Content curation to build academic visibility
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Academics seeking to extend the reach of their research often turn to online content generation. But, even with GenAI’s help, the expectation to demonstrate novel insight and analysis is a challenge.
Online content curation offers academics a more sustainable way to share insight and knowledge. It can save time by allowing users to leverage existing high-quality content rather than invest time in creating new material. It also platforms a diverse range of perspectives, insights and analyses, keeping audiences engaged with varied educational content. Finally, online content curation allows academics to share the latest information with the public promptly.
Content curation is already a key part of academic work; academics research, review, evaluate and share the latest research with others in their fields. The next step is to move this work to platforms that allow them to reach beyond the academy.
Online content curation takes various forms, including:
Aggregation: the curation of content from different sources in one place. For example, a climate science researcher creates a weekly LinkedIn or Bluesky post compiling links to recent journal articles, policy briefings, reports and news coverage on extreme heat. They include a short intro to each post explaining why it is worth reading.
Distillation: the simplification of complex information. For example, a legal scholar summarises a topical piece of legislation in simple terms, collating the key takeaways into an infographic.
Elevation: a way of pulling together lots of small content snippets – posts, images, quotes – to surface a bigger trend, insight or idea. For example, a researcher collates blog posts and news articles published on a particular theme in the past month and explains in a caption what this might reveal about the current landscape.
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Mash-up: the combination of different content types to create fresh perspective, establishing expertise by adding commentary. For example, a medical researcher combines key takeaways from a journal article with relevant graphs and a video, along with their own reflections on a recent vaccine roll-out.
Chronology: the organisation of content by time, offering a historical view. For example, a historian curates content to build a timeline of a specific period relevant to their area of interest.
Crowd curation: the curation of content from other users (user-generated content). For example, an AI researcher invites colleagues to share examples of ethical dilemmas related to AI use in an academic context and groups them by theme, adding their own insights as commentary.
Think carefully about what aligns best with your objectives to increase the reach and quality of your output.
The basic principles of content curation
- Identify your target audience and define goals: begin by understanding the needs and interests of your target audience. Who are they? Students, colleagues or a broader online community? Clearly outline the goals and objectives of your content curation efforts. What do you aim to achieve by curating content for your chosen audience?
- Curate diverse content: curate a mixture of articles, videos, infographics and other content types to offer a well-rounded perspective on your chosen topic. Variety keeps your audience engaged and interested.
- Provide context and commentary: add your insights, opinions and further context to the content you curate. Personalising the content in this way establishes your voice and expertise, fostering a deeper connection with your audience. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through if that helps you deliver your message.
- Stay ethical and respectful: ensure you uphold ethical standards by attributing content to its original creators. Respect other users’ intellectual property rights and maintain academic integrity.
Academics can use social media to increase the visibility of their curated content in the following ways:
Engage with relevant communities: join and participate in groups on LinkedIn, X and Facebook. Share content and contribute to discussions. For example, a scientist shares research relevant to their field in LinkedIn sustainability groups.
Collaborate with thought leaders: consider co-authoring articles, conducting interviews or hosting webinars with others in your field. For example, an economist co-authors an article with a popular finance blogger and both share the piece on their social media channels.
- Create engaging multimedia content: create videos, infographics and podcasts and share them on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. For example, a historian shares short videos about historical events on YouTube and Instagram.
Content curation allows academics to stay abreast of the latest research, trends and developments in their field and grow their online presence. By adopting content curation practices, you can share valuable information, showcase your expertise and engage your audience in a sustainable and meaningful way. Content curation acknowledges the wealth of existing knowledge and seeks to amplify its impact in the digital realm.
Kelvin Ke Jinde is assistant professor of communication studies in the department of media and communication at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
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