Table 1 The do’s and don’ts of social media
From: The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant sciences
Content | Suggestions | Potential pitfalls | URLs |
|---|---|---|---|
Short status updates | Post informative, interesting or engaging updates, e.g. “I am presenting a poster at conference X, come and say hi!” | Avoid boring or too personal updates (“I just had a sandwich”), gossip, personal attacks or excessive negative feelings. Be aware of the sensitive nature of posting about unpublished data, proposals, reviews, collaborators, students etc. | |
“Has anyone got experience with technique Y?” | |||
Longer text | Informative: current research, new papers, conference reports. | Shorter texts (500–700) words are more likely to be read in full. Use images, hyperlinks or multimedia to make text more engaging. Avoid jargon. | |
Discussion: Opinion pieces, reflections, | |||
Creative writing. | |||
Photos | Snapshots from live research, lab/field trips. Data that might not be published otherwise. Use tags or hashtags to contribute to existing image pools and make images accessible. | Avoid using pictures protected under copyright or without appropriate creator attribution, photos of people without having their permission, images you might want to use in a publication. | |
Video | Short clips taken with camera or smartphone. | Make use of captions to provide additional information. Think about appropriate length (shorter might reach more people). Avoid using copyrighted music. | |
Interviews, techniques, lectures and talks. | |||
Data that might not be published otherwise. | |||
Creative videos (e.g. songs, cartoons). | |||
Links | Use link shorteners to save space and track clicks. | Avoid posting links without any or with a vague description. | |
Audio | Soundbites of field trips, events. Longer audio pieces, e.g. interviews, recordings of talks or podcasts. | For longer pieces pay attention to microphone quality and acoustics of the surroundings. | |
Science songs. | |||
Publications and CV items | Invest time to create a professional online presence and keep it up to date. | Before uploading full-text versions or pre-prints, carefully check publisher conditions. | |