Interview with Mike Young

Author

Giulia Ballarin
Giulia Ballarin (giulia.ballarin@unive.it) is a Project Manager at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, specializing in the management and reporting of EU-funded research projects within the Department of Economics. She has previous experience in Fundraising, Communication, and Graphic Design. She holds a European Joint Master’s Degree in English and American Studies (M.A.) from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Publishing: Design and Management from the University of Verona.

About Mike Young

I am the founder of Mike Young Academy, a Copenhagen-based agency that offers workshops for researchers and science communication professionals, and social media audits for universities.

I am the former editor of the English-language University Post (2009-2016), a media hub for a community of reporting students and scientists in Copenhagen. Before this I worked for many years as both a journalist and as an experienced lecturer in media studies.

My book Social Media for Research Impact, co-authored with Marcel Bogers, was published by Routledge in January 2026.

Questions

During the 2024 Research Communication Week organized by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, you gave the workshop “Social Media for Researchers,” in which you presented a mindful approach to social media. How does this translate in research communication?

Mindful in this context means the following: researchers should use social media to let social media help their science, that is, disseminate their work, find people to work with, get new ideas, and collaborate with others. But they should not get drawn into the gamification and competition that the social media platforms themselves promote and that academia itself promotes in other contexts. This means not competing for engagement metrics like reach, followers, and attention. Social media should be used for your science, and ultimately for your professional satisfaction, not to brand yourself, or somehow win in a career game. This means using social media to reach, find, think with, and collaborate with singular new people and at your own pace, not trying to reach many people at the same time.

Beyond being mindful, scientists should be aware that there are ethical reasons for acting on social media. These can sometimes conflict with the mindful practices.

Can social media amplify the policy impact of science?

Yes. Directly by scientists with specific expertise areas joining and helping to inform conversations about the specific policy-related issues that are related to, and surround, their own specific research area. Indirectly by helping to put their research and expertise into the conversations of key stakeholders like funders and government officials, etc.

Can you give us a preview from your and Prof. Marcel Bogers’s upcoming book Social Media for Research Impact?

Social Media for Research Impact reviews the effects of the professional use of social media on science and scholarship, providing practical tips, tools, and guidelines for platforms, practices, and routines on social media for academics. It offers a series of case studies from researchers worldwide and illustrates the diverse and often unexpected ways social media enhances academic work, from building collaborative networks and expanding audience reach to creating real-world impact.

Researchers and science communicators are leaving X (Twitter) for other microblogging platforms, what are the best alternatives? How could they curate feed and search and find the right influential members of the science community?

Bluesky looks to be the best alternative microblogging platform at present. Just like on X, you can set up lists of key people. Unlike X, they are, as a default, public, and this takes away part of their usefulness. What is good about Bluesky however, relative to X, is that you can have much more control of your newsfeed. This keeps your focus as a scientist, as you can almost free yourself of political posts, influencers, and marketers.

Starter packs on Bluesky are also an interesting new feature that allows people to share groups of influential sets of scientists and set up communities.

Which tips would you give to researchers in need to connect and engage with journalists and policymakers?

In my workshops I have scientists set up specific routines or networking pathways to reach these two groups on LinkedIn and other social media.

The questions were asked by Giulia Ballarin (Ca’ Foscari University Venice)

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski via science-policy@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de