Social Media Can Be For Science!

Melanie B. Tannenbaum!APS Annual Convention!

May 23, 2014!

Why Share?

…papers with media exposure !

receive 28% more citations.

Kiernan, 2003, Science Communication

The links that we post can help us “construct and refine [our] online personas.”

People share articles on Twitter that they haven’t read.

We use links and shared articles as “markers of the people we aspire to be.”

Kitroeff, 2014, New York Times

Scientists, as a group, are “highly trusted” by Americans…

!

!

http://www.science20.com/truth_universally_acknowledged/survey_says_science_we_trust

Scientists, as a group, are “highly trusted” by Americans…

!

!

…but only 18% of Americans can name a living scientist.

Everyone that you are friends with

knows a living scientist.

“Right now, this is an anti-intellectual country in which the media and politics constantly bombard us with the message

that science is uncool, the domain of geeks and nerds.”!

!

— PZ Myers

“If scientists could communicate more in their own voices — in a familiar tone, with a less specialized vocabulary — would a wide range of people understand them better? !

Would their work be better understood by the general public, policymakers, funders, and even in some cases,

other scientists?”!

!

— Alan Alda

This. Study. Never. Happened.

“Trust is not about information.!

It’s about dialogue and transparency.” !

!

— Rick E. Borchelt, Lynne T. Friedmann, & Earle Holland

We can use our social media presences to make every step of the scientific process more

transparent, clear, and accessible.

Step-Sister-In-Law

Why Social Media?

48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook

first thing in the morning…

!

!

…and 28% do so before getting out of bed.

57% of Americans say they talk to people online more than they do in real life.

48%

of Internet Users use Facebook as their primary news source.

The Internet is the main source of information for

learning about specific scientific issues

Other/Don’t Know 2%Family/Friends/Colleagues 2%

Radio 1%

TV 15%

Newspapers & Magazines 6%

Books 12%

Internet 59%

Where do you get information on specific scientific issues?

Government Agency 3%

Also, things like…• Agenda Control: Things covered frequently in the news

are seen as more important.

• Availability Heuristic: The more often we see stories about science, the more we’ll be able to bring those topics to mind, and the more it will seem like “everyone” is talking about scientific issues, setting a norm.

• Descriptive Norms: By frequently and publicly talking about science, it makes it more “normative” to be involved in discussions about scientific issues.

These are probably the two most common social media platforms being used. However, they come

with slightly different norms and populations.

This sums up the “norm” of how to use Twitter for professional

purposes very well.

Facebook tends to be more “personal.” However, you may be surprised by what

people want to see…and who wants to see it…

This is a status I wrote, unconnected to this session. I was surprised by some responses.

How Can I Use

Social Media Effectively?

Follow The Right People.

!

Examples:

• ScienceSeeker Members

• https://twitter.com/SciSeeker/scienceseeker-members

• SciAm Bloggers & Contributors

• https://twitter.com/PsychScience, #aps14sf

• Popular Psychologists & Neuroscientists

• http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-100-most-followed-psychologists-and.html

Friends

On Facebook, you tend to be “friends” with more people that are not necessarily connected to your professional

sphere or career/scientific interests…

Friends• Family • Non-Academic-Sphere Friends

• Elementary School, Hometown, Summer Camp… • Non-Psych Academics

• College friends in other fields, science writers… • Psych Colleagues

• Grad School friends • Conference Buddies • Professors

Friends

However, this doesn’t stop you from (a) seeking out (and friending) people you do want to have further conversations

with, and (b) bringing scientific conversations, debates, and articles to others’ feeds.

Friends

You can always try friending colleagues or friends-of-friends that you know professionally.

!

Some might not accept your friend request if you aren’t very close, but some will. Especially in communities where

social media use is more normative (e.g., SciComm). But don’t be hurt if people choose to keep their Facebooks

more private — you can always connect on Twitter!

Friends

However, I do not want to hear anyone complaining that Facebook and Twitter are too full of people posting

selfies and pictures of their outfits or lunches.

If you don’t like what you’re seeing on

Facebook or Twitter, you’re following the

wrong people.

What Should I Post?

Tweeting Well

• It’s OK to “butt into” other people’s conversations… • …as long as you’re polite, friendly, useful, and constructive. !

• Retweeting Others !

• Personal, Humanizing Information !

• Your Own Writing/Posts !

• Unique Contributions

Facebooking Well

• Not as normative to “friend” people you don’t know… • …although in some contexts, this is changing.

!• Fewer posts per day

!• More personal

!• You can write longer statuses

Unique Content

• If everyone is posting links to a breaking news story, article, etc. — you don’t have to.

• Set up Google Alerts for terms from your “beat.”

• Link posts from good-but-less-known blogs in your area.

• This is how you become the “go-to” for your niche!

Examples

As psychologists, we take for granted many things that we know, and we forget that others don’t know these things. Like…the fact that the

MBTI is terrible. This status generated a lot of conversation about why the MBTI is invalid, and what alternatives (like…the Big Five) exist.

Generating conversations about how to teach students…

Generating conversations about how to teach students…

Sharing information about behavioral genetics research

(which I only learned about in graduate

school) with my entire network of friends

and family

Sharing information about behavioral genetics research

(which I only learned about in graduate

school) with my entire network of friends

and family

Sharing (funny) articles that convey information about scientific methods and

some of their potential pitfalls

…taking it upon myself to present to everyone that I can what I feel is a far more accurate view of anything Gladwell has to say (see the next several slides…)

Sharing funny (I hope!) stories that

convey both (a) the punchline and (b) a

psych research finding that people

now know after reading my status

Sharing funny (I hope!) stories that

convey both (a) the punchline and (b) a

psych research finding that people

now know after reading my status

College Friend

Establishing myself as a trusted resource for providing articles, answering questions, and (possibly) knowing

where to find desired information.

Educate Evaluate Explore

Audience!

I think it’s very important to go into social media with a goal in mind for your posting, sharing, linking, and conversing.

!Therefore, in my opinion, this table sums up the three main

goals you might have, and what types of audiences/posts you might be targeting with each of those goals.

!This is purely conjecture based on my experience.

Posts

Goal

Educate Evaluate Explore

AudienceFamily

!Non-Field Friends

Academic-Interest Friends & Family

!Colleagues

Colleagues

Posts Informative Factual

Critical/Praising Discussion

Links or Statuses Questions

Common Concerns

Goal Share Knowledge Share Opinions Share Experience

Educate Evaluate Explore

AudienceFamily

!Non-Field Friends

Academic-Interest Friends & Family

!Colleagues

Colleagues

Posts Informative Factual

Critical/Praising Discussion

Links or Statuses Questions

Common Concerns

Goal Share Knowledge Share Opinions Share Experience

You are a scientist.!Your friends and family should know this.

You have a lot of power here!

You can be…

A trusted voice

A norm-setter

A conversation starter

People want to know!what other people know.

Don’t assume you know what your friends want (or don’t want) to see.

If you don’t like what you see on social media,!follow different people.

Post unique content, and follow people who post unique content.

Don’t be afraid to post things you think might be controversial.

You may be (pleasantly) surprised by the discussion… …and by who participates in them.

Thank You!!!

Melanie B. Tannenbaum!@melanietbaum!

blogs.scientificamerican.com/psysociety/!

Facebook Statistics

• http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/

• http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/

Info Sources

• Scientists Highly Trusted: http://www.science20.com/truth_universally_acknowledged/survey_says_science_we_trust

• Name A Living Scientist: Your Congress - Your Health Survey, June 2009, http://www.researchamerica.org/uploads/YourCongress2009.pdf. (More Details: 65% said they could not name a living scientist. 7% said they could, but when asked to provide a name, said “Don’t Know.” 10% named either Einstein, Pasteur, Curie, or Salk, none of whom were alive in 2009.)

• Info for Specific Scientific Issues: National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators 2012 (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/c7/c7s1.htm)

Special Acknowledgments• Thank you to Christie Wilcox, whose slides on this very topic (post here: http://

blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/2011/09/27/social-media-for-scientists-part-1-its-our-job/, slides here: http://www.slideshare.net/NerdyChristie/science-and-the-public-why-every-lab-should-tweet) provided a ton of the material for this talk.

• Thank you to Cedar Riener, for putting all of the hard legwork into proposing this APS symposium and for allowing me to co-chair it with him! He is awesome and it was a lot of work on his end. Thanks, Cedar.

• Thank you to Jorden Cummings and Stuart Ritchie, the two other speakers whose talks were awesome and very enjoyable.

• And finally, thank you to everyone who came to our talk on May 23rd, despite the impossible-to-find room, the 9 AM start time, and Zimbardo’s talk going on at the same time! We appreciate it — and we hope your Facebook friends lists do too! :)