In the area of external science communication, online media and social media have seen a rise in relevance. The following blog post will explore the foundations and forms of this type of science communication in more detail.
Overall, it can be said that scientists and scientific institutions are hesitant in making use of science communication in online and social media for the public, while societal stakeholders like NGOs are more active in that field. Scientific topics are discussed very diversely in online media and are thus faced with the challenge of controversial topics being talked about by non-scientific actors.
The usage of science communication has increased. As explained previously, science communication includes all communication focussed on scientific knowledge or scientific work, both within the institutionalized science and outside of it. It also includes the communication on different channels, one of which is online-communication. The relevance of this field has risen significantly throughout past years, so much that one cannot even call it a „new“ medium for science communication or „its future“, but must rather seen as an integral part of it.
Online communication includes, on the one hand, „classic“ internet-communication such as science journalism or the display of scientific topics on websites. On the other hand, there is social media with the most prominent forms being the following:
- So called „collaborative projects“ such as Wikipedia, where a large number of users works on one project
- Blogs and Microblogs such as Twitter (now „X“)
- Content communities such as YouTube, where users share visual, audio, or audio-visual content
- Social Media Platforms like Facebook
Source: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-12898-2_15
Science and Social Media
As people are using social media more, it also means that they receive news via social media. A 2017 poll shows that 68% of adults in the U.S. see news on social media either incidentally or purposefully. News sources online are especially relevant when it comes to information on science-related topics. While many do not actively seek out information on scientific topics, the visibility thereof is still indicated with 55% of all U.S. adults reporting that they see posts on social media that are related to science. 18% of U.S. adults actively follow accounts or pages that are focusing on science-related topics.
Social media is increasingly important as a source of information, especially when it comes to scientific topics. There are a few factors that should be considered in the entirety of this topic’s consideration.
It is yet to be explored how the available information is being translated into actual knowledge and attitudes toward science topics. Much of how humans gain knowledge is influenced by the demand, need, and acceptance of the acquirable information within an individual’s own worldview and their cultural background. For example, someone’s perceived need to learn or their motivation to acquire knowledge about a certain scientific topic correlates with the ability of gaining said knowledge.
Furthermore, people with a higher socio-economic status (SES) or higher levels of education seem to have an advantage in their ability to retain and learn from information exposure over people with a lower socio-economic status. Certain media have the potential to shrink knowledge gaps (for instance television, as it has the potential to make information accessible to people with a lower SES). Media such as printed newspapers on the other hand often increase knowledge gaps. Information that is available online, which also includes science-related topics, is indicated to have positive effects, with the potential to decrease gaps.
Overall, research is showing that social media / online media in general is neither to be labeled as entirely bad or entirely good when it comes to accessing correct knowledge.
Source: https://jcom.sissa.it/article/pubid/JCOM_2004_2021_A01
Therefore, it is to be assumed that making use of social media and online media tools to communicate scientific knowledge should not be underestimated and, in this author’s opinion, can be a very valuable tool if used consciously and responsibly both when it comes to creating, publishing and consuming content.
