{"id":442,"date":"2018-04-05T12:04:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T12:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/?p=442"},"modified":"2018-04-10T12:56:55","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T12:56:55","slug":"using-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/2018\/04\/05\/using-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Using social media to engage the public in your research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In this guest blog, Imperial<\/a>‘s Cathy Thomas offers advice on how to use social media to engage (and involve!) the public in your research. What have your experiences with using social media for engagement been? Share your experiences in the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Why bother with social media?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are over one billion active users on Facebook and over 100 million monthly Instagram users \u2013 which means that if you\u2019re looking to connect with members of the public, it\u2019s worth considering how social media and other digital tools could support or enhance your engagement activity.<\/p>\n

The useful thing about social media is that it\u2019s a discursive medium that encourages sharing and participation, so rather than simply using it as a tool to promote what you\u2019re doing, there will be ways in which it can support two-way engagement. What\u2019s more, it\u2019s measurable too.<\/p>\n

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What will work for you
\n<\/strong>Before rushing out and setting up a Twitter account, it\u2019s worth taking some time to consider what you need for your project and what supporting networks already exist. Using social media to generate public engagement and involvement may take a different form to the ways in which you promote your personal or professional profile. You might find that you don\u2019t need to set up a Twitter account at all, or that Pinterest or Reddit is better suited to your audience and your aims \u2013 not all forms of social media will be suitable for all engagement activities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Measuring digital engagement<\/strong>
\nThere are lots of free tools you can use to measure the online reach of your activity \u2013 from in-platform tools (such as Twitter Analytics and Facebook Insights) to custom tools and tracking links. You don\u2019t need to become an analytics expert overnight, but some things to bear in mind include:<\/p>\n