scholarly journals Social Media and Trust in Scientific Expertise: Debating the Covid-19 Pandemic in The Netherlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630512098105
Author(s):  
José van Dijck ◽  
Donya Alinead
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Information Flows ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Scientific Expertise ◽  
Institutional Model

This article examines the role of social media dynamics in the public exchange of information between scientists (experts), government (policy-makers), mass media (journalists), and citizens (nonexperts) during the first 4 months after the Covid-19 outbreak in the Netherlands. Over the past decade, the institutional model of science communication, based on linear vectors of information flows between institutions, has gradually converted into a networked model where social media propel information flows circulating between all actors involved. The question driving our research is, “How are social media deployed to both undermine and enhance public trust in scientific expertise during a health crisis?” Analyzing the public debate during the period of the corona outbreak in the Netherlands, we investigate two stages: the emergency response phase and the “smart exit strategy” phase, discussing how scientific experts, policy-makers, journalists, and citizens appropriate social media logic to steer information and to control the debate. We conclude by outlining the potential risks and benefits of adopting social media dynamics in institutional contexts of science communication.

scholarly journals Promoting Public Engagement of Natural History Collections through Science Communication

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e28479
Author(s):  
Bryan Lessard
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
New Students

Natural history collections are essential for understanding the world’s biodiversity and drive research in taxonomy, systematics, ecology and biosecurity. One of the biggest challenges faced is the decline of new taxonomists and public interest in collections-based research, which is alarming considering that an estimated 70% of the world’s species are yet to be formally described. Science communication combines public relations with the dissemination of scientific knowledge and offers many benefits to promoting natural history collections to a wide audience. For example, social media has revolutionised the way collections and their staff communicate with the public in real time, and can attract more visitors to collection exhibits and new students interested in natural history. Although not everyone is born a natural science communicator, institutions can encourage and provide training for their staff to become engaging spokespeople skilled in social media and public speaking, including television, radio and/or print media. By embracing science communication, natural history collections can influence their target audiences in a positive and meaningful way, raise the profile of their institution, encourage respect for biodiversity, promote their events and research outputs, seek philanthropic donations, connect with other researchers or industry leaders, and most importantly, inspire the next generation of natural historians.

scholarly journals Health science communication strategies used by researchers with the public in the digital and social media ecosystem: a systematic scoping review protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e019833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Fontaine ◽  
Andréane Lavallée ◽  
Marc-André Maheu-Cadotte ◽  
Julien Bouix-Picasso ◽  
Anne Bourbonnais
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Published Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Review Team ◽  
Media Ecosystem

IntroductionThe optimisation of health science communication (HSC) between researchers and the public is crucial. In the last decade, the rise of the digital and social media ecosystem allowed for the disintermediation of HSC. Disintermediation refers to the public’s direct access to information from researchers about health science-related topics through the digital and social media ecosystem, a process that would otherwise require a human mediator, such as a journalist. Therefore, the primary aim of this scoping review is to describe the nature and the extent of the literature regarding HSC strategies involving disintermediation used by researchers with the public in the digital and social media ecosystem. The secondary aim is to describe the HSC strategies used by researchers, and the communication channels associated with these strategies.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a scoping review based on the Joanna Briggs Institute’s methodology and perform a systematic search of six bibliographical databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, IBSS, PubMed, Sociological Abstracts and Web of Science), four trial registries and relevant sources of grey literature. Relevant journals and reference lists of included records will be hand-searched. Data will be managed using the EndNote software and the Rayyan web application. Two review team members will perform independently the screening process as well as the full-text assessment of included records. Descriptive data will be synthesised in a tabular format. Data regarding the nature and the extent of the literature, the HSC strategies and the associated communication channels will be presented narratively.Ethics and disseminationThis review does not require institutional review board approval as we will use only collected and published data. Results will allow the mapping of the literature about HSC between researchers and the public in the digital and social media ecosystem, and will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

When Scientists Tweet for Social Changes: Dialogic Communication and Collective Mobilization Strategies by Flint Water Study Scientists on Twitter

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Rosie Jahng ◽  
Namyeon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Virginia Tech ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Dialogic Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Study Team

Guided by the literature in social media and science activism, this exploratory study examined how scientists from Virginia Tech, known as the Flint Water Study team, utilized Twitter to communicate and mobilize the public in response to the contamination of water with lead in Flint, Michigan. Results from the content analysis indicated that the scientists utilized Twitter mainly to provide scientific information to the public and that public education was their main advocacy tactic. This study offers insights into how this particular group of science activists utilized social media for collective actions and suggests future directions for science communication on social media.

Social Media Representations of Law Enforcement within Four Diverse Chicago Neighborhoods

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 832-852
Author(s):  
Aparna Sodhi ◽  
Nathan Aguilar ◽  
Deanna E Choma ◽  
Jackie Marie Steve ◽  
Desmond Patton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

The perception of excessive use of force by law enforcement towards minorities has become an increasing focus of attention in the national media and public consciousness. With greater ability to record conflicts using smartphones and dissemination of videos via social media, the public may more readily judge the circumstances of law enforcement interactions. The purpose of this study was (a) to understand the general sentiment about law enforcement on social media among communities of color in Chicago, (b) to see if local or national incidents of police conflicts with people of color were mentioned, and (c) identify key themes within these social media posts. Publicly available social media posts were collected from four ethnically and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods in Chicago. Using a five-person team and keyword searches, the posts were reviewed for content and abstracted if they pertained to law enforcement. They were then analyzed in stages of open, axial, and selective coding methods. Eight main themes were identified. These included the following: (a) law enforcement participation in the community, (b) law enforcement activity in the neighborhood, (c) posts regarding criminal activity, (d) immigration, (e) political protests against police, (f) African American men and law enforcement, (g) sympathy with Sandra Bland case, and (h) #Blacklivesmatter. There appears to be chasm of trust between law enforcement and communities of color. Our findings may help inform law enforcement, public policy-makers, and social workers in their efforts to better address these issues and to institute policies and interventions that not only bridge this gap but also strengthen and empower these communities.

scholarly journals Saw It on Facebook: The Role of Social Media in Facilitating Science Issue Awareness

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512093041
Author(s):  
Julian M. Mueller-Herbst ◽  
Michael A. Xenos ◽  
Dietram A. Scheufele ◽  
Dominique Brossard
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Network Heterogeneity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Communication Challenges ◽  
Information Landscape ◽  
The Impact

Spreading issue awareness about increasingly interdisciplinary scientific discoveries faces progressively larger communication challenges due to the complexity, innovation pace, and broad applicability of these innovations. Traditionally, the public relies on legacy media for information and discussion of science topics. In face of a changing information landscape, however, legacy media struggle with decreasing funding for their science desks, and science journalists turn to more specialized outlets, often online. Given these developments, it is important to understand which platforms besides legacy media serve as facilitators of science issue awareness. In this study, we analyzed the impact of social media on the awareness of gene editing. We used a representative survey administered by professional survey firm YouGov between December 2016 and January 2017, yielding a final sample of 1,600 US adults with a 41.7% response rate. The regression analysis findings suggest that social media is a significant avenue through which awareness of gene editing, and subsequently other scientific issues, is spread. Using the example of Facebook, we were able to demonstrate that how, rather than if, one uses social media is the determining factor in spreading issue awareness. Awareness was positively predicted by the length of social media sessions and network heterogeneity, while pure amount of sessions actually negatively predicted awareness. Legacy media remain an important predictor of gene editing awareness. These results demonstrate that social media functions as an important information space for science issues and should receive individual attention along with legacy media outlets when examining science communication.

scholarly journals Public science communication in Africa: views and practices of academics at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (06) ◽  
pp. A05 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Ndlovu ◽  
Marina Joubert ◽  
Nelius Boshoff
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Peer Communication ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
Science Engagement ◽  
National University ◽  
Funding Environment

This study of the science communication views and practices of African researchers ― academics at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe ― reveals a bleak picture of the low status of public science engagement in the developing world. Researchers prioritise peer communication and pay little attention to the public, policy makers and popular media. Most scientists believe the public is largely not scientifically literate or interested in research. An unstable funding environment, a lack of communication incentives and censoring of politically sensitive findings further constrain researchers' interest in public engagement. Most NUST academics, however, are interested in science communication training. We suggest interventions that could revive and support public science engagement at African universities.

scholarly journals Microblog credibility indicators regarding misinformation of genetically modified food on Weibo

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252392
Author(s):  
Jiaojiao Ji ◽  
Naipeng Chao ◽  
Shitong Wei ◽  
George A. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Genetically Modified Food ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gm Food

The considerable amount of misinformation on social media regarding genetically modified (GM) food will not only hinder public understanding but also mislead the public to make unreasoned decisions. This study discovered a new mechanism of misinformation diffusion in the case of GM food and applied a framework of supervised machine learning to identify effective credibility indicators for the misinformation prediction of GM food. Main indicators are proposed, including user identities involved in spreading information, linguistic styles, and propagation dynamics. Results show that linguistic styles, including sentiment and topics, have the dominant predictive power. In addition, among the user identities, engagement, and extroversion are effective predictors, while reputation has almost no predictive power in this study. Finally, we provide strategies that readers should be aware of when assessing the credibility of online posts and suggest improvements that Weibo can use to avoid rumormongering and enhance the science communication of GM food.

scholarly journals Covid-19 et communication de crise. Focus linguistique sur les tweets francophones de Belgique

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise-Amélie Cougnon ◽  
Louis de Viron
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
International Community ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
The Media ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

The Covid-19 health crisis of 2020 strongly affected the international community. Especially during the lockdown period, social media were widely used for information and emotion sharing. This article aims to keep a material trace of these crisis communication trends. To reach this aim, we applied quantitative and qualitative methods on a corpus of 100,000 tweets we collected in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The corpus is divided into three sub-groups: citizens, politicians and the media. We first present the corpus collection and the methodology we followed. We also look at the lexical creativity that resulted from the crisis and the lockdown situation. We then propose a semantic approach of the themes that emerged from the crisis tweets and which highlight citizens’ concerns. Finally, we depict the personalities related to the crisis, by focusing on their communication and on the image they portray to the public.

scholarly journals MENUMBUHKAN KESADARAN MASYARAKAT MELALUI SOSIALISASI KEBIASAAN HIDUP BARU DI MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Meilanny Budiarti Santoso ◽  
Moch Zainudiin ◽  
Dessy Hasanah Siti Asiah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Service Program ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Effective Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
New Policies

ABSTRAKPandemi Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) masih menjadi ancaman bagi masyarakat dunia termasuk Indonesia. Peningkatan kasus belum memperlihatkan adanya penurunan angka penyebaran virus. Pemerintah dalam menanggapi krisis kesehatan telah melakukan beberapa kebijakan untuk menekan penyebaran infeksi COVID-19. Adaptasi Kebiasaan Baru (AKB) menjadi salah satu kebijakan baru yang dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah dalam merespon situasi pandemi. AKB bertujuan agar masyarakat dapat melaksanakan protokol kesehatan ketika terpaksa beraktivitas di luar rumah dalam masa pandemi COVID-19. Upaya preventif dan promosi ini harus disebarluaskan kepada setiap masyarakat agar semakin banyak masyarakat menjalankan protokol kesehatan. Kegiatan sosialisasi secara daring melalui media sosial menjadi metode yang ditempuh dalam kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat di masa pandemi COVID-19. Tingginya intensitas penggunaan media sosial menjadi media paling efektif dalam penyebaran edukasi mengenai AKB. ABSTRACTPandemic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still a threat to the global community, including Indonesia. The increase in cases has not shown a decrease in the spread of the virus. The government in response to the health crisis has implemented several policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection. Adaptasi Kebiasaan Baru (AKB) or adapting to new habits is one of the new policies issued by the government as a response in a pandemic situation. The AKB aims for the public to implement health protocols when they have to do activities outside the home during the COVID-19 pandemic. These preventive and promotional moves should be disseminated to every community so there would be more people who can implement health protocols. Social media is one of the most effective platforms used for this community service program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The high amount of people using social media during this time is the most effective media in disseminating education about AKB.

scholarly journals Preliminary yield estimation of the 2020 Beirut explosion using video footage from social media

Shock Waves ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 671-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Rigby ◽  
T. J. Lodge ◽  
S. Alotaibi ◽  
A. D. Barr ◽  
S. D. Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Time Of Arrival ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Video Footage ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Clear Line

Abstract Rapid, accurate assessment of the yield of a large-scale urban explosion will assist in implementing emergency response plans, will facilitate better estimates of areas at risk of high damage and casualties, and will provide policy makers and the public with more accurate information about the event. On 4 August 2020, an explosion occurred in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. Shortly afterwards, a number of videos were posted to social media showing the moment of detonation and propagation of the resulting blast wave. In this article, we present a method to rapidly calculate explosive yield based on analysis of 16 videos with a clear line-of-sight to the explosion. The time of arrival of the blast is estimated at 38 distinct positions, and the results are correlated with well-known empirical laws in order to estimate explosive yield. The best estimate and reasonable upper limit of the 2020 Beirut explosion determined from this method are 0.50 kt TNT and 1.12 kt TNT, respectively.

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