How Social Media Platforms Are Shaping the Future of Science?

There’s no denying that the field of science has progressed immensely in last fifty years. However, if you are not actively associated with the domain of scientific research, getting your hands on the most recently-discovered scientific information is difficult to attain. Thanks to the emergence of social media, we don’t need to struggle much in search of scientific information like our previous generation and those who came before them.

Science Communication Before Social Media

For years, scientific information remained hard-to-access for the public. Even for the majority of the 20^th century, science was limited to minor channels of communication. The information regarding contemporary scientific research was published in specialized journals and closed conferences. If any of the information could make its way to the textbooks, then only it became a part of the public knowledge.

Even a decade ago, whenever the media (radio, TV, and newspapers) talked about such scientific information, they did it in a way that could be comprehended by only people with higher education. It means, if an average man had to learn what’s going on in the science front of the world, they needed to educate themselves to a certain level to understand the research publications. 

Now, students may get the option to avail science homework help online. But even a few years ago, things were much more complicated; until the social media stepped in.

How Social Media Changed Science Communication?

According to a report, approximately 4.39 billion people use the internet in today’s date, and nearly 3.48 billion are social media users. Quite evidently, social media has a massive impact on the way we interact and perceive reality. That is one of the major reasons why these social media platforms have a significant influence on almost every sector in today’s world – politics, entertainment, and of course, science.

You will be surprised to know that in 2012, up to 60% of Americans list the internet as their primary source of scientific information. As a matter of fact, 13 percent of scientists reported that they regularly use Twitter to follow the discussion on research-related issues, as per a survey (2014) by Nature. No wonder, the online presence of researchers, as well as the scientific publications and institutions, are growing significantly every year. 

There’s no denying that the emergence of social media has spearheaded a shift in the way scientific information has been discussed and disseminated. Besides the raw scientific information, now we can find a great number of science blogs which not just share the data but also put it in a way that sounds comprehensive to the readers. If you go to Facebook or Twitter, you may stumble on such blogs quite often.

Also, social media has provided a platform for scientific discussions. It is easier to track a certain research-related discussion on Twitter using hashtags. And it’s not just applicable for average science enthusiasts. Even the scientists do the same. A study shows that the people who follow a scientist on social media are mainly scientists and researchers. Social media, basically, has allowed the people in the scientific front an option to outreach a wider community.

How Can Scientists Improve Their Presence In Social Media?

While the science communication has found a new direction with the increasing popularity of social media, people in the science community (scientists, researchers, and scholars) now need to work on improving their presence on social media. As you may realize, scientific research has an impact on all of us. Thus, the involvement of the citizens in the research discussion becomes crucial. With these following measures, a scientist can make optimum use of social media: 

1. Set a goal:

Whether you are working on a thesis paper or preparing your proposal for a grant – it is essential to set a goal for your social media activities as well, as a scientist. You need to decide whether you want to engage with other scientists, offer a service, or communicate science to the public. If your goal is to outreach, you need to define how you want to conduct public engagement with your audience.

2. Be specific:

On social media, you need to engage with a target audience. And if people have started to follow you on social media because of your work on the lines of astrophysics, engaging with the audience on something entirely different may cost you some followers. In scientific communication, you need to stick to your specialization, so that people can find more details on the area of their interest. After all, they have followed you on social media because of your knowledge and work on a certain discipline.

3. Follow and engage with people:

Communication is a two-way process. You can just post your work on social media and get done with it. You need to engage with those who you follow and those who follow you. While you can discuss your work with people with more experience and knowledge than you, you should also make sure your work is resonating with the people by posting relatable posts. This is where you can execute the goal you set in the beginning. You can also create a interactive hashtag campaign and display this live hashtag feed across all the marketing touchpoints using a UGC platform like Taggbox!

4. Don’t just retweet; share original thoughts:

Retweeting may be a popular activity of Twitter users, but limiting your social media activities to just retweeting the posts of other scientists is not going to add any value to the field of science communication. People are following you to see what you have to say what you have found in your research. For effective science communication, it is important to come up with original ideas and opinions, and take an active part in the discussions with other scientists and members of the community.

Takeaways

Thanks to the internet and social media, the dissemination of scientific work has become widely accessible for people. Not to forget, social media has offered new opportunities for communicating discoveries and other significant data regarding scientific research. It may take some time for people to accept this newer way of science communication. But the way social media is expanding, it is safe to say that social media is the future of science communication.

Guest Post By Nionica Starc, a digital marketer who has been working at an established eCommerce company for the past five years. She is also a part of MyAssignmenthelp.com, where she serves online assignment help to students on their requests.