In this post, I cover the who, how and why of social media in Business & Society (BAS). In doing so, I do not just limit myself to highlighting numbers about the social media impact of our journal. Rather, I also use the opportunity to offer an insight into the backstage of our social media work and the reasons for doing it. I would also like to share some tips about why and how you can contribute to supporting the presence of BAS in social media. Although it has been widely accepted that social media is vital for any academic journal, little attention has been given to the role of the community in amplifying the work done by social media editors. I address these issues by focusing on three key social media actors: the social media editor, the authors and the editorial team. But, before I get into that, here are some facts about BAS social media channels.
Since 2015, Business & Society (BAS) has maintained an active presence in Twitter, gathering followers and increasing visibility for the work of our authors. Our social media content is mainly centered around our articles and blog posts. Currently, the journal has 4130 followers and counts an average of 70 000 tweet impressions monthly, that is, the number of times Twitter users view our content. We owe these results to our active community, but also to the increase in the number of monthly tweets from 30 to 50, thanks to the reactivation of the BAS blog in 2019. Since the same year, our social media efforts in Twitter have also been supported by BAS Facebook page. Although the number of followers in Facebook is still small, we aim to grow it in the near future. So, welcome to join our Facebook community too!
What does BAS-social media editor actually do?
There is a perception that I work for the publisher and my task is to promote their products and services. This is not true. My work as a social media editor is a service to the academic community, as is the work done by the blog editor and other members of the editorial team. My main task is to support the dissemination of business and society research among scholars, students and practitioners. By increasing the visibility of BAS publications, we want to positively influence the academic community and contribute to knowledge creation. We want business and society scholars to get inspired by BAS publications and build upon the work of our authors. We also see social media as an opportunity for researchers to step out of the ivory tower and reach to new audiences. If practitioners, students and media representatives read and learn from BAS studies, we are able to increase the social impact of the journal. To that end, each paper published in BAS is tweeted at least six times: three times when published online first and three more times when assigned to its respective print issue. In addition, if the author decides to write a blog post about the article, the post will be tweeted three times.
The authors – the amplifying effect
As an author and member of the BAS community, you can help amplify our social media efforts. The simplest way of doing it is by retweeting and sharing our tweets among your network. Below are some additional tips to amplify even more.
If you are on Twitter, tweet your work. Considering the short lifespan of a tweet, consider tweeting several times about your publication. When tweeting, please tag BAS, that is, include @BASeditors in the tweet so that we will be notified and can retweet.
Feel free to tweet any interviews or media publications related to your article. Again, tag us in your tweet so that we are notified and ready to retweet it. If you are not on Twitter, please contact me with the information. I will then take care of disseminating it through BAS social media channels.
You are very welcome to tag the journal when tweeting about business and society related conferences, seminar and any other events. We will be delighted to share them among the BAS-community.
When posting BAS-related material in LinkedIn, use the hashtag #BASeditors. In that way, your post will be linked to all of the other LinkedIn post connected to the journal.
Just a general note. Disseminating ones’ own work on social media should not be seen as self-promotion, but as an act of sharing. Indeed, we are sharing our research with other scholars who can build upon it. We share it with students and practitioners who can learn something from it, helping them develop more responsible business practices. Research dissemination is not just about a single scholar, but about amplifying the social impact of research.
The editorial team – joint effort
I do not work alone. It is a team effort. What you see in BAS-Twitter and Facebook is the result of team work and collaboration. During the past years, it has been a pleasure to work with our co-editors Frank de Bakker, Hari Bapuji and Colin Higgins. By sharing ideas, being supportive and engaging actively in social media, they form one of the pillars of BAS social media. Our Blog Editor, Sarah Stephen is the other essential pillar of our social media. The work done by Sarah is not only limited to BAS-blog, but it is also reflected on our social media channels. It is through the BAS-blog posts that we are able to reach out to audiences beyond the academic community. A big Thank you to this fabulous team. In addition, my gratitude for the SAGE team for their flexibility in offering free access to selected articles and collaboration in supporting our social media efforts. On behalf of BAS, I also want to thank Andrew Crane for helping to build the social media presence of the journal and to Tim Hart for his valuable work as the first BAS-social media editor. They did an amazing job!
This year, BAS celebrates delivering 60 years of impactful research and is looking forward to more years in social media! Nobody knows what the future holds for Twitter and Facebook, but one thing is certain: social media is here to stay and BAS will continue to use it to disseminate research and broaden our social impact!
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