Library Guides: Bachelor of Applied Research (Honours) Guide: Using Social Media

Why use social media for research?

Researchers are no longer to limited to disseminating their findings solely by publishing articles in journals. Social media is increasingly being used as a platform for experts to share their research findings, as well as allowing them to market and promote their published works. By following experts in your field through social media you can keep up with the very latest in what's happening in your area of interest.

Whilst there are many social media platforms that you can use to follow experts in your field, this section focuses on just two: Twitter and blogs.

It is very important to evaluate to evaluate the information you find through social media to ensure that it meets the criteria for scholarly content. Check out the 'Evaluating your resources' tab in this guide to discover how to evaluate what you find.

Using blogs for research

Blogs are typically used by researchers to reach wider audiences. Unlike journal articles, blog content typically utilises a plain English language style instead of discipline-specific jargon and scholarly expression. Blogs can be good sources of information, however the credibility of blogs can vary. This is why it is important to evaluate what you find.

Blogs on organizational websites have some research credibility
Personal blogs have little research credibility
All blogs should be treated as popular rather than scholarly sources. However, blog posts from credible sources can contain links to the original research upon which the blog post was based, as well as other related published journal articles. These would be appropriate to use in your research. Again, it is important to evaluate what you find

Tip: Use a blog feed reader such as Feedly to view and keep track of the blog posts you've read, all in the one place.