Universities and social networks: From scientific dissemination to self-promotion

Among the internal and external communication tools used by universities, social networks allow them to access their users and potential audiences directly and without intermediaries. This research analyzes the use made of Facebook and Twitter by three reference higher education centers, in order to analyze the themes and the main uses of the different platforms, as well as to study the level of engagement of the contents. In total, 1,217 messages published during a two-month period have been analyzed. The results indicate that the scientific dissemination of the results of the research carried out in these centers is the main content of these messages, although there are differentiated uses of each of the platforms.