Many academic researchers or research groups use social media to alert their colleagues to  research developments; or share information using scholarly communities on the web. These sites can be a valuable way of keeping up to date. X (Twitter), Mastodon, blogs, email lists or discussion groups and online scholarly communities are some of the ways in which you can keep up to date.

The London School of Economics' Impact of Social Sciences blog is an example of a group using X to alert 'followers' to new blog content and to promote discussion.

The group has also produced a useful introduction for academics in 2011 entitled Using Twitter [X] in university research, teaching and impact activities: A guide for academics and researchers. A similar, more recent guide was written by Nikki Rust in the PLoS SciComm blog; A nifty guide for academics on using Twitter.

X is a microblogging service that is optimised for mobile devices. Although changes to the site throughout 2022 and 2023 have affected its reputation, in particular with the removal of "Verified" accounts which were previously useful for confirming that an X account appearing to be a well-known researcher or journalist was in fact run by that person, X remains useful for learning about and sharing research. You can:

• Follow key researchers and research groups in your subject area who use X to alert followers to new posts in an academic blog or new articles or  breaking news.
• Reply to journalists or scholars in your field and repost links to articles through your own account to pass them on to people who follow you.
• Alert your followers to your research interests and exchange ideas and information.
• Follow conference hashtags to network and keep up to date with conference presentations, speakers and events.

To learn more about how X works check out the New User FAQ

Anatomy of an X post

You can subscribe to blogs that have been created by individuals or groups who post items for information or discussion. Research groups, individual researchers, media outlets and professional organisations may host blogs. Readers who subscribe to a blog can post their responses. 

LinkedIn is a professional network site. It is used in recruitment to view publicly-visible employment histories that users add to their profiles on the site, but can also be used by individuals to connect with current and past co-workers and others in their industry, share latest research and see updates from people in their network.

Updates, which can contain text and/or images, posted by people you have connected with appear in your Feed. LinkedIn's interface is quite similar to Facebook. You can also follow hashtags on the site like on X, to see all posts that have a particular tag attached to them.

Networks or Communities of Scholars can be broad and global in scale, such as Arxiv or SSRN, or more nationally or locally focused, such as the Centre for Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation (CEMI). These communities can be hosted and operate on web sites, blogs or email (discussion) lists.

Finding an online community of fellow researchers can be a valuable way of hearing about developments in your subject area and exchanging ideas. You can usually subscribe to these communities using RSS and many use X to alert followers to new posts or articles. 

Examples of research networks:

Can be individuals, groups or organisations. Some examples are listed below. There are over 100 million active X (Twitter) accounts.

Below are some examples of online communities or sites for finding the latest information on a topic. Your colleagues may suggest more in your research area. 

Some examples of research blogs in different disciplines.