Abstract
The way researchers share and discuss their work has fundamentally changed since the introduction of social media tools. One area that has received extensive attention is that of real-time technologies for collaboration and communication. Researchers can utilize tools such as Google Docs, Skype and Dropbox to facilitate the exchange of information, the creation of new knowledge and the distribution of research findings in real time. Social media tools are increasingly implemented in research work environments as tools to share knowledge among researchers. As these technologies begin to take hold across universities, it is important that we develop an understanding of how they enable and shape the communication activities through which research work is accomplished. This paper provides a definition of social media for knowledge sharing along with a classification of tools through which this medium is being exploited by the research community. This paper also reviews the area of enterprise social media to establish the state of the art and to propose directions for future research. This study poses three research questions: Which social media tools are popular among engineering and technology researchers?; What are the main factors that affect knowledge sharing in research based on social media tools?; Can a framework be developed to enhance the suitability of social media tools for research?