Social media can potentially be a tool to help you in your research. Here's how:
1. Find the search feature on the platform (usually a magnifying glass icon). You can search more than just hashtags!
While hashtags create links (within a post) that take you to a list of other posts using the hashtag, sometimes they don't show you all the relevant results. Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter), for instance, also allow you to search by keywords to find better results. Look for a magnifying glass icon. You can also usually sort the results by timeframe/date posted.
This is what sorting on Facebook, after a search, looks like (in 2023):
On X (formerly known as Twitter), you can filter too. This is what that used to look like, before their rebranding:
Here is an example search on X for recent posts about from those talking about domestic violence in Oklahoma. The links shared in posts could give you good leads for sources or, could show you the conversations taking place about the topic.
You can also search online (such as in a Google search) for search tips from the platform of your choice. For example: Search tips for Instagram
2. Create a Facebook feed to get posts of specific pages or people in one customized feed. Learn how to add to the feed or see this link:
3. Follow experts on a topic to get news when they post! If you are interested in ongoing research from specific accounts, it might be worth following them if you know the expert's name. Or, search hashtags relevant to your topic to find accounts of people posting about that topic after verifying they are who they say they are! For example, following this scholar's account would alert you to her new book coming out:
4. View the embedded posts below for more tech tips.