Social networks: tools for developing your professional reputation


Oliver Shaw (Spain)
 
Social networks have opened up new channels for receiving and broadcasting information in real time across the globe. While some individuals use these networks for personal reasons, professionals and organizations are increasingly concerned with utilizing the web as a means of maintaining contact with current and potential audiences. Many who work in the language-services industry have taken to sites such as Twitter as a tool for professional development, a source for news and a forum in which to showcase expertise.
The session will explain some of the basic characteristics of Twitter and its potential for translators, editors and interpreters. Themes will include how to get started with the network and what beginners should expect as they develop their online presence. Some of the topics addressed will include real-time discussion, hashtags and cross-platform services such as Hootsuite for posting to other sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Oliver Shaw is a language consultant at the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria-Fundación Jiménez Dí­az, the research arm of a teaching hospital located in Madrid. In addition to editing and translating biomedical texts for doctors and researchers, he works as an adjunct professor of English for Nursing at the Universidad Camilo José Cela and is currently writing his doctoral thesis on academic discourse.