A critical evaluation of science outreach via social media: its role and impact on scientists

Abstract

The role of scientists in social media and its impact on their careers are not fully explored. While policies and best practices are still fluid, it is concerning that discourse is often based on little to no data, and some arguments directly contradict the available data. Here, we consider the relevant but subjective questions about social media for science outreach (SOSM), specifically: (1) Does a public relations nightmare exist for science?; (2) Why (or why aren’t) scientists engaging in social media?; (3) Are scientists using social media well?; and (4) Will social media benefit a scientist’s career? We call for the scientific community to create tangible plans that value, measure, and help manage scientists’ social media engagement.

Sosiaalinen media ja tutkijan etiikka

“…Siksi tutkijoiden pitäisi osata asemoida itsensä keskustelu--kumppaniksi suuren yleisön pariin sosiaalisessa mediassa. Vaikka tutkimukselle ominai-nen kriittinen tarkastelu on tarpeen myös silloin, kun sosiaalista mediaa käytetään tut-kimuksesta viestimiseen (McClain & Neeley 2014), on kuitenkin nähtävissä, että julkinen näkyvyys ja rakentava keskustelu verkossa hyödyttävät tutkijoita monin tavoin (Bik & Goldstein 2013, Poutanen & Laaksonen 2015. Suurin este sosiaalisen median käytölle on yleensä aikapula.…”

Fisheries Volume 43 Number 3 March 2018

“…Twitter is also useful for experts seeking to correct misrepresentations of their fi eld in the media (Figure 2 C). Indeed, many journalists are active on Twitter (McClain and Neeley 2014 ;Parsons et al 2014 ), which can be useful for getting journalists to correct inaccurate information.…”

Ten simple rules for short and swift presentations

“…To mitigate this shortcoming, resources specific to scientists have been developed [5–8]. Boot-camp training workshops are now also offered (i.e., American Institute of Biological Sciences [AIBS]), and discussion of how academics use brief communications, such as social media tools, is present within the primary research literature [9–11]. An interesting related opportunity has emerged that, in some respects, bridges the gap between lengthy, detailed presentations of scientific findings and “sound bites” such as headlines or short press releases appropriate for media reporting: very short, swift presentations.…”