There was an interesting article in Nature some time ago that might be interesting for you:

http://www.nature.com/news/online-collaboration-scientists-and-the-social-network-1.15711

From my research and experience, we use Social Media for more personal social communication than for teaching purposes; younger faculty and those teaching online are more inclined to use SM than older faculty teaching in traditional classes. I use RG mainly for research purposes (source articles and promote articles) and also to connect with other researchers. 

Many thanks,

Debra

Conference Paper Social Media in Education: Bringing Your Classroom to Life -...

@Andrew - Thanks for the reference

@Debra - Interesting - So maybe I am not so behind in the use of this tool in academia.  I know I thought of Twitter as a entertainment medium with a very short 140 character limit.  Little did I know the possibilities for serious connections and networking (still working on that though) not to mention keeping up to date in my field.  Perhaps this is moderated by discipline though? I'm in technology & education so numerous posts are available - Maybe not so much with accounting or neuroscience?

This is a great question, Robin. I feel as though social media should be more helpful in terms of knowledge mobilization (beyond RG to practitioner/public audiences) but not seeing a lot of traction in many cases.

I also wonder if RG and Academic should make themselves less restrictive in membership - for example, K-12 teachers would not have the institutional "cred" to become members, which means an entire audience misses out on access to dialogue and resources/publications in this system. I recognize the value of professional dialogue among academics, yet are we perpetuating the "ivory tower" problems by restricting access in places like this? Would this be a good place to enhance our research by interacting with the users of our research so that they might critique our work, or suggest areas that they see as relevant for further study?

@Laura - I have had similar anecdotal observations about  social media use and knowledge mobilization. And of course I am guilty of not using and experience the benefits of social media in academia.

I have seen a umber of teacher on RG - I don't think there is any restriction but it might be implied - I openly embrace (and I know you do too) a wide range of perspectives AND have experienced them through a number of my questions.  Still, the K12 educators are often linked to some form of research, so perhaps that is why many do not consider joining RG.  I have all my MA students join for what it's worth.  Mind you a surprising number of academics don't join either.

Do you know of other academic, active research based forums?

The only other (similar) thing is Academia.edu - though I don't know that they have a Q&A thing like this. However, I notice quite a few critical scholars whose work I like who are very active on Academia but don't seem to be active here in RG. 

I probably sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but I find that there are way too many social media channels that result in intensification of work - this, Academia.edu, LinkedIn, Twitter, FB! Not to mention that [insert expletive here] CCV (not social media, but needs to be updated)! It would be nice to somehow streamline all of this - but I certainly understand why organizations like KNAER have dedicated social media employees!

The heart of your question, Robin, is, of course, empirical.  The best answer I have seen is at http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED535130.pdf but those data are now about 6 years old--so they don't answer "how DO academics use..." so much as "how DID academics use...."

As is often the case, though, the soul of the question differs from its heart. Respondents have been addressing, at least in part, the soul: how SHOULD academics use...?"  That clearly is not an empirical question but it is one that engenders lots of cautionary answers:

carefully

reluctantly

with trepidation

when it is demonstrably superior to other methods

as well as some more, mmm, polyyannaesque ones:

eagerly

joyfully

confidently

If Laura is a fuddy-duddy, I am a skeleton, but I think we need to be guided by the enthusiasms of those we teach. Back when I was a high school teacher that included watching Happy Days, now it includes finding ways to take social media seriously.

BTW, the Teaching and Learning Centre at UOIT is asking precisely the same question but with a local focus.

bill

This is a meaty discussion, folks! I agree with Laura that streamlining of SN is needed, otherwise we become victims of the morass, rather than its victors. Perhaps that is why such tools as Hootsuite have come along to save us! :D  Meanwhile, Bill is quite right that the question boils down to WHY use SN (doesn't it always! :). To this end, an interesting study was done about perceived academic impact of scholarly participation in Twitter. The upshot of the research was the matter of "logics of influence," including "public impact."  According to the researchers, one's personal impression of one's capability to contribute meaningfully motivates SN use among academics. They concede, however, that the criteria behind this judgment call are complex. It seems to me, if we try to look at the question from the perspective of open education, how students use SN for learning has to be part of the decision mix.

http://www.tandfonline.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2015.1015547

This is a meaty discussion, folks! I agree with Laura that streamlining of SN is needed, otherwise we become victims of the morass, rather than its victors. Perhaps that is why such tools as Hootsuite have come along to save us! :D  Meanwhile, Bill is quite right that the question boils down to WHY use SN (doesn't it always! :). To this end, an interesting study was done about perceived academic impact of scholarly participation in Twitter. The upshot of the research was the matter of "logics of influence," including "public impact."  According to the researchers, one's personal impression of one's capability to contribute meaningfully motivates SN use among academics. They concede, however, that the criteria behind this judgment call are complex. It seems to me, if we try to look at the question from the perspective of open education, how students use SN for learning has to be part of the decision mix.

http://www.tandfonline.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2015.1015547

This is an interesting conversation.  I am not an expert on this but am also interested in the question.  Twitter has already been mentioned above but another social media tool that I know some academics are using is Slack (https://slack.com/).  If you are interested in learning more about that, Dr. Jeremy Bradbury has written a post on how he uses it with students: http://www.sqrlab.ca/blog/2015/11/29/using-slack-in-the-classroom/.  Dr. Bradbury and his colleagues used it in their research lab before using it with students.  

Here is another article on this topic that might be of interest: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George_Veletsianos/publication/264509521_Open_practices_and_identity_Evidence_from_researchers_and_educators'_social_media_participation/links/54040cbf0cf2c48563b03b1d.pdf

https://slack.com/

http://www.sqrlab.ca/blog/2015/11/29/using-slack-in-the-classroom/

Article Open practices and identity: Evidence from researchers and e...

Thank you for sharing your work, George. Of particular relevance to me in my own research concerning informal online CoP for professional learning.

Thank you for sharing your work, George. Of particular relevance to me in my own research concerning informal online CoP for professional learning.

Social media is revolutionizing the way we live, learn, work, and play. Elements of the private sector have begun to thrive on opportunities to forge, build, and deepen relationships. Some are transforming their organizational structures and opening their corporate ecosystems in consequence. The public sector, which numbers academic institutions (even if some are private or public–private), is a relative newcomer. It too can drive stakeholder involvement and satisfaction. Social Media and the Public Sector, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292615977_Social_Media_and_the_Public_Sector, explains how the public sector (including academic institutions) might cultivate Web 2.0–friendly cultures that are transparent, agile, creative, user-centric, and empowering.

Article Social Media and the Public Sector

Scholarship needs to buy into the notion of sector intersection, in order to gain the full benefits of social media. The research below looks at the diversification and democratization of research deriving from multiple channel communications.

http://book.openingscience.org/tools/academia_goes_facebook.html

The last 10–20 years have witnessed rapid intensification and evolution of networking activities, driven of course by information and communications technologies (as well as the globalization such technologies both speed and feed on). Networks make it possible for individuals to exchange data, information, and knowledge; work collaboratively; and share their views much more quickly and widely than ever before. Thus, less and less of an organization’s knowledge resides within its formal boundaries or (face-to-face) communities of practice. Building Networks of Practice, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266478161_Building_Networks_of_Practice, makes the point that networks of practice have come of age. Learning organizations pay attention to their forms and functions, evolve principles of engagement, circumscribe and promote success factors, and monitor and evaluate performance with knowledge performance metrics.

Article Building Networks of Practice

"Networks of practice have come of age" - a worthy motto.

I use Twitter  and Linkedin all the time - to get the latest information and case studies - mainly for teaching purposes. For research - joining relevant  industry / work groups is a fast and interactive way to obtain solid "sampling" for your research and access to empirical data.

I follow in Twitter several accounts that tweet scientific information (like NEJM), also I follow in Facebook other journals or societies that post regularly. Maybe this is useful. It is a paper about what resources are available for gastroenterologists in the web!

Article Gastroenterología 2.0: recursos útiles para el Gastroenteról...

@Laura – Define being very active on Academia – To b honest I can’t figure out how to be active other than post my articles or find other research’s articles.  The communication seems to be email like – one to one.  Intensification of work is an issue for me too on social media – I just have to figure out which cookie jar I want to put my hand into – Sort of like a kid in a candy shop.  Self-control is needed.  My guess, though, is that most academic are not at that stage yet.

@Bill – It is definitely an empirical question – one I would like to pursue- perhaps because of my own recent enthusiasm and reflections? And of course one could use it for research and/or teaching.  Thanks for the reference – very helpful

@Ulana – Actually tools like Hootsuite and Buffer don’t save us time – they make us (me anyway) slaves to the feeding the “social” beast (smile).  Interesting study – same fear as participating in professional learning communities – basically “what will our peers think?”

@Bridgette – Hmm. Yet another promising tool – Thanks for the reference to slack.  The article looks quite good as well!

@Olivier – Thanks for the reference – Do you find the conclusions you came to 6 years ago are still true – It seems to me that academics prod along (education in general) and may not adopt social media as quickly as other groups.  Then again, perhaps the same is true for the health sector?

@Ulana – Another nice reference (on Academia & Facebook – Not sure about the source though) – thank you!

@Robin, I think that marshalling tools (includingTweetdeck) streamline the process, rather than feed the urge, providing at once a bird's eye view and comparison of information, so that you can choose when and where it is worth responding. (For me, at least.)

@Robin, I think that marshalling tools (includingTweetdeck) streamline the process, rather than feed the urge, providing at once a bird's eye view and comparison of information, so that you can choose when and where it is worth responding. (For me, at least.)

@Robin - references in question:

Open to Influence: What counts as academic influence in scholarly networked Twitter participation. Learning Media and Technology 40(3):1-23 · March 2015. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2015.1015547

The Evolving Guide on How the Web is Changing Research, Collaboration and Scholarly Publishing. Edited by Sönke Bartling & Sascha Friesike. http://book.openingscience.org/

There is now overwhelming evidence—with more accumulating every day—that information and communications  technology  is a  critical  determinant  of  an  organization's  success. Digital,  viz., content  or  communication  that  is  delivered  through  the  internet whether  the  user  is  on  a desktop,  laptop, or tablet computer, a mobile  phone, or  another device not  yet  invented, is  no longer optional: pending actualization of the Internet of Things, organizations must embrace the digital  world  if  they  are  to  survive  and, preferably, thrive. Yes, individuals "tweet", "like", "follow", and have LinkedIn accounts: but, this in no way suffices to raise organizational (as distinct from individual) performance. Planning and Driving a Digital Strategy, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291056412_Planning_and_Driving_a_Digital_Strategy,  makes clear that digitization enables fundamentally different ways for organizations (again, as distinct from individuals) to think about clients, audiences, and partners and to engage with them. This applies across all sectors.

Article Planning and Driving a Digital Strategy

Other current initiatives emphasizing the genuine need for digitally networked research include the University of Utrecht's project to gather data about innovations in scholarly information and communications flows. Interested academics are invited to participate in their survey:

https://innoscholcomm.silk.co/page/https://innoscholcomm.typeform.com/to/Csvr7b?source=101

I do not use social media for classwork mush -- that is generally forbidden by privacy laws in the United States.

I use social media personally as part of my public/professional image.  I consider every post for how it reflects the image I want people to have in their minds about me as a college teacher.

U of Utrecht survey link was broken. Apologies. Here is the correct one:

https://innoscholcomm.typeform.com/to/Csvr7b?source=7n9U2k

Most of the academician use social media for learning, and un learning and of course for research.

There are a number of ways social media can be leveraged whether it be for collaboration, information streaming, sharing info and knowledge, contributing to organizational visibility or myth busting.  This is an example in healthcare and now involves the collaborative efforts of radiologists around the world-

http://radiopaedia.org/

It is a form of wiki but is promoted via other social media channels including Twitter.

I use Twitter professionally in my work as a way to communicate and share my research interests. LinkedIN is currently my "online CV", but I have found Researchgate to be a better fit for showcasing academic work, and to connect professionally to other academics. Facebook tends to be more of a distraction, but I know a lot of my students prefer to create discussion/collaborative groups on FB rather than to use the university's $$$ LMS (we use it's learning at the moment, but are in the process of switching to Blackboard). I have added some links that I hope are useful.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563212003743

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2015.1115769

I connected with a digital humanities researcher (Shawn Graham @electricarchaeo) at Carleton. He's a very active user of social media and in my conversations with him, I've noted that he uses to extend his networks and as a method of finding potential collaborators for his research interests. He also indicated the following resources that may be helpful at the London School of Economics: 

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/06/26/reading-list-using-social-media-for-research/

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/book/

He also pointed me toward's Teresa McMillian Cottom recent article in ada, a journal of gender, new media and technology (Issue #7) http://adanewmedia.org/2015/04/issue7-mcmillancottom/ 

@Oliver – You noted that there is overwhelming evidence that information and communication technology is a critical determinant of an organization’s success. Can you point me to some of that evidence?  And what exactly do you mean by organization? For example a business is very different form a non-profit or educational organization. 

@Michael Marek – I agree with George – I am pretty sure that the use of social media in the classroom is not forbidden by privacy laws in the US – There are numerous examples of US classrooms using social media and I am certain it is not forbidden in higher education.

@Rajeev – What do you mean by using social media for unlearning?  Sounds interesting.

Here is the next level up in this discourse - combining open access and social media to improve research:

https://www.mysciencework.com/omniscience/open-access-social-media-competitive-advantage?platform=hootsuite

To be honest, my only use of social media is Academia & ResearchGate, with a minimal presence on Google+ to link through my Google Scholar citations. I'm not on Facebook or Twitter for personal use and I don't see myself using it for academic purposes at this stage in my career. I know it can be helpful for outreach, but at this early stage of my career I'm reaching out to colleagues and students more directly than the general public. Academia & ResearchGate fit my needs for now: I can communicate with colleagues, make connections, find a few new articles, and gather data that will (hopefully) support promotion and tenure. Once I have an established, recognized body of research and more of it is ready for non-academic consumers, it might make more sense to explore other social media outlets.

...Given that I thought I replied to the question but apparently only emailed Robin in return, it may be some time before I figure out how to effectively use (social) media.

@Stephen - Makes perfect sense to me.  I didn't start using Twitter or Facebook until 2 months ago and I am still evaluating the impact.  Twitter has helped me make some connections and forced me to be far more current in my field.  Research Gate has been quite amazing for connections and forcing me to expand my thinking.  I have quite enjoyed and learned from the responses of my colleagues.  On the other hand, social media does take time, sometimes more than I would like.  BTW, Academic for some reason has not been that useful - not much of a communication tool or perhaps I am using it poorly.