The most widely-read sociology blog on the web, Sociological Images helps a broad public audience develop and apply a sociological imagination. In addition to offering an overview of the blog’s reach and impact, Lisa Wade, PhD – founder, author, and editor – will narrate the blog’s unlikely beginnings, reveal the “behind the scenes” workings, and share its evolving philosophy, including those features that have contributed to its success. Lisa will close with an optimistic call to take advantage of the keen and eager public interest in the social sciences, with tips, advice, and encouragement.

1. Doing public sociology:
Notes from a practitioner
Lisa Wade, PhD
Sociological Images
t: lisawade
f: lisawadephd
i: lisawadephd

9. Sociological Images encourages people to exercise and
develop their sociological imaginations with
discussions of compelling visuals that span the breadth
of sociological inquiry.
Mission

16. Reach
 SocImages: 4,000,000+ pageviews in 2015
Reach

17. Reach
Organic searches:
Reach
wate on 558 androcentrism
97
Piaget experiments 293 Tough Guise 2
95
what is creole 289 black and white
twins 80
Hewitt bikini controversy 237 sad white babies with mean
marginalization examples 221 …feminist mommies
76
Irish stereotypes 183 hidden curriculum
66

18. Reach
Direct links:
Reach
huffington post 53,229 pacific standard 7,664
feedly 35,727 wonderzine 7,321
bitch 12,186 skepchick 5,958
cracked 12,026 slate 5,217
TV tropes 9,450 already pretty
4,673
NPR 9,178 GQ 4,453
jezebel 9,110 insider higher ed
3,910
feministing 8,690 business insider 3,524
buzzfeed 8,346 cosmopolitan 3,333

19. Reach
Social media:
Reach
facebook 1,436,533 quora
952
twitter 106,372 weebly
927
reddit 70,223 netvibes 413
pinterest 65,126 linkedin 403
tumblr 53,699 vkontakte 395
stumbleupon 51,936 stack exchange
301
digg 20,531 yahoo answers
295

21. Reach
 Pinterest: 15,000+ followers, 597 visits/day
 Twitter: 24,000+ followers, 71 tweets/post
 Tumblr: 24,000+ followers, 1,083 notes/post
 Facebook: 82,000+ followers, 296 likes/post
138 shares/post
27,219 views/post
Reach

33. …

34. Reach
“I don’t know enough yet.”
“I don’t know enough about that.”
“What if I say something stupid?”
Yes, you!

35. Reach
Become a curator
 Pick a platform…
 Pick a battle…
 Craft a hashtag…
 Start making friends…
Tips!

36. Reach
How to get started writing
 Inquire with existing sites…
 …and also have your own
 Open social media accounts with a purpose
Tips!

37. Reach
How to do a good job
 Remember that it’s not about you
 Be timely
 Keep it short
 Expect to be bad at it for a while
 Develop a voice
Tips!

38. Reach
Things to keep in mind
 Being wrong in public is the best way to be wrong
 Being visible comes with a cost
Tips!

40. Just a tipoff, to let you filthy feminazi CUNTS know that we are exposing
you, you fucking pieces of shit... see [some guy’s] piece in [redacted], a
leading men's rights magazine site, and boy does it expose you and your
fucking feminazi cunt blog for what you are.... nothing but awful screaming
feminazi harpy cunts who need to suck a dick and calm down... you evil
twats...
Aside from this tipoff, all I will say to such feminazi CUNTS like you is,
suck my fucking dick you awful feminazi cunts. FUCK I HATE YOU, AND
EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR!!!!! DOWN WITH FEMINAZI
COCKSUCKING CUNTS WHO I HOPE GET BREAST CANCER.
Eat shit.

41. Reach
Things to keep in mind
 Being wrong in public is the best way to be wrong
 Being visible comes with a cost
 You will receive smart critiques that sting (and that will
make you a better scholar and person)
Tips!

42. To conclude…

43. Questions?
Lisa Wade, PhD
Sociological Images
t: lisawade
f: lisawadephd
i: lisawadephd