Students never considered academic writing easy, especially when it comes to graduates trying to deal with essays or dissertations and get that so much desired Master’s or Doctorate’s degree.
Writing requires a range of skills. But no matter what specific guidelines a college provides, planning and academic research will be a student’s must-dos for crafting insightful and well-written work.
We all are mobile today, and it takes academic research to the next level: Students don’t have to spend hours in libraries, looking for relevant information and citations. Moreover, they can use online resources and channels no one could imagine appropriate for personal essay writing ten years ago:
It’s social media, and Twitter in particular.
The problem is that not so many students understand how to use this social network responsibly. Plus, far from all know about its advanced features that can help with academic research and college assignments. So I decided to investigate this side of Twitter when the time had come for me to write my dissertation, and here’s what I got:
How Twitter Helped Me Write My Essays and Dissertation
- I #asked. Online users are sympathetic and ready to help. Using proper hashtags, I asked questions regarding my dissertation’s topic, plan, methodology, or references. And people were happy to answer. A tip: Don’t hesitate to ask your followers for retweets. The more users you target, the better.
- I #followed. Thousands of experts in different fields use Twitter today. Do you have academic writers, professors, or researchers you admire? Why not follow them, read their works, or contact them to ask for a reference?
- I #went to libraries. Everyone goes online in our digital world, and libraries are not an exception. Most have accounts on Twitter, so you are welcome to follow them and find books or publications on your topic.
- I #found links. Twitter users post millions of links to different blogs and websites, making it easier to surf the Web.
- I #checked my references. Not sure if the academic works you cite in the dissertation are relevant and representative enough? Tweet them and ask Twitter communities to comment.
- I #monitored trends. Keywords helped me see the latest news on my topic and what happens in the field. Up-to-date information is what you need to mention in academic writings.
- I #discussed. Hundreds of people discuss something on Twitter daily. Join conversations on the topic of your essay or dissertation and participate in discussions. Users will share tons of helpful info, saving you from hours of online courses and academic research.
How I Used Twitter for Advanced Academic Research
Twitter is easy to use, but it becomes a bit tricky when it comes to advanced search. Having coped with it, I was able to empower my work with this microblog.
First of all, how can you access Twitter Advanced Search? Here it goes. With dozens of features available, let me reveal those helping me with academic research and writing.
How to find accounts to follow
Twitter allows you to filter results by accounts.
Search for keywords in a search box and filter the results by clicking More Options and choosing Accounts associated with your keywords.
Let’s see which accounts Twitter associates with the “biology” keyword:
Follow them and track what they say to research information for your academic work. Also, you can ask for a consultation on the topic.
How to find conversations
Keywords and search operators helped me save time for better writing. You can use the “OR” operator (check the list of operators below) to search for all terms you need. Thus, you can search for “biology help” OR “biologists advice.”
Look at the results to find relevant conversations and join them to build connections with experts in the niche. Now you have the list of sources to check for the latest news and updates.
How to monitor hashtags
Once you’ve gathered specific keywords and hashtags, you can follow them to find people sharing or looking for information on the same topic.
For example, create an advanced search that pairs the #biology hashtag and “photosynthesis” keyword to monitor tweets on the topic.
Twitter’s Advanced Search gives you 10+ filters, and it makes this social network worth using for academic writing. Its massive data of profiles and information allows you to find everything featured at:
- all words
- exact phrase
- any of these words
- none of these words
- hashtags
- language
- from particular accounts
- to particular accounts
- mentioning particular accounts
- by date
- by place
- questions
- a positive or negative tone
- retweets
Here goes the complete list of Search Operators you can use for academic research via Twitter:
Now I share all this information with my students and motivate them to use social media to the max when dealing with their college assignments. And I encourage academic researchers and writers to do the same.
