Social networking software for researchers

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1. Blanka SengerováEdited: 02 February 2011 at 11:15 PM

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   Thanks for a summary, Tristram.
   
   I would argue that I'd probably not use Facebook for professional networking (I never accept anyone as a friend who I don't know personally, something which I will more readily do on LinkedIn where I wouldn't include personal details that I wouldn't want to be widely known), but maybe others do.
   
   A couple of others to add to your list, from the top of my head:
   
   Academia.edu (http://academia.edu/)
   MyRSC (http://my.rsc.org/home) - you can be a member even if you're not a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, even though you might perhaps not be able to access absolutely everything.

2. Sarah Davies02 February 2011 at 05:42 PM

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   Thanks Tristram - this is helpful as I'm aware that social networking on my research is definitely a weak point for me. I'm interested that several of the sites you mention I hadn't come across at all - are any of them natural science specific? The one many of my colleagues seem to use is academia.edu, which BLANKA ( ;-) ) mentioned. I was also just invited to join http://www.iamscientist.com/, which is a new one.

   And, of course, there are also reference management sites such as Zotero and Mendeley which incorporate networking. And things like Twitter and that delicious thing - I know some people find them helpful.

3. Tristram Hooley02 February 2011 at 08:59 PM

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   I wrote a bit about social citation software the other day - have a look at http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-332831/CiteULike-and-other-social-citation-tools.html

   In fact I don't really use any of the researcher specific social networks for my work. I dabble with LinkedIn a bit and play with Facebook. But for work I mainly use Twitter to swap information and links.

   I think that the important thing is to pick the tool that you want. Being in touch with other researchers is really valuable, what tool you use to bring that about is up to you.

4. Emma Gillaspy07 February 2011 at 04:01 PM

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   I agree that you need to assess what the right tool is for you under what circumstance. For me the key message to keep in your mind is WIIFM - Whats in it for me?

5. Sandrine Berges10 February 2011 at 03:04 PM

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   A lot of my fb friends are also philosophers, people I studied with, worked with, met at conferences, etc. so it's actually quite useful when I need to find something quickly and google can't help. I've been a bit snotty about academia.uk but I find that a lot of people look you up on it, so it's worth having some interesting info on that page. Also, I recently had a query answered very usefully on academia.uk. I haven't tried linkedln and not entirely sure what it's about. Twitter I don't use for work just because not many of the people I work with use it regularly, so you don't get answers quickly enough to make worthwhile. Might as well send out an email.

    

6. John IgoeEdited: 10 February 2011 at 05:20 PM

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   I have explored only a few of these tools and find LinkedIn very useful. I tend to find Facebook is too informal for developing professional contacts; which is why I use my Facebook profile for personal rather than professional reasons.

7. Mark Readman13 February 2011 at 07:31 AM

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   I've had a couple of people contact me because they found my university profile, but I'm aware that I've been very lazy in this area - it hadn't occurred to me to use Twitter professionally, for example. I'm looking forward to the Digital Researchers' day in the hope that I might become more active online.