Guide to Online Self-Promotion
Last spring we discussed some issues regarding self-promotion in philosophy. The focus then was largely on egotistical and boorish online behavior. The current discussion of Academia.edu here has brought renewed interest to the topic, particularly on the question of how to do it well, and a request for a guide to online self-promotion in philosophy.
Online self-promotion can affect not just the visibility of you and your work, but also how much your work is cited (and small differences in number of citations might be especially significant in a field with poor and selective citation practices). Further, online self-promotion, in contrast to conferences and the networking of your friends and advisors, seems to have the potential to be less unfairly inegalitarian. So, how should one go about it? What tools and resources should one use, and how? And how can one do it well without seeming pushy, or overly careerist, or socially oblivious?
Please share your strategies and suggestions, including particular sites, apps, tools, and techniques you use or have seen used well.
(Thanks to Ellie Mason and Pekka Väyrynen for the idea for this post.)
(image: photos of “when the universe is addressed ceremoniously, it will respond” by Sheila Ghidini)
Personally, I like what John Danaher has done. His website is a one-stop shop for stuff about his philosophy. He blogs prolifically from his website (and it seems that a substantial portion of his blogging turns into peer-reviewed publications). He has a bio page, a publication page, and a media page. He also lists a few methods by which one can automatically receive updates about his work. This makes it very easy for me to find, peruse, and stay up to date on John’s work.
Danaher’s website looks very interesting, and is a great solution to the self-promotion problem.
Promoting your work on an “opt in” basis is to me much preferable to people touting their papers, their invitations, etc etc, in formats that are not designed for career promotion, but for discussion of more general issues. Modesty still rules.
Here’s an easy strategy for online self-promotion: interact with other philosophers online. Participate in blogs or facebook groups, let people know who you are, and show them that you are the kind of person that they enjoy doing philosophy with. Like anonymous17 mentions, a lot of people think a lot of people use social media in annoying ways to promote their work. Instead of telling everyone to cite your paper or that it would be wise for them to read you, do the work that goes into these papers online with others so that they might be interested in learning more.
I’ve written a guide on how to cultivate a professional online presence here, it covers such things as having your own website, academia.edu, and social media: http://philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2015/05/job-market-boot-camp-part-11-how-to-cultivate-a-professional-online-presence.html