💡Online Writing for Academics: The Right Mindset

The Right Mindset

Read time: 4 min

I started writing online last April. Since then I have built a sizeable audience on Twitter (189,000+ followers) and LinkedIn (36,000+ followers).

As a result of writing online, I have been invited to speak in several universities in North America and Europe. Having an online audience has also enabled me to start my own business, which has made me more than $100,000 during the first five months.

This week I am starting a series, “Online Writing for Academics to Make Money and Impact,“ to share tips on how to build a Twitter audience as an academic.

Why Twitter?

Unlike other social media platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram), Twitter is unique in that it is text-based. LinkedIn is also a text-based platform and in certain aspects more powerful and stable than Twitter.

Twitter, however, has a wider reach compared to LinkedIn. As an academic, you will reach more people on Twitter than LinkedIn.

One of the most important skills you acquire as an academic is writing. You write syllabi, seminar papers, journal articles, books and many other things.

This means you already have the required skillset and that you won’t have to spend any significant time or effort in acquiring a new skill. With a bit of work, you can use your writing skills to get started on Twitter.

But isn’t Twitter a toxic cesspool?

Many academics think Twitter is toxic and a waste of time.

Now I am not saying that social media platforms like Twitter are not toxic. They can certainly be extremely toxic.

But if you are someone who thinks Twitter is “toxic” and nothing else, you will start resenting the platform. And your resentment will show through everything you put out. This will do two things:

1. Not many people will read your work.
2. You will attract like-minded people who also resent the platform thereby creating an echo chamber for yourself.

Twitter, Justin Welsh writes, “often feels like a bunch of angry people competing against each other to see who can be most shocking & cruel.“

Social media platforms can be toxic and they can certainly waste a lot of your time and energy — but only if you let them.

Folks who have figured out these platforms successfullly, as Welsh points out, are “playing an entirely different game.“

What is that game and how do you play it?

Twitter as a Classroom

The first rule of this game is to stop thinking that social media is toxic or a waste of your time. Instead, try to develop a positive mindset towards these platforms.

But how do you actually do that? You can say, hey Mushtaq, I don’t have a switch in my head that I can just flip and change my mindset.

One way to do it could be to think of Twitter not as a social media platform but a classroom and yourself a teacher.

When you are in a classroom, you don’t whine or bicker about things. You go to your classroom, deliver your lecture, answer your students’ questions, and leave. As much as academics hate to admit, teaching is a job and the relationship we have with our students is primarily transactional.

Your job in a classroom is to teach — to deliver value to your students.
Your job on social media is to teach too — to deliver value to your readers.

If you teach a course, you will reach 20, 30, or maybe 100 people.

But if you write on Twitter, you work will reach hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

Imagine the kind of impact you can have.

Short Exercise to Build a Postive Mindset

Here’s a simple exercise you can do to start building a positive mindset for Twitter.

Scroll through your Twitter feed and see if there is a tweet that makes you feel anxious/uncomfortable or evokes a negative emotion in you.

Click on the three horizontal dots in the top-corner of the Tweet and select “Not interested in this Tweet.“

Try to find a Tweet/thread you find useful. Post a short “Thank you” reply under it. You can also write about what you learned from the Tweet/thread.

Do this small exercise a couple times a day. This will weed out things from your feed that you don’t like. And the thank you Tweets will show people that you value their content.

That’s it for today.

Next week, I’ll talk about how to get started on Twitter as an academic content writer.

See you then.

Become an Efficient Academic Writer with AI Apps — Webinar, 10 June 2023

Quick reminder that registration for webinar “Become an Efficient Academic Writer with AI Apps” is still open. Below is a list of the topics I will cover in the webinar:

1. How to brainstorm research questions with (AI-powered app) Elicit

2. How to use AI-powered search engines

3. How to do literature review with (AI-powered app) Research Rabbit (Zotero/Mendeley Integration)

4. Inciteful-Zotero Integration for literature review

5. How to stay up-to-date with (AI -powered app) R Discovery

6. How to supercharge your reading with (AI-powered apps) Scholarcy and SciSpace

7. How to take notes with (AI-powered app) Lateral

8. How to write zero drafts and get them "cleaned" with ChatGPT

9. How to use (AI-powered app) Jenni to write your first draft

10. How to edit your first draft with (AI-powered app) Paperpal

11. How to take your research to the next level with (AI-powered app) Scite

12. How to use ChatGPT and Bing Prompts for academic writing and reading

You can register for the webinar by clicking here.

The registration fee is $108.54. You can use the code “Efficient25“ for a 25% discount.

Free tutorial: Registration fee includes free access to my tutorial containing 250+ slides (worth $49.99).

Video recording: If you can’t make it for the webinar, I will record it for you so you can watch it whenever it’s convenient for you.