In the era of Brexit and fake news, scientists need to embrace social media

Despite the near-constant clamour to do so, many academics remain understandably reluctant to use social media to communicate their research. But as well as increasing the diversity of the audiences academics reach with their work, Andy Tattersall (ScHARR) suggests social media can also serve an important purpose in the present era of Brexit and "fake news". Social media can promote openness in in research as international partnerships and collaborations are jeopardised, while increased adoption by scientists can also redress the balance that has shifted towards ill-evidenced news on some platforms.