---
title: "Science communication"
chunk: 6/7
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_communication"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:16:22.672901+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

==== Online interaction ====
The third category is online interaction; for example, websites, blogs, wikis and podcasts can be used for science communication, as can other social media or forms of artificial intelligence like AI-Chatbots. Online methods of communicating science have the potential to reach huge audiences, can allow direct interaction between scientists and the public, and the content is always accessible and can be somewhat controlled by the scientist. Additionally, online communication of science can help boost scientists' reputation through increased citations, better circulation of articles, and establishing new collaborations. Online communication also allows for both one-way and two-way communication, depending on the audience's and the author's preferences. However, there are disadvantages in that it is difficult to control how content is picked up by others, and regular attention and updating is needed.
When considering whether or not to engage in science communication online, scientists should review what science communication research has shown to be the potential positive and negative outcomes. Online communication has given rise to movements like open science, which advocates for making science more accessible. However, when engaging in communication about science online, scientists should consider not publicizing or reporting findings from their research until it has been peer-reviewed and published, as journals may not accept the work after it has been circulated under the "Ingelfinger rule".
Other considerations revolve around how scientists will be perceived by other scientists for engaging in communication. For example, some scholars have criticized engaged, popular scholars using concepts like the Sagan effect or Kardashian Index. Despite these criticisms, many scientists are taking to communicating their work on online platforms, a sign of potentially changing norms in the field.

==== Art ====

According to Lesen et al. (2016), art has been a tool increasingly used to attract the public to science. Either formally or in an informal context, an integration between artists and scientists could potentially raise awareness of the general public about current topics in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The arts have the power of creating emotional links between the public and a research topic and create a collaborative atmosphere that can "activate science" in a different way. Learning through the affection domain, in contrast to the cognitive domain, increases motivation and using the arts to communicate scientific knowledge this way could increase dramatically engagement.
One example is Ed Hawkins's warming stripes graphics which were included in Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, an exhibition of design icons at the Museum of Modern Art highlighting design "as an agent of change".

=== Social media science communication ===
By using Twitter, scientists and science communicators can discuss scientific topics with many types of audiences with various points of view. Studies published in 2012 by Gunther Eysenbach shed light on how Twitter not only communicates science to the public but also affects advances in the science community. However, as of 2024, engagement from academics reduced on Twitter.
Alison Bert, editor in chief of Elsevier Connect, wrote a 2014 news article titled "How to use social media for science" that reported on a panel about social media at that year's AAAS meeting, in which panelists Maggie Koerth-Baker, Kim Cobb, and Danielle N. Lee noted some potential benefits and drawbacks to scientists of sharing their research on Twitter. Koerth-Baker, for example, commented on the importance of keeping public and private personas on social media separate in order to maintain professionalism online.
Interviewed in 2014, Karen Peterson, director of Scientific Career Development at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center stressed the importance for scientists of using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to establish an online presence.
Kimberly Collins et al., writing in PLOS One in 2016, explained reasons why some scientists were hesitant to join Twitter. Some scientists were hesitant to use social media outlets such as Twitter due to lack of knowledge of the platform, and inexperience with how to make meaningful posts. Some scientists did not see the meaning in using Twitter as a platform to share their research or have the time to add the information into the accounts themselves.
In 2016, Elena Milani created the SciHashtag Project, which is a condensed collection of Twitter hashtags about science communication.
In 2017, a study done by the Pew Research Center found that about "a quarter of social media users (26%) follow science accounts" on social media. This group of users "places both more importance and comparatively more trust on science news that comes to them through social media".
Scientists have also used other social media platforms, including Instagram and Reddit, to establish a connection with the public and discuss science.

== The public understanding of science movement ==