Evaluation of #CosmosChat

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Monica Fonorow

Benjamin Gross

David Haldeman

Rebecca Ortenberg

Preston Stone

Introduction

#CosmosChat was a weekly, hour-long Twitter chat to discuss Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey in the context of the history of science, hosted by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. The projects objectives were to:

Demonstrate CHFs capacity to host constructive conversations between historians, scientists, and the general public, in accordance with its mission to foster dialogue on science and technology in society.

Experiment with new forms of social media engagement using a model employed by other institutions to talk about their collections.

Mobilize CHFs in-house expertise by critiquing Cosmos in the context of the history of science.

Cross-train staff to encourage broader social media participation in future online discussions.

Evaluate the merits of this type of social media strategy for future projects.

Models

We chose two simple models for #CosmosChat:

Live tweeting of Cosmos by CHF Research Fellow Benjamin Gross, which helped provide the team with content direction and a clearer understanding of Bens vision of #CosmosChat

#breakforart by the Phillips Collection, a weekly, hour-long Twitter live-chat moderated by a Phillips Collection curator to discuss a single work of art

Project Life Cycle and Structure

#CosmosChat had a well-defined active lifespan (22 April 2014 - 24 June 2014). Each session of the chat followed on an episode of Cosmos, with a final session consisting of a Q&A with Cosmos producer Steven Holtzman, for a total of eight sessions. Each session was conducted as a sprint, with the following steps:

http://www.chemheritage.orghttps://twitter.com/bhgross144http://blog.phillipscollection.org/2013/08/19/breakforart-phillips/https://twitter.com/Moobyfone

1. Cosmos episode viewing (1 hour);

2. Planning meeting (1 hour);

3. Chat prep, marketing, and tweet composition (varied);

4. Chat session (1 hour);

5. Retrospective meeting (varied, typically 15 minutes);

6. Storify archive (varied, typically 1.5 hours).

Resources

Our intent from the outset was to conduct #CosmosChat as a low-resource project with well-defined goals and milestones. The resources we had on hand were:

Ben Gross (@bhgross144): #histsci authority, Twitter presence

Rebecca Ortenberg (@historein): public history authority, Beckman Fellow liaison, Twitter presence

Monica Fonorow (@monjfon): Marketing/communications, member of CHFs social media team

David Haldeman (@haldemansays): Marketing/communications, member of CHFs social media team

Preston Stone (@preston_stone): Planning, strategy, Twitter presence

Other CHF staff members, who chose to participate or simply observe in person

Beckman Center Fellows who chose to participate

Space and time to carry out the project

Snacks

https://twitter.com/bhgross144https://twitter.com/hashtag/Histscihttps://twitter.com/historeinhttps://twitter.com/monjfonhttps://twitter.com/haldemansayshttps://twitter.com/preston_stonehttp://www.chemheritage.org/research/beckman-center/index.aspxhttp://www.xojane.com/diy/i-just-really-like-themed-food-cosmos-a-space-time-odyssey-premiere-edition

Outcomes

At the conclusion of the project, we collected and analyzed measurable outcomes. These included:

1. staff time,

2. effectiveness of outreach,

3. performance of the project against a comparator project,

4. effect of the project on the ChemHeritage Twitter presence,

5. team take-aways,

6. obstacles and impediments,

7. new resources created, and

8. new individual and community connections.

Staff Time

Staff Member Total Hours Avg Per Week

Ben 35 3.9

Rebecca 33 3.7

Monica 36.5 4.1

David* 40 6.7

Preston 30 3.3

Total 174.5 (34.9 avg) 4.3 avg

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*Note: Davids average weekly hours are calculated against 6 weeks (because he took a monster European vacation in the midst of the project).

Conclusion: Members of CHFs social media team (i.e. David and Monica) dedicated the largest number of working hours to the project. Most of this time was spent promoting #CosmosChat on Facebook and Twitter, composing and editing discussion questions, and compiling accounts of each weeks conversation on Storify.

Associated Costs for #CosmosChat: ~$160.00

https://twitter.com/historein/status/484062192724369408

Outreach

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Total run of #CosmosChat: 22 April 24 June 2014 (9 weeks [10 weeks with 1 week off])

Total Tweets: 2,001 (31.27 tweets/day)

Sessions Only: 1,552 (194 tweets/session)

Peak hashtag usage: 343 (Jun. 10th in connection with discussion of the Cosmos finale)

Note that this includes retweets.

https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-unafraid-of-the-dark-june-10-2014

External Model Comparison

We compared the performance of #CosmosChat (orange) against our model, #breakforart (blue).

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Conclusion: #CosmosChat sessions performed well in comparison to #breakforart, demonstrating the enormous popularity of Cosmos as well as a demand to explore Cosmos in a specialized history of science context.

Community Comparison: #HistSci

We also explored the performance of #CosmosChat (orange) versus the #histsci community (blue).

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Conclusion: #CosmosChat sessions were the only instances in which @chemheritage Twitter traffic was on par with #histsci community traffic. During its run, #CosmosChat was also one of CHFs most consistent points of engagement with the #histsci community.

https://www.twitter.com/chemheritage

Usage Comparison: @chemheritage

We compared the performance of #CosmosChat (orange) with the overall performance of the @chemheritage Twitter account (blue).

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* Includes tweets by and about @chemheritage

Conclusion: #CosmosChat contributed significantly to overall Twitter traffic for @chemheritage, and was one of the primary contributors to follower acquisition and engagement.

Take-aways

1. #CosmosChat confirmed that CHF possesses the internal resources and expertise required to promote and execute an extended, well-defined social media campaign. It also demonstrated the importance of obtaining early buy-in from different sections of the organization.

2. Although #CosmosChat built upon CHFs established Twitter presence, its success depended upon the participation of staff with a wide range of skill-sets. The time, energy, and staff resources required to promote and execute a social media project of this sort should not be underestimated.

3. The use of Storify to archive each #CosmosChat session proved effective as both a promotional tool and an online archive for individuals unable to participate in the live discussion.

4. Because the project team treated #CosmosChat as an experiment from the outset, they were careful to incorporate time for retrospection. These discussions enabled the group to develop more effective metrics to evaluate the overall impact of the project.

Obstacles and Impediments

The delay in starting our #CosmosChat discussions until the series halfway point complicated efforts to reach out to the general public and the rest of CHF.

Limited staff understanding of the #CosmosChat project also contributed to scheduling difficulties. When staff meetings or other in-house events conflicted with a given weeks chat sessions, it sent the message that this was a side project rather than a serious initiative with CHFs full endorsement.

The time and workload requirements associated with the promotion and execution of the project were greater than initially anticipated. When any member of the #CosmosChat team was absent, it placed a significant burden upon the rest of the group.

For better or worse, CHFs Twitter account voice is very straightforward and used primarily for marketing. This required an internal re-conception of Twitter as a tool for dialogue.

It is unclear how well this type of multi-session marathon social media effort could serve as a model for occasional single-session sprints.

New Resources Created

Ben Gross and Rebecca Ortenberg. Ben and Rebecca evolved from experts in their fields to experts with the ability to concisely and engagingly share their knowledge and stimulate discourse.

Storify content. Storify archives of #CosmosChat sessions increased exposure of session content, helped the #CosmosChat team develop strategy for archiving and sharing content after a session was complete, and served other communities exploring Cosmos.

Involving fellows in social media/public outreach. Numerous fellows, including Juan-Andres Leon, Iain Watts, Deanna Day, and Elisabeth Berry-Drago, participated physically and/or digitally in #CosmosChat, publicly demonstrating CHFs in-house science history expertise.

Opportunity for non-scholars to connect with historians of science. #CosmosChat connected non-scholars with historians of science repeatedly. These connections included television producers:

! Non-scholarly staff:

https://storify.com/chemheritagehttps://storify.com/chemheritagehttps://twitter.com/iainwattshttps://twitter.com/deannadayhttps://twitter.com/ebdrago

! and the intellectually-curious public:

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Increase in staff literacy in history of science. Watching Cosmos and participating in #CosmosChat allowed members of CHF staff to broaden their familiarity with the history of the physical sciences from ancient Greece until the present day. Our discussions also called attention to ongoing historiographic debates surrounding the relationship between science and the state, the role of women and other underrepresented groups in the history of science, and the challenges associated with the reconstruction of laboratory practice.

Staff social media skills discussion-leading, sharing of interpretation. Staff members who participated in #CosmosChat developed social media skills that were mechanical (how to send a tweet, how and when to retweet) and content-oriented (how to lead and perpetuate discussions, how to contribute new and interesting information). This empowered staff to become confident public voices for CHF.

Inter-departmental collaboration and team-building. The #CosmosChat team was composed of staff from four departments. Communication and division of labor within the team was nimble, transparent, and collective. Each member of the team brought important skills and departmental perspectives to the project, which in turn led to important conclusions for all areas represented.

New Community and Individual Connections

Academic scientists. Before each #CosmosChat, CHF reached out to scientists whose disciplines were represented on that week's episode. Over the course of the spring, chemists, physicists, geologists, and astronomers participated in our conversations.

Historians of science and technology. Although historians of science and technology were previously aware of CHF's reputation, #CosmosChat encouraged them to interact with the institution in a new way.

Humanities scholars (art historians, comparative literature experts). Academic interest in Cosmos also extended beyond the domains of history and science. Indeed, humanities scholars from a wide range of disciplines--including art history and comparative literature--were eager to discuss how Cosmos structured its arguments.

Science journalists or media professionals. #CosmosChat attracted attention from science journalists, bloggers, and other media professionals, including:

o H-PhysicalSciences, We Need to Talk About Cosmos

o blog.castac.org, Cosmos: A Spacetime Conversation (interview with Ben Gross and Audra Wolfe)

o The Wire, Neil deGrasse Tyson Asks Us to Think About the Future in This Week's 'Cosmos' (quotes tweet by Ben Gross)

HSS 2014 (Ben Gross participated in a round table discussion on Cosmos)

Steven Holtzman. #CosmosChat caught the attention of Steven Holtzman, a producer on Cosmos who has a social media presence. He visited CHF in Philadelphia and shared his experiences working on the show with the CosmosChat team, and later with CosmosChat participants during a Twitter Q&A.

https://networks.h-net.org/node/25318/discussions/26537/we-need-talk-about-cosmoshttp://blog.castac.org/2014/05/cosmos-a-spacetime-conversation/http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/05/neil-degrasse-tyson-asks-us-to-think-about-the-future-in-this-weeks-cosmos/371143/http://hssonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/HSS_Preliminary_Program_2014.pdf

! Steven Holtzman offered unique insight and exclusive behind-the-scenes content while participating in CHFs first live Twitter interview.

Educators, curriculum designers. #CosmosChat served as a model, showcasing how educators could make use of social media to structure discussion of historical or scientific topics. It also served as a forum where educators with an interest in science communication, could find like-minded partners for future collaborative projects. One example of an educator made use of #CosmosChat is Clarissa Ai Ling Lees #Cosmoschat for Writing in the Natural Sciences Unit.

https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-a-chat-with-steven-holtzman-june-24-20http://www.apple.comhttp://scandalousthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/cosmoschat-with-some-undergraduates/http://scandalousthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/cosmoschat-with-some-undergraduates/

Recommendations for the Future

1. If CHF embarks on another extended social media campaign, it should receive the organizations complete support. It should be promoted to the general public (via the website or social media) and to the staff (via internal e-mail). The senior staff should also work with members of the social media team to limit the possibility of schedule conflicts.

2. The Communications staff should actively recruit CHF staff or research fellows during the planning stages of any proposed social media campaign. The project will benefit from a more diverse range of expertise and a greater number of people among whom to divide tasks and responsibilities.

3. The formality and official nature of CHFs Twitter account makes it all the more important to encourage the organizations staff to set up their own accounts and participate in online conversations.

4. As a long-term goal, CHF should consider integrating its social media presenceincluding Storify archivesmore comprehensively into chemheritage.org.

5. CHF should consider Twitter chats to be one of several social media communication strategies, and should evaluate carefully the scenarios in which it is effective (as well as scenarios in which it is ineffective).

Thanks to everyone who helped make #CosmosChat a success!

Your #CosmosFriends,

Preston, Monica, Rebecca, Ben, and David*

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* not pictured because he was in Europe.

https://twitter.com/historein/status/484062192724369408

Appendix A: #CosmosChat Storify Archives

"The Clean Room," April 22, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-for-april-22-2014

"Sisters of the Sun," April 29, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-sisters-of-the-sun-april-29-2014

"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth," May 6, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-lost-worlds-of-planet-earth-may-6

"The Electric Boy," May 13, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-electric-boy-may-13-2014

"The Immortals," May 20, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-immortals-may-20-2014

"The World Set Free," June 3, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-world-set-free-june-3-2014

"Unafraid of the Dark," June 10, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-unafraid-of-the-dark-june-10-2014

A Chat with Steven Holtzman, June 24, 2014: https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-a-chat-with-steven-holtzman-june-24-20

https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-for-april-22-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-sisters-of-the-sun-april-29-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-lost-worlds-of-planet-earth-may-6https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-electric-boy-may-13-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-immortals-may-20-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-the-world-set-free-june-3-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-unafraid-of-the-dark-june-10-2014https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmoschat-a-chat-with-steven-holtzman-june-24-20

Appendix B: Links to Supplemental Content

The links below are to content generated in response to, or as a result of, #CosmosChat.

H-PhysicalSciences, We Need to Talk About Cosmos

blog.castac.org, Cosmos: A Spacetime Conversation (interview with Ben Gross and Audra Wolfe)

The Wire, Neil deGrasse Tyson Asks Us to Think About the Future in This Week's 'Cosmos' (quotes tweet by Ben Gross)

Historians of Science Watching COSMOS, a roundtable discussion held during the 2014 annual meeting of the History of Science Society.

#Cosmoschat for Writing in the Natural Sciences Unit, a blog post on using #CosmosChat as an educational tool, by Clarissa Ai Ling Lee.

https://networks.h-net.org/node/25318/discussions/26537/we-need-talk-about-cosmoshttp://blog.castac.org/2014/05/cosmos-a-spacetime-conversation/http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/05/neil-degrasse-tyson-asks-us-to-think-about-the-future-in-this-weeks-cosmos/371143/https://storify.com/ChemHeritage/cosmos-at-hsshttp://scandalousthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/cosmoschat-with-some-undergraduates/http://scandalousthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/cosmoschat-with-some-undergraduates/