Alex Marsh, Professor of Public Policy and Head of the School for Policy Studies

Last week I took part in an event introducing social media to members of academic staff. I was asked to come along and act as one of two live case studies. I was there to share my experiences. The aim was to illustrate the possibilities and highlight some of the issues. The organizers suggested we each address the same set of questions. We offered very different perspectives.

I only had 10 minutes or so to talk and it felt a bit rushed. So I decided to elaborate on the presentation I gave on the day and turn it into something a bit more coherent. The document below is the result. I hope it is of some interest to others who are thinking of starting out.

We continue to live and learn as technology moves along. I just came across a recent post at The Sociological Imagination that discusses Medium.com as a vehicle for online academic writing. It allows you to self-publish rather than pitch ideas to an edited multi-authored blog, but it allows you to publish as often as you wish. I’d not come across Medium before. But it looks interesting and well worth checking out. It could well be an attractive option for academics looking to get involved in online writing but not wishing to commit to regular posting.

Read the rest of Alex’s piece on an academic’s experience of using social media and the impact it has had on his academic role on Alex’s Archives where the blog was first posted on 6 February 2014.