Twitter for Hesitant Researchers

— Updated for 2020 with new Twitter accounts and links —

So your New Year’s resolution is to: A) stay more connected with your academic peers; B) get a better understanding of the conversations going on in your area of health research; and/or C) help influence evidence-based health policy change. Why not try Twitter on for size?

I know, I know, you’re busy, you don’t have time to be Tweeting and hashtagging and the like (by the way, what the heck is a hashtag?!!). But there are a lot of PROS for researchers when it comes to openly embracing the world of Twitter, including the opportunity to:

• Connect with leaders in your field;
• Engage with knowledge users (whether researchers, health care practitioners, health care consumers, or health policy makers); and
• Build a scholarly network both quickly and dynamically.

And did you know that research has shown that highly tweeted articles are 11 times more likely to be cited than less-tweeted articles? C’mon now, what are you waiting for?

Below are a few simple steps you can take to begin your journey of becoming a social media maven:

Step 1: Setting Up Your Twitter Profile

Some things to remember when setting up your account at www.twitter.com:

• Both your username and your actual name will be displayed on Twitter, so you have the opportunity to pick a unique username that synopses you or the work you do in a meaningful way (just remember to keep it short, and not something like @ILoveScienceCatsandRamenNoodles).
• Your bio is important — it’s what people read in order to decide whether to follow you are not. Things that you might want to mention in your 160 character bio include: what you will be tweeting about, where you are from, and you can even include a link to your own website, profile page or work elsewhere.
• Yes, you do need to have a photo. Twitter is all about personal and professional connections, so a headshot is a must. The ‘Twitter egg’ default can actually turn people off from following you — so smile and say cheese.

Step 2: Who to Follow?

The minute your profile is up you can start to follow people, institutions and organizations. Some suggestions include:

1. Academic “celebrities” — Following well-known people in your area of research or even top health and medicine Tweeters will help give you a sense of how to build your own profile as well as what types of commentary and discussions are going on in your area of interest. It also gives you immediate access to their network of followers as well as interesting resources that you can then retweet to your followers.
2. Professional bodies — This can include your area of interest’s professional body in order to get updates on events, news and policy, as well as national bodies such as Health Canada (@GovCanHealth), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (@Royal_College) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (@PHAC_GC)
3. Funding bodies — This can help you stay on top of calls for research funding and may include national funding bodies like the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (@CIHR_IRSC) as well as provincial research councils.
4. Academic press — You can follow different journals, for example the Canadian Medical Association Journal (@CMAJ), in order to get useful updates on calls for contributions or new content that might interest your followers.
5. Health policy journalists — Though Canada has few dedicated health policy reporters, if you are looking to influence and impact policy makers, it’s important to follow journalists who write about important health policy issues in mainstream media such as André Picard (@picardonhealth), Tom Blackwell (@tomblackwellNP), and Julia Beluz (@juliaoftoronto).
6. Academics in your area of research — You can always start by simply searching a keyword to get a feel for people and communities who may be tweeting about subjects that interest you. People use the hashtag symbol “#” before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their tweets to help them show more easily in Twitter searches.
7. Research centers in your field of study — This can include international, national, provincial and local organizations. Dare we be so bold as to suggest our brand new, very own account (@KnowledgeNudge) or those of our well established parent organizations — The Centre for Healthcare Innovation (@Chimbca), Shared Health Manitoba (@SharedHealthMB), and the University of Manitoba (@umanitoba)?
8. Patient and caregiver networks — As far as public and patient engagement in health research goes, social media is one area that allows conversations and networking to happen between health researchers and patients. Think organizations such as the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (@CPSI) or Patient Advisors (@PatientAdvisors).
9. Health policy makers — Whether it’s following the Canadian Minister of Health (@pattyhajdu) or members of provincial or regional health authorities, this will help you keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to matters of health that matter.

Step 3: Get Tweeting

A tweet is 280 characters long and can be entirely text-based or include some multimedia such as emojis, images, videos, or links to anything online. It is important to remember that tweets are meant to be a conversation and not a broadcast. Here are some ideas to get you on your way:

• Is there an article you are reading right now that you think your followers would be interested in?
• Can you recommend a book?
• Are you going to a seminar or conference your followers might not know about or may want to meet up with you when you’re there?
• Is there an interesting person you met today who might be a good contact?
• Do you have some advice to share with regard to recent research methods?
• Do you have some slides or materials from a recent talk that you might want to share?
• Is there a funny anecdote or compelling question one of your students or colleagues asked you today?
• Is there a news story around a health policy or research question you think might be important to discuss? Is there something you might want to add to the conversation that a news article may have left out?
• Is there a new online resource you’re a big fan of when it comes to doing your research?
• Did you just publish a research article? Well, then it’s time to show off and tweet it out to your followers!

As always, let us know your favourite Twitter tips and tricks (or ask your research or health-related Twitter questions) in the comments section below.

About the author

Carolyn Shimmin (@CarolynShimmin) is the Patient and Public Engagement Lead at the George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI). Her experience includes stakeholder engagement, research, writing and reporting on various health policy issues including mental health, addictions, trauma and the sexual exploitation of children and youth. Areas of interest include patient engagement, lived experience research, knowledge translation, trauma-informed approaches, intersectional analysis, and post-structuralist queer theory.