Social media as a professional communication tool
Professor Barry Brook is a keen user of social media
How science organisations are using social media
Vanessa Hill manages social media for CSIRO
About social media
- Social media can enhance traditional research
- Engaging online can attract media attention to your work
- Social media gives scientists an immediate voice in public debate
- Social media gets the message out fast
This resource is supported by CSIRO
This module was developed with support from Inspiring Australia
This module was developed with support from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources
Social media began in the early 2000s when new terms like ‘blogging’ and ‘MySpace’ crept into the language. Those quiet beginnings soon became an explosion. Social media is now often compared to the Industrial Revolution because of its potential to reorganise society and how it operates. It’s grown from a tool for connecting with friends and sharing photos, into a vibrant personal communication web which is having a huge impact on the worlds of work and research.
For scientists, access to these new forms of media opens up channels of communication that were undreamed of. Scientific findings can be transmitted around the world immediately. People with shared research interests form communities not limited by time and space.
In these videos scientists and science organisations explain how they are taking advantage of the possibilities that social media offers.