

With this site, you can share your research with others and view theirs. Authors receive the tools to track how many views and downloads their paper receives to watch and measure its impact.

Not all sites work the same, however. If you’re looking to connect less and measure more, Altmetric might be your preferred site. This is less of a social-networking forum and more of a tool for you to use.

With Altmetric, you can monitor everything from mainstream media as it relates to your interests to public policy documents that could affect your work. If you want quantitative data affiliated with your field or published paper that demonstrates impact, Altmetric is the platform for you.

Publishing With Impactio

When you’re ready to social network and share your work, you want to make sure it looks professional. Impactio offers an all-in-one scientific networking platform that allows you to turn your research achievements into ready-to-publish resumes, graphics, and web pages.

With Impactio, you get the tools in your hand to network with other professionals in a reputable community, profile academic CVs, and research impact analytics. Customize your own profile, showcase your research experience, and connect with a worldwide community of researchers.

Showing off your work’s academic impact is something you should be proud of. Use Impactio to follow the trends and data, create your published products, and have a CV of your work all in one easy to use and access platform.