Let’s talk about social media for research labs and research groups. Hi, I’m Jennifer van Alstyne. Since 2018 I’ve been helping professors and researchers be intentional with their online presence. I’m about to go into a day of strategy and social media support for a research lab.
I shared with the PI, “I have a bunch of advice / recommendations I’d love to share with you that aren’t specific to your lab. Would it be okay if I make a public video to answer some FAQs? I think it could help more people.” The lab director said yes! So here it is. An episode to share with you with social media advice for research labs like yours. I hope you find it useful!
Bookmark this page or save the video for later. Even if social media isn’t a priority for you right now, this episode is here to help you in the future too.
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Questions I answer in this video
- What’s the difference between my own professional account/page vs my lab account/page? (versus my personal account/page)
- What social media platform should I even be on?
- How much time should I be spending on my lab social media? Or social media in general?
- What types of content should my lab do on social media? (e.g. carousels, text only posts, videos, photos, and graphics)
- What types of content should my lab do on social media? (Topics / What should I post about?)
- Is it okay to share about our research in preliminary stages? Or, should we wait for the publication to be out?
- How do I connect with people on social media?
- It feels like no one is seeing my post – what do I do?
- How do we know if our social media efforts are actually working? What metrics should a lab actually care about?
- Who should be involved in the social media for my lab?
- Can my lab member or student manage my social media?
- Do I need a social media manager or an outside support?
- What happens to our lab’s social media accounts when the student managing them graduates or leaves the university?
- How can I get my lab excited about our social media? And their own social media?
- My students are anxious about social media and doing something wrong. What can I tell them?
- What training should my lab have on social media?
- What will my university think about my social media?
- Can we use our lab’s social media to actively recruit new graduate students, postdocs, or research participants?
- What does my university not want me to do on social media? There might be university or institutional level policies. Or department specific policies. (ex: live animals, IRBs, etc.)
- Getting permission before sharing photos (Ethical recommendations or things to remember)
- How do we handle public criticism, trolls, or controversial comments on our lab’s posts?
- What are some things to avoid for my social media as a lab?
Hi there, I’m Jennifer van Alstyne. This is The Social Academic, a podcast and blog about online presence for faculty, researchers, and graduate students. I help academics like you feel confident when you show up online through my company, The Academic Designer LLC. You have agency in creating a stronger online presence for yourself.
This episode of The Social Academic Podcast was streamed live on June 5, 2026 to YouTube and Instagram via Restream. Sharing since this has been an easy way for me to create videos the past year or so.
I’ll add a full text transcript of this video when it’s been fully reviewed by a human. Eventually, I also plan to cut this long version down into short snippets question-by-question. I think that may be helpful for more people. Thank you!
If you think this episode may be a helpful resource for a friend, I’d love if you’d share it with them. I appreciate you!
Subscribe to The Social Academic blog.
The form above subscribes you to new posts published on The Social Academic blog.
Want emails from Jennifer on building your online presence? Subscribe to her email list.
Looking for the podcast? Subscribe on Spotify.
Prefer to watch videos? Subscribe on YouTube.
