Using social media more often would help scientists to disseminate their results, debate findings and engage a wider audience, says a study (C. Greenhow and B. Gleason Br. J. Educ. Technol. 45, 392–402; 2014). Co-author Christine Greenhow at Michigan State University in East Lansing, says that researchers must learn to create a robust online presence. As part of an upcoming study, she polled 1,600 US and Canadian faculty members and found that 15% use Twitter, 28% use YouTube and 39% use Facebook for scholarly activity. Greenhow is calling for social-media metrics to be added to the tenure process.