How was social media cited in 2014 REF Impact Case Studies?

In their previous Impact Blog post, Katy Jordan and Mark Carrigan considered whether institutions have invested too much hope in social media as a solution to the problem of demonstrating research impact. Here they report on research analysing how social media was cited in impact case studies submitted to the UK's REF 2014. Around a quarter of case studies contained some reference to social media, a proportion that was broadly consistent across institutions but with striking differences according to discipline. A qualitative analysis also offers insight into how social media is referenced, with common themes being to track traditional scholarly publishing metrics, attempt to quantify impact, reflect more mainstream media coverage, or pursue academic-led dissemination strategies.