Exploring Social Media as a Research Tool for

Measuring Engagement in a Paleontological

Community of Practice • Lisa Lundgren*, School of

Teaching and Learning (STL),

UF• Kent Crippen, STL, UF• Bruce MacFadden, Florida

Museum of Natural History

(FLMNH), UF• Betty Dunckel, FLMNH, UF• Shari Ellis, FLMNH, UF• Eleanor Gardner, FLMNH, UF

Theoretical FrameworkCharacteristic Definition (Wenger, 2002) FOSSIL CoP

Domain of Knowledge

The area of interest Understanding the natural world through the collection, preparation, curation and study of fossils and the science of paleontology.

Communityof People

People who care about the domain; "the social fabric of learning"(p. 28)

Fossil group membersFossil enthusiastsProfessional paleontologistsProfessional science educators

Shared Practice "a set of frameworks, ideas, tools, information, styles, language, stories and documents that community members share"(p. 28)

"a set of socially defined ways of doing things in a domain: a set of common approaches and shared standards that create a basis for action, communication, problem solving, performance and accountability."(p. 38)

InquirySocial LearningField TripsCollectionPreparationIdentificationDigitizationOutreach

Research Question

Which social media components are most engaging, for whom, and under what conditions?

Social Media Tools

1.

2.

3.

FOSSIL Project Twitter

Tweets Following Followers

640 148 580

• How does FOSSIL use Twitter?– Retweeting important

paleo news– Informing followers of

upcoming FOSSIL events– Sharing photos &

interesting information learned at conferences, field trips, & meetings

Levels of Engagement1. No Interaction User scrolls past post

2. Favoriting a message Indication of interest in content

3. Retweeting a message

Wanting a post to show up in own Twitter feed

4. Retweeting a message & adding own commentary

Post appears in own feed with person’s thoughts

How FOSSIL defines “Engagement” for Twitter

FOSSIL Project Facebook

• 2,113 likes as of October 2015• How does FOSSIL use Facebook?

• Creating novel content which informs likers of upcoming FOSSIL events• Sharing photos & interesting information learned at conferences, field trips, & meetings• Posting paleontological news stories featuring amateur or professional paleontologists• Posting resources for k-12 teachers, such as links to websites with lesson plans

How FOSSIL defines “Engagement” for Facebook

Levels of Engagement1. No Interaction User scrolls past post

2. Liking a post User clicks “like”

3. Sharing a post User includes post on own or another’s timeline

4. Commenting on a post User adds own thoughts to a post

Findings: Levels of Engagement on Facebook

LMP3-N

LMP1-M

LMP2-A

LJEP2-M

LJEP1-N

JEP1-M

LJEP4-M

LJYP3-M

JYP2-A

LJYP2-A

AP2-MLA

P1-A

LAP3-A

SP1-N

SP3-N

SP2-N

LOCP3-M

OCP3-A

LOCP1-A

LNOVP3-M

NOVP1-M

LNOVP2-M

DECP1-M

LDEC

P3-M

LDEC

P2-A

LJANP2-M

JANP2-M

LJANP3-M

LFEBP2-M

LFEBP3-M

FEBP3-M

MARP1-M

MARP2-M

MARP3-M

MARP4-M

LAPRP1-M

LAPRP2-M

LMAY1

-M

LMAY3

-A0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

FOSSIL Project Facebook Engagement Levels, May 2014 - May 2015

LikesCommentsShares

Findings: Different Post Types on Facebook

Most Engaged with: News PostContains information about current happenings in paleontology; links to a “news” website or other social media page

Findings: Summary• Post types

– Most engagement: News

– Least engagement: Opportunity

• Most engagement is low– in the form of likes– SOLUTION: Create posts

more relevant to our user base

• Community feedback via focus group – Fossil ID posts & posts

about upcoming events

Further Research

• Do social media personas (e.g. lurkers, “average” users, or advanced users) influence the ways in which the FOSSIL CoP engage in social paleontology?– Creating interview protocols & focus

groups from random sampling of social media users to understand their social media desires

Join us in social paleontology!facebook.com/thefossilprojecttwitter.com/projectfossilcommunity.myfossil.org

THANKS! QUESTIONS?