FIR on Higher Education #66: Perhaps You Should Communicate Your Research via Instagram?

08/16/17 • 27 min

Communicating research visually can be challenging. I have struggled to find really compelling examples of academics / researchers who are effective at using Instagram to communicate research. I was therefore grateful to come across the world of Paige Jarreau, a science communication specialist for the Louisiana State College of Science and previously a postdoctoral researcher studying and teaching science communication. She also leads Instagram training workshops, and on episode 66 of FIR on Higher Education, I interviewed her to discuss best practice and tips to consider.

Paige Jarreau

Here are some of the insights she shared.

Why Instagram
To preface her remarks, Paige makes the important point that perhaps you shouldn’t use Instagram. You need to be selective. But here are some points to consider:

– If your target audience is students, Instagram is potentially a great way to reach them. It allows you to make your science and research more accessible.
– It is not as much of a commitment as blogging, allows you to provide more depth than Twitter and is not as private as Facebook.

What if the Research Isn’t “Visual”?
“It takes practice,” says Paige. “You need to look around yourself in fresh ways and think about how to make what you do visual.”

One example is a reflection image a scientist took to make their data look unique. Paige has come across researchers who use data visualization in unique ways, or a researcher who communicated compound chemistry through drawings of molecules.

“Think about how to humanize your work,” advises Paige.

Tools to Consider Leveraging

Boomerang App – creates captivating mini videos that loop back and forth
Canva.com – graphic design made easy.
VSCO App – provides filters.
AfterLight App – powerful photo editing tool.
Layout App – Allows you display multiple photos in one Instagram post.

Examples of Other Researchers Who Use Instagram
Paige recommends taking a look at the work of PondLife_PondLife who uses Instagram to take amazing pictures and videos of microscopic organisms in ponds. “At the surface, she might have said I just sit in front of a microscope – what is their to show? Instead she has chosen to use the device of science – a mircoscope – to take pictures and it never gets old. It is amazing!” Also of note is the account of StylishStreaking which visually communicates research about diseases.

Instagram Live and Stories
The opportunity to live stream and/or leverage Instagram Stories may be intimidating and certainly isn’t for everyone, but it is an option. Two individuals Paige noted who use Instagram Stories and Instagram Live are Science.Sam and BiologistImogene.

“They are both effective at taking people on a journey of doing science every day,” Paige said.

Practical Tips

Consider using longer form text – almost like a blog post – to accompany each visual and explain your work. For example, Paige runs a feature called “Monday Motivation” for the LSU College of Science in which a researcher answers a particular question related to his/her science. This write-up accompanies each visual. (Instagram has a character limit of 2,500 characters).
Don’t be afraid to use lots of hashtags. It will help you be found in searches.
Try to incorporate it into your daily process. Many researchers need pictures any way for a research paper or poster. Snap an extra picture for Instagram. This can be a way to make it work as part of your every day community.
Find communities – other scientists or students for example – to keep you motivated (among other benefits). The best way to find these communities is by searching through hashtags.

Instagram Research Project via Experiment.com
Experiment.com is a platform for funding scientific discoveries (it is similar in nature to Kickstarter). Paige and some of her colleagues are looking to receive funding to research the topic of how the public perceives scientists who use Instagram. It aims to provide hard data on if people will trust scientists more, for example. The team will conduct some experiments to get to the core of how Instagram pictures can help predict people’s perceptions of scientists. More information is at

Paige Jarreau

Here are some of the insights she shared.

Why Instagram
To preface her remarks, Paige makes the important point that perhaps you shouldn’t use Instagram. You need to be selective. But here are some points to consider:

What if the Research Isn’t “Visual”?
“It takes practice,” says Paige. “You need to look around yourself in fresh ways and think about how to make what you do visual.”

“Think about how to humanize your work,” advises Paige.

Tools to Consider Leveraging

Boomerang App – creates captivating mini videos that loop back and forth
Canva.com – graphic design made easy.
VSCO App – provides filters.
AfterLight App – powerful photo editing tool.
Layout App – Allows you display multiple photos in one Instagram post.

“They are both effective at taking people on a journey of doing science every day,” Paige said.

Practical Tips

Consider using longer form text – almost like a blog post – to accompany each visual and explain your work. For example, Paige runs a feature called “Monday Motivation” for the LSU College of Science in which a researcher answers a particular question related to his/her science. This write-up accompanies each visual. (Instagram has a character limit of 2,500 characters).
Don’t be afraid to use lots of hashtags. It will help you be found in searches.
Try to incorporate it into your daily process. Many researchers need pictures any way for a research paper or poster. Snap an extra picture for Instagram. This can be a way to make it work as part of your every day community.
Find communities – other scientists or students for example – to keep you motivated (among other benefits). The best way to find these communities is by searching through hashtags.

Previous Episode

FIR on Higher Education #65: Perhaps It’s Time to Revamp Your Bio?

An academic, researcher or expert’s bio is important real estate that often times is neglected. A compelling bio can go a long way towards supporting strategic goals, both at the individual and organizational levels. On episode 65 of FIR on Higher Education, I highlight common mistakes to avoid and interesting examples to consider.

Links highlighted on the episode:

Example of a scannable bio: the faculty bios for The Graduate School of Business at Stanford University (take a look at Dr. Michal Kosinski’s bio).
Example of a bio txt incorporates tabs: Professor Mark Hall for the Wake Forest University School of Law (bio).
An example of a professor incorporating links to courses is Karl Moore of McGill University. On the research side, professor Steve Adie from Cornell Engineering includes a link from his official bio that goes to a dedicated site focused on his research of optical imaging methods.
Faculty at IMD, a business school in Switzerland and my former employer, have links to downloadable images on their bios.
Sara Goldrick Rab of Temple University’s College of Education wrote her bio in the first person and incorporated a call to action.
A bio is a good way to connect to institutional marketing communications goals, as is done by The Center for Creative Leadership (example of a bio).

Have other thoughts to share about what should be incorporated into a bio? Share your opinions on the FIR Podcast Network Facebook page.

If you are interested in more insights on how to communicate effectively as an academic, you can take a look at my book “Maximize Your Impact – How Academics Can Communicate Knowledge through Traditional and Digital Media“. You can download a free chapter at this link.

The post FIR on Higher Education #65: Perhaps It’s Time to Revamp Your Bio? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Next Episode

FIR on Higher Education #67: How Professors Can Use Comms Tools to Enhance the Student Experience

How can professors – regardless of field – be more creative? What are ways to use digital communications tools to enhance the student experience? How can professors become co-creators in the learning process with their students? How do we prepare students for jobs that don’t exist in the future due to advances in technology?

These are among the questions that we delved into on episode 67 of FIR on Higher Education. This particular episode was a rare live show in which I interviewed three different public relations professors who were in attendance for the EUPRERA conference in London (EUPRERA is the European Public Relations Education and Research Association).

Public relations professors Ai Zhang (Stockton University), Karen Freberg (University of Louisville) and Sabrina Page (Walters State Community College) shared lots of value in a fun setting over coffee. Eavesdrop on our conversation!

The post FIR on Higher Education #67: How Professors Can Use Comms Tools to Enhance the Student Experience appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.