A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.  Most services are primarily web-based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, vidoe, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups and so on.

Examples of social network services that may be of use to researchers are:

1. Facebook http://www.facebook.com.
2. Academia.edu http://www.academic.edu/ 
3. Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/ has many academic, research focused groups
4. ResearchGate http://www.researchgate.net/ is a network dedicated to science and research. Connect, collaborate and discover scientific publications, jobs and conferences.
5. Mendeley http://www.mendeley.com/ is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research.
6. Ning http://www.ning.com/ an online platform for people to create their own social network
7. GoogleScholar https://scholar.google.co.uk/
8. MyExperiment http://www.myexperiment.org/ is a collaborative environment where scientists can safely publish their workflows and in silico experiments, share them with groups and find those of others. Workflows, other digital objects and bundles (called Packs) can now be swapped, sorted and searched like photos and videos on the Web. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, myExperiment fully understands the needs of the researcher and makes it really easy for the next generation of scientists to contribute to a pool of scientific methods, build communities and form relationships - reducing time-to-experiment, sharing expertise and avoiding reinvention. myExperiment is now the largest public repository of scientific workflows.

Information Services provide guidance on the use of  social networking

Vitae provides guidance on online networking and social networking software in particular.

The Office of Scholarly Communication, Cambridge University Libraries has produced a handy guide on Academic Social Networks

Facebook for educators http://facebookforeducators.org/groups

Tips to use Facebook groups to promote research http://tinyurl.com/7zzqnyf

10 tips for effectively using your LinkedIn status update http://www.careerealism.com/linkedin-10-tips-effectively-status-update

LinkedIn:  How to use LinkedIn http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/linkedin2.htm

Why use LinkedIn?  Newcastle researchers blog http://newcastleresearchers.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/why-use-linkedin/

University of Leeds Careers Centre have developed a series of videos on how to get the most out of LinkedIn

Unfortunately some academics have encountered harassment online when they have shared their research findings.

The Science Media Centre and Taylor & Francis have this week launched a newly updated guide to help researchers across academia tackle the online harassment some face as they share their findings with the public on some of the world’s most controversial, and vital, topics.

The guide offers clear practical tips with an added focus on how to deal with social media harassment and malicious comments on online forums. The free resource aims to give experts increased confidence to communicate their research to the public.

Find out more about the guide at https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/tips-for-dealing-with-online-harassment-in-academia/?utm_source=listserv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JOJ11281