You have probably heard of academics who boost the readership and impact of their research papers by tweeting about them. You will most likely have seen people tweeting away at conferences. Just about everything seems to come with a hashtag these days. But should you start tweeting yourself, or is Twitter a complete waste of time and energy for academics?

Having a look at the Impact of Social Sciences's guide to using Twitter in research, teaching, and impact activities might help you decide. As the blog says:

How can Twitter, which limits users to 140 characters per tweet, have any relevance to universities and academia, where journal articles are 3,000 to 8,000 words long, and where books contain 80,000 words?

Can anything of academic value ever be said in just 140 characters?

Find out by downloading Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities as a PDF to get more information. This short guide shows new users how to get started and how to hone their tweeting style. It also offers advice to more experienced users on using Twitter for research projects, in teaching and as a complement to blogging.

The Impact of Social Sciences is just one of several blogs from the London School of Economics and Political Science.