Twitter and the PhD student

Many would say that a PhD journey can feel quite isolating at times and even more so during a pandemic. I’ve found that although there isn’t a lack of newsletters, webinars, and Zoom meetings to attend, I still miss the informal catch-ups I’d normally have with the other PhD students in the HDR tea room or in the Hub. Apart from being able to catch-up with people from my cohort who’ve now become my friends, these occasions are great for keeping informed on what’s happening around the School or Faculty and hearing about research in my field. Although for me, nothing can replace face-to-face encounters, I’ve realized how useful Twitter is in the PhD experience.

Content: I’m able to keep up-to-date, stay current, and also learn from others in my field – quite similar to catching up with my HDR cohort, but in a global tea room! Twitter allows me to be part of conversations, keeping my finger on the pulse or ear to the ground, so to speak. I’m able to follow hashtags relating to my topic, field, or research and my timeline can then easily become a news feed on source content relating to my research. Most conferences nowadays also make use of a hashtag and so I can quickly get key highlights from conference sessions.

Networking: Twitter in some ways, is quite like LinkedIn – but a much less formal medium. Sometimes it can feel a bit daunting to approach an expert or a speaker, especially one who is quite esteemed, directly following a talk. Following them on Twitter allows you a chance to do a bit of background research, possibly supplying you with a handful of tailor-fit conversation starters, which can cut down time on seemingly painful small talk. Painting a picture of what they are like on social media, can help you establish rapport when you do approach them. The reverse can also be helpful – meeting a peer first and then re-connecting on Twitter helps you maintain that relationship. Twitter is global and so it can help you establish relationships with academics from all over the world which could help in securing additional scholarships or create new job opportunities.

Support: Apart from being an additional avenue for sharing my research (think Altmetrics), Twitter networks and content can be a source of support and community. There are hashtags like #PhDLife or #AcademicTwitter, or helpful handles like @GradCentreUofA or @ithinkwellHugh, to humourous ones such as @PHDComics.