Welcome to The Social Academic blog. I'm Jennifer van Alstyne (@HigherEdPR). I share articles and interviews on managing your online presence.
Start here to learn about the blog. And get a full listing of articles, interviews, and videos.
Enter to win an award in the 2022 Best Personal Academic Websites Contest!
Read more Announcing a Contest for Best Personal Academic Websites You Should Enter!
Informational interviews can help you get from PhD to Life. Meet career coach Dr. Jen Polk who joins me to talk about info interviews and networking.
Read more What Are Informational Interviews? With Jennifer Polk, PhD
Toyin Alli, PhD helps student succeed in grad school at The Academic Society LLC. She's a math lecturer who helps students survive grad school! We talk about her book, YouTube, and more.
Read more Grad School with Dr. Toyin Alli of The Academic Society
Dr. Lisa Munro talks about how to kickstart your journal article. Did you know she has a private community for academic writers on Mighty Networks?
Read more Academic Writing and Finding Community Online with Dr. Lisa Munro
Cheyenne Seymour, EdD joins me to talk about her book Successes and Setbacks of Social Media: Impact on Academic Life.
Read more Successes and Setbacks of Social Media Cheyenne Seymour, EdD
Walter Greason, PhD returns to talk about racism in education in New Jersey, the January 6th insurrection, and the upcoming Black Panther movie.
Read more Racism in Education in New Jersey with Walter D. Greason, PhD
Did you attend a virtual event or conference during the pandemic? Meet Dan Marrable, founder of 448 Studio. We talk about digital media, events, and educational technology advancements.
Read more Dan Marrable of 448 Studio Helps Academics with Digital Media and Technology
How do you talk about grief and loss online? Chinasa Elue, PhD opens up about the death of her mom, and the research she's doing to help leaders move forward with trauma-informed practices.
Read more Professor Chinasa Elue on Grief, Trauma, and Talking About Loss Online
Is your website old or outdated? Here's how to get started updating your personal website.
Tullio Rossi, PhD helps scientists share their research with visuals Dr. Tullio Rossi is a marine biologist turned entrepreneur helping scientists around the world share their research. Tullio found that video animations and graphical abstracts increase the impact of your science. And, they’re great for sharing your research with the media. Now as Director of…
Read more Graphical Abstracts and Animations To Share Your Science Online with Dr. Tullio Rossi
Your personal website can adapt to meet your needs as they change over time. Hear from recent PhD Jane CoomberSewell on how her website redesign is going.
Read more Your Personal Website Can Grow Over Time with Interview Guest Jane CoomberSewell
Discover 26 gift ideas for academics like you. This is the ultimate gift guide for professors and scientists like you.
Read more Gift Guide for Professors, Researchers, and Grad Students 2021
RJ Thompson, MFA is a digital marketer and a professor in Higher Education. Learn how to get better students and what it's like to collaborate with university communications to promote your research.
Read more RJ Thompson is a Professor and Digital Marketer in Higher Education
What is a website host? And, how do you choose one for your personal academic website?
Read more What Website Host Is Best For My Personal Website?
LinkedIn is the best social media platform for graduate students. Get my top 8 tips for your LinkedIn profile!
Susan Heavey, Franziska Sattler, Nichole Lewis, and Erika Romero join me for a featured interview about starting the Academic YouTubers community.
Read more Academic YouTubers Talk About Getting Started on YouTube
Like, comment, and share: what's the best way to engage on social media? Discover 9 ways to interact with posts online.
Read more What Is Social Media Engagement? Likes, Shares, and Comments
Social media, collaboration, and networking are all topics from the 2020 YouTube live series.
You should update your social media profiles 1-2x per year. Here's a step-by-step guide to help.
Read more How to Update Your Social Media Profile in 10 Steps
Do you feel like social media is consuming your life? Hear from academics like you. And, get tips to spend less time on social media.
Read more Is Social Media Consuming Your Life? Let’s Talk About Digital Wellbeing
Aaron Shepard is a robotics intern at NASA Langley. This feature interview focuses on talking about your science on video. Learn about Aaron's TEDx Talk and why he loves science communication.
Read more Aaron Shepard Talks NASA, Robots, and Starting Company Cogito
Social media stories are a limited time 24-hour social media post, and they're a great way to connect with your audience.
PhD student Jennifer Adams @RunwayRedLA joins me to talk about what it's like to be an Instagram influencer.
Read more Jennifer Adams Talks Being an Instagram Influencer and PhD Life
What should you ask for this holiday season? Check out my top recommendations for your gift list in 2020 for professors and researchers like you.
Novelist Steven Dunn joins me to talk about writing, Facebook, and being yourself online: "Facebook is my playtime."
A common fear or anxiety academics have about Twitter is that someone will have have a strong negative reaction to something you share. The extreme version of that fear: What happens if your tweet becomes front page news? Let's talk about what happens when tweets go wrong.
Read more When Tweets Go Wrong: Dealing with Negative Reactions on Twitter
Ruth C. White, PhD joined YouTube with the goal of getting on TV. Her 1st YouTube video landed her on The Today Show, and she's booked recurring TV spots since. Learn how.
Read more A Chat with Ruth C. White about YouTube and Being on TV
The simplest website structure for academics is a 1-page personal website. Learn what's needed on your website and how to get started.
Read more A 1-Page Academic Personal Website Should Include These 6 Things
Direct messages are a great way to have conversations. And that means they're my favorite way to network. Echo Rivera, PhD and I talk direct messages and social media for networking as introverts.
In this interview I chat with scientist and STEM website designer Brittany Trinh. And this one's on video! Dive into this chat about all things websites.
Chris Cloney, PhD of GradBlogger and DustSafetyScience joins me to talk about how his grad school research blog has grown into an independent research company. Then he answers your questions about blogging.
Read more Chris Cloney of GradBlogger Talks Turning his Blog into a Business
Check out my top tips for your social media profiles when you're on the job market. I go in-depth into LinkedIn and Twitter for jobseekers.
From celebrating your teaching on social media to updating your LinkedIn profile. Here are 5 ways to let people know about your teaching online.
Get started with the process of managing your online presence in academia with these 3 steps.
This step-by-step guide teaches you how to create an academic personal website. From content creation to launch, this guide is the how-to you need.
Jacklyn Lord manages marketing and communications for the Society for Scholarly Publishing. She loves pop culture and social media. We talk online identity in this interview and her advice for scholarly writers like you.
Read more A Chat with Jacklyn Lord of the Society for Scholarly Publishing
Andrew Paulsen is a senior educational advisor and doctoral candidate who loves to travel A doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University, Andrew Paulsen is making strides to change education in America. In this interview we talk about his travels across the United States in his role as a senior educational advisor at Agile Mind. And how…
Read more EdD Candidate Andrew Paulsen Talks Teaching and Travel
Ever see the disclaimer "Likes and retweets are not endorsements"? Let's talk about what people think it means, the true effects of sharing on social media, and what to add instead.
Read more Likes and Retweets Are Endorsements on Social Media
LinkedIn is the top platform I recommend for grad students, faculty and researchers because it's all about connecting and building a network. Learn why and get 7 exclusive tips for your LinkedIn profile.
Read more LinkedIn as Networking Platform for Faculty and Researchers in 2022
Let's talk about what to include on your personal academic website. Here are 10 ideas to jumpstart your website design for academics and researchers.
Read more 10 Highlights to Include on Your Personal Academic Website
Melanie Bruce wears many hats as a marketing professor and as an entrepreneur with multiple businesses. In the final academic interview of 2019, we chat about why that balance works well for Melanie, who says, "the research that I'm doing, the up-to-date knowledge that I'm gaining, that I'm keeping up-to-date from my academic position, that helps me be a better entrepreneur." We talk about social media, balancing academic life, and more.
Read more Melanie Bruce of The Leveraged PhD Talks Instagram
Norman Eng teaches educators to communicate with their audiences. We talk balancing teaching with being a business owner. And, how self-publishing can be a great option for academics. Check out this interview for Norman's clear and concrete advice.
Read more Norman Eng Author of Teaching College Talks Self-Publishing
Lauren Smart is a journalist and professor of practice at Southern Methodist University. In this chat we talk about social media in and out of the classroom.
Read more Journalist Lauren Smart Talks Social Media and Teaching
For many academics, the idea of a personal website is a nice one - for someone else. Someone with the time and skills. A surprising number of academic websites are outdated. Many are unmanaged. Learn why, and how to avoid it in this post.
Read more Pitfalls of Personal Academic Websites You Want to Avoid
Walter D. Greason, PhD is a historian, educator and urbanist prolific on social media.
Learn how he uses Twitter and social media.
Read more Historian Walter D. Greason Talks Twitter and Community
Let's talk about how you can use Instagram to network and find your academic community. Learn how to find people with similar interests. And about the interactive things you can do.
Read more How Academics Can Use Instagram to Build Community
Sophie Arthur, is a science communicator interested in curiosity.
Based in the United Kingdom, she runs the blog Soph Talks Science, winner of the 2018 UK Blog Awards.
Check out my in-depth guide to social media for professors, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and more.
Read more Social Media Platforms for Academics, A Breakdown of the Networks
Personal websites are the most effective way to share your academic accomplishments. Let's talk about the benefits of a personal academic website.
Read more 8 Benefits of a Personal Academic Website to Inspire You
Taking a break from social media has so many benefits. And practically no consequences. This post is all about how it can help you.
Read more It’s OK to Take a Break from Social Media and How to Detox