New Research Article: “How are Scientists Using Social Media in the Workplace?”
The following article was published by PLoS ONE today.
Title
How Are Scientists Using Social Media in the Workplace?
Authors
Kimberley Collins
University of Otago
David Shiffman
University of Miami
Jenny Rock
University of Otago
Source
PLoS ONE 11(10): e0162680.
Abstract
Social media has created networked communication channels that facilitate interactions and allow information to proliferate within professional academic communities as well as in informal social circumstances. A significant contemporary discussion in the field of science communication is how scientists are using (or might use) social media to communicate their research. This includes the role of social media in facilitating the exchange of knowledge internally within and among scientific communities, as well as externally for outreach to engage the public. This study investigates how a surveyed sample of 587 scientists from a variety of academic disciplines, but predominantly the academic life sciences, use social media to communicate internally and externally.
Our results demonstrate that while social media usage has yet to be widely adopted, scientists in a variety of disciplines use these platforms to exchange scientific knowledge, generally via either Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or blogs. Despite the low frequency of use, our work evidences that scientists perceive numerous potential advantages to using social media in the workplace.
Our data provides a baseline from which to assess future trends in social media use within the science academy.
Direct to Full Text Article ||| PDF Version (10 pages)
Hat Tip: European University Institute Library (via Twitter)
Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News, PLOS

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Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.