Communicating Science to the Public Through Blogs and Social Media
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Slides from my Forman Lecture talk at Vanderbilt University 3/26/15. Arguing that the current state of the world demands greater engagement with a broader public on the part of scientists, and that social media can be a powerful tool for this. Including discussion of pros and cons of specific platforms, and advice based on 12+ years of talking science on the Internet, sometimes with my dog.
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Communicating Science to the Public Through Blogs and Social Media
- 1. Talking Dogs and Galileian Blogs I like cheese Chad Orzel Social Media for Communicating Science http://scienceblogs.com/principles/ 2 x p
- 8. Everyone who denies man-made climate change has the same stirring message: “We don’t know what the f*$k we’re talking about.” -- Stephen Colbert, November 2014
- 10. Who Should We Blame? Who caused the disconnect between science and general public? Politicians? Tempting, but no… Religion? Lots of religious scientists Teachers? Doing the best they can… My claim: WE HAVE FAILED AT OUR JOBS AS SCIENTISTS
- 11. Look
- 12. Think
- 13. Test
- 14. Tell
- 15. What Is Science? Science is a process for learning about the world: 1) Look at the world 2) Make up a theory 3) Test your theory 4) Tell everyone about it Find some interesting phenomenon to explain Develop a model to explain the phenomenon Design experiments, make observations to test model Publication, dissemination, replication Where Things Break Down
- 19. Newtonian Publication Most famous work: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (published 1687) Written in Latin, highly technical, highly mathematical Deliberately difficult, “to avoid being baited by little smatterers in mathematicks” (Hat-tip: Robert Krulwich, WNYC RadioLab) Isaac Newton (1642-1726)
- 21. <2,200 Students <13,000 Students
- 26. Galileian Publication Most famous work: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (published 1632) Written in vernacular, dialogue between three characters Witty, accessible, highly readable, and persuasive Widely read and influential Galileo Galilei(1564-1642)
- 27. Results Outcomes of different publication models: Lesson of History: Newtonian Publication Is Better For Your Career Newton Galileo: Master of the Mint The Inquisition
- 32. So You Want to Be Galileo… How do you go about communicating science to the general public? No single, foolproof method Have to find what works for you Similar to asking “How do you write a bestselling novel?” As many strategies as there are popularizers Can suggest some general tools and approaches NOTE: Not about “dumbing down” or condescending to audience Ways to make real science appealing to non-scientists
- 33. Social Media: Pro Advantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience Just sign up, start using Millions of daily users
- 34. Social Media: Pro Advantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience 2) Social media are social Reach people in ways more formal channels don’t Provide community for communicators
- 35. Social Media: Con Disadvantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience Trolls, cranks, racist relatives Controversial issues can lead to ugly situations
- 36. Social Media: Con Disadvantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience Impossible to predict what will catch on 2) Social media are social Requires engagement and networking for success
- 37. Nobody Has to Be Galileo Advantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience 2) Social media are social Disadvantages: 1) Easy to do, huge audience 2) Social media are social Important: NOT FOR EVERYONE Requires particular skills right personality Also: TOTALLY OPTIONAL
- 38. Blogs “Blog” (short for “web log”) Regularly updated personal site Short essays, pictures, links to other pages of interest “A Directory of Wonderful Things” (tag line of Boing Boing, but could serve generally) Best-known blogs deal with politics, gadgets, celebrity gossip Also blogs about science…
- 39. Science Blogs My own preferred channel… Blogging since 2002, at scienceblogs.com since 2006 Uncertain Principles “Physics, Politics, Pop Culture” Built up regular audience ~2,000 views (good day) HIGHLY variable
- 40. Science Blogs http://scienceblogs.com/principles/ My own preferred channel… Blogging since 2002, at scienceblogs.com since 2006 Advantages: Infinite space to deal with complex topics, issues Disadvantages: Can be hard to get people to read long posts
- 45. Twitter Short messages– 140-character limit Advantages Short, fast-moving – “Live” experience Very informal atmosphere, conversational medium Disadvantages Short, fast-moving – deliberately ephemeral Very large, eclectic audience
- 46. Science in 140 Characters Twitter: Popular with journalists/ science writers Fast-moving, but can be very useful Live backchannel for conferences, breaking news
- 47. SciStuChat Twitter education: chats Example: #SciStuChat Q&A with scientists on Twitter, HS students Organized by Adam Taylor (Overton HS, Nashville) Connect students with scientists in cheap, easy way Also: #ITeachPhysics Prof. development
- 48. Dinosaurs and Baseball New media, new communications opportunities…
- 49. Facebook Facebook “Pages” Advantages: Enormous audience, easy to use Disadvantages: Walled garden– hard to see what people say Newsfeed manipulation– don’t know who you’re reaching
- 50. Video YouTube “Channels” Advantages: Video = kilowords Disadvantages: Doing video well requires technical, artistic skills Fun to do, but difficult, slow
- 51. Social Media for Science Powerful tools, if interested Choose channel that suits your skills/talents Connect with enormous audience Build constituency for science Stumble into further amazing opportunities
- 52. What About the Dog? Emmy, Queen of Niskayuna January, 2007: “Bunnies Made of Cheese” Imaginary conversation about QED Dramatic Reading: (CNET Buzz Podcast, ~2min) The dog is standing at the window, wagging her tail excitedly. I look outside, and the back yard is empty. "What are you looking at?" I ask. "Bunnies made of cheese!," she says. I look again, and the yard is still empty.
- 53. Many Worlds, Many Treats I'm sitting at the computer typing, when the dog bumps up against my legs. I look down, and she's sniffing the floor around my feet intently. "What are you doing down there?“ "I'm looking for steak!" she says, wagging her tail hopefully. "I'm pretty certain that there's no steak down there," I say. "I've never eaten steak at the computer, and I've certainly never dropped any on the floor.“ "You did in some universe," she says, still sniffing. May 2007:
- 54. Bunnies Made of Cheese: The Book “Many Worlds, Many Treats” linked by Boing Boing, Digg more than 50,000 readers Contacted by agent Book proposal, bought by Scribner Popular audience book on quantum physics, mixing dog conversations with explanations for humans Published December 22, 2009 Extreme example, but illustrates general principle Use blogs to promote science produce new opportunities for outreach
- 55. What to Do? State of the world demands better public engagement For communicators: Social media provide tools to reach mass audience Easy to try, see what works for you For others: Recognize, support, reward communication as essential Let Galileo be Galileo