{"id":12138,"date":"2016-02-17T20:35:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T20:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdcontent.com\/blog\/?p=12138"},"modified":"2019-02-06T11:43:45","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T16:43:45","slug":"how-to-use-social-media-as-a-research-tool-for-your-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdcontent.com\/blog\/writers-hub\/how-to-use-social-media-as-a-research-tool-for-your-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Social Media as a Research Tool for Your Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media can reward writers in many ways, and all writers should have social media pages that they regularly update.<\/p>\n

One aspect of social media that isn\u2019t always apparent, however, is the fact that social media can help you find exactly the information you need for an assignment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Save time and find unique content when you use social media as a research tool before you start writing your next article.<\/p>\n

Utilize Handy #Hashtags<\/h2>\n

Hashtags were created for the purpose of helping people find things related to a specific topic quickly and easily.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re an essential tool to start your research on social media. Hashtags are used on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by individuals for a variety of reasons. They\u2019re used by businesses to connect<\/a> with customers.<\/p>\n

If you are seeking breaking news, personal opinions, or information about what\u2019s trending on a topic, simply enter the hashtag into the search portal of the social media website, and you should be able to instantly receive results on your exact topic of choice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ask (and Promote) Open Questions<\/h2>\n

If you have an author or writer \u201cfan\u201d page on Facebook, you may choose to ask an open question for more informal research.<\/p>\n

\"content<\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019ve been given an assignment that simply asks you to solicit opinions on a photo or a hot topic, create a post that showcases the topic at hand and asks an engaging question. Pay to promote the post to your intended target audience, and you should receive valuable feedback.<\/p>\n

You could also do the same thing with a promoted Tweet, or a meme photo of the question on Instagram. As Entrepreneur<\/a> reported, using social media to gather opinions is a rather inexpensive way to gather valuable research and development data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gather Information About a Subject<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s so common for human resources professionals to look up applicants on social media that Time<\/a> published an article to help job seekers avoid social media pitfalls that could cost them a job.<\/p>\n

However, many people are still quite careless with what they publicly post on social media networks. If you need to do a little research to get background information on someone for an article, it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to search social media for the person\u2019s public posts.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re using social media to look up someone\u2019s personal accounts, though, keep these crucial things in mind:<\/p>\n