Developing a web presence & Getting started with blogging A guide by PhD students

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

Why web presence?

Selfish

Philanthropic

Own brand Raise profile Advertise papers ngage distant researchers As! for help "ncrease #ob prospects "$prove writing

Acade$ic outreach Web is two way Public outreach ducation

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

Options

%witter

Advertising wor! &ollowing conference hash tags As!ing'Answering (uestions )earing about new research Sharing tales of acade$ic ups'downs

www*twitter*co$
M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone 3

Options

Static site

Pro#ect description Photos'videos +, host Publication list +ollaborators -in!s

e*g* www*wordpress*co$ using pages

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone 4

.a$ple static page

/ohannes 0iocic 1PhD student2 3 nd year4
http5''#o#o$io*wordpress*co$'about'

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

Options

6log

Detailed discussion +rowd sourcing e.peri$ents S!ills and techni(ues &ieldwor! photos Paper su$$aries Pop science

e*g* www*wordpress*co$ using posts

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone 6

Options

-in!ed"n

Online +, A treasure trove for recruit$ent consultants*** "ncreasingly used by acade$ia )elps create none acade$ic wor! opportunities

www*lin!edin*co$

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

Options

&aceboo!

6est !ept for social 6e careful what you share if you are searchable'inde.ed7

www*faceboo!*co$

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

Options

RSS

Where to read all these blogs? +an be used for #ournals Rich Site Su$$ary ' Really Si$ple Syndication Aggregates 8feeds8 into one place 9o wasted ti$e scouring sites for updates

e*g* www*feedly*co$

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

.a$ple school blogs

/ohn Stevenson 1research fellow4
e*g* citi:en science results5
http5''all;geo*org'volcan<=<=<'3<=>'<?'gri$svotn;3<==;in;u!;part;=;where'

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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.a$ple school blogs

Darren Wil!inson 1PhD student2 @ th year4
e*g* conference output
http5''wil!insondarren*wordpress*co$'3<=>'<A'3?'goldsch$idt;poster;supple$ent'

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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.a$ple school blogs

Bit +arruthers 1PhD student2 > rd year4

e*g* fieldwor! report

http5''vita$inccs*wordpress*co$'3<=>'=<'=A'field;report;fro$;utah'

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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.a$ple school blogs

0ichael Spencer 1PhD student2 >rd year4

e*g* $ethods and data

http5''scottishsnow*wordpress*co$'3<=>'<?'=='gb;pe'

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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Potential drawbac!s

"dea theft

Don8t put great ideas out there until you have published the$ conventionally7 &ind a balance in blog fre(uency2 = per $onth? 6log because you have so$ething to say

+hasing hits ' consu$ing ti$e

0isrepresentation ; your writing $ay be ta!en out of conte.t2 or $ista!es pounced on ; as! your supervisor about research sensitivity Cou $ight be as!ed to do interesting side pro#ects7
M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone 14

Successes

/ohn Stevenson

-ive D&A on %he Guardian website5

http5''www*theguardian*co$'science'3<=='$ay'3E'volcanic;ash;cloud?co$$entpageF=

Data for #ournal article5 http5''www*appliedvolc*co$'content'3'='>'abstract Detailed discussion of shortened press (uotes5
http5''all;geo*org'volcan<=<=<'3<=>'<G'ash;cloud;travel;insurance;why;scientists;should;blog'

0ichael Spencer

66+ Radio Scotland interview5

http5''www*bbc*co*u!'progra$$es'b<=pcwl.

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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)elp7

Search engines are your friend Hse D&A sites li!e http5''stac!overflow*co$' ; $a!e sure you search before you as!7 Software often has help e$ail lists eg5

http5''www*r;pro#ect*org'$ail*ht$l http5''(gis*org'en'site'getinvolved'$ailinglists*ht$lI(gis;$ailinglists

Again J search before you as!7 &oru$ available to help with wordpress*co$

Cour supervisors and peers can often help*

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone 16

Suggestions

Write an about page for your pro#ect Ai$ to blog regularly 1once a $onth?42 not necessarily fre(uently %ry different post writing styles %hin! about your target audience* "nteresting paper on public engage$ent by Prof* "ain Stewart5 http5''d.*doi*org'=<*=<=G'#*pgeola*3<=3*<A*<<A -in!'reference other blogs and pages %ry and get on a blog aggregator li!e http5''all;geo*org' 1contact the organisers4 Hse the wordpress guide5 http5''learn*wordpress*co$' As! for help and use the wordpress foru$s7

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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Su$$ary

Only develop web presence if you want to Generally get out what you put in "nternet is a great resource2 contribute7 As! for help if you need it*

M. Spencer, K. Carruthers, A. Tedstone

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