Establishing a lasting online academic presence

Building out an online academic profile is no longer optional; it’s essential for visibility, collaboration, and career advancement. Whether you’re an established researcher or an early-career academic, understanding the different levels of online engagement can help you build an online presence that amplifies your work and connects you with peers and opportunities.

Levels of engagement

Here are a few quick thoughts on establishing an online academic profile, based on an email conversation with a colleague.

• Immediate visibility: Quick, easy and fast communication (things like link-sharing on social media), and other forms of low-level engagement (e.g. Liking and Following). These impressions are easy to create but easy to forget and are probably low-value, especially in the long-term.
• Sustainable, medium-impact contributions. These outputs take longer to create but are more long-lasting and stable than the ephemeral feeds of social media. These include symposium / workshop / conference presentations, podcasts, professional body contributions, ‘academic’ blog posts, etc. While you could write some of these longer pieces on platforms like LinkedIn, I suggest sharing them via a personal website.
• Enduring impact. Slow and more difficult to produce. These include academic papers and other empirical research, contributing to open-access resources, designing innovative curricula or teaching materials, developing protocols, etc. These are much harder to do but they make a mark that can’t be easily ignored. While the distribution channels for these kinds of outputs are typically fixed (e.g. academic journals, databases, project websites) you should publish summaries and process notes on your website, pointing to the sources.

From the above, if you want to start building out an online presence (not only as an academic, but in any field) you should be working on a personal website that you own. The benefit of a personal site is that where you can share ideas that get pushed to social media channels automatically.

Share your ideas

You can use your site to write early drafts of academic papers (maybe as essays, or collections of short posts) and publish openly. Sharing widely is the best way to get noticed because you become an important node in someone else’s personal learning environment. I know that this is often discouraged in academic circles (“What if someone steals my idea?”) but I think the concerns are overblown.

Ideas are cheap. The real value is in making them happen. Many worry about their idea getting stolen but ideas alone aren’t worth much. It’s the hard work and effort to bring that idea to life that matters… Share your idea with mentors, potential customers and other entrepreneurs. Use this to refine your idea, find the holes, hear why it won’t work and don’t worry if it changes. The market has feedback you need to hear. – Andrew Gazdecki

I’ve spent more than 16 years sharing widely and freely on this blog, and it’s only benefited my scholarship. I don’t spend much time worrying about protecting my ideas, because ideas are easy. Everyone has ideas but implementation is hard. No-one cares about your ideas until you’ve implemented. And once you’ve implemented your idea and shared it, no-one can ‘steal’ it from you.

Build your online academic presence

If you want to build up an online academic presence that will have lasting impact, I suggest the following practical steps:

1. Create a simple personal website using a platform like WordPress or Squarespace. Start with an “About” page highlighting your research interests and a blog section where you can share insights and updates about your work.
2. Set up professional social media accounts on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. Follow relevant academics, institutions, and journals in your field, and start engaging by sharing interesting articles and brief comments on current developments in your area of expertise. Try to avoid spending much time on social media; you could limit your sessions to an hour a week.
3. Write a short blog post or article about a recent project or research interest, publish it on your website, and syndicate it across your social media channels. This initial content serves as a foundation for your online presence and demonstrates your ability to communicate your ideas to a broader audience.
4. Post summaries of your higher impact work, such as journal articles or conference presentations, on your website. Include key findings, methodology, and implications of your research in an accessible format. Link to the full publication when possible.
5. Bonus points: Convert your academic papers into ‘easy to read and access’ versions for the general public. Break down complex concepts, use plain language, and focus on the practical implications of your research. This helps broaden your audience and demonstrates your ability to communicate complex ideas to non-specialists.

By consistently engaging across these levels of visibility and impact, you’ll build a robust online academic profile that not only showcases your work but also contributes meaningfully to your field and beyond.