Social science!
I watched an interesting documentary by Horizon recently – Science Under Attack. In it, Sir Paul Nurse argues that science is not ‘keeping up’ with the modern day communications, particularly in the online social sphere. He warns of the dangers of science lacking a voice in this virtual arena, as the Internet has enabled people to express their opinions like never before (see my article ‘BP oil spill spreads across the online social sphere’). Nurse explains that this is a crucial turning point for science in its communication with the public and cites the issue of global warming as an example of information being shared and reported on the Internet. Opinion pieces and blogging in particular have lead to information being reported inaccurately, resulting in much confusion both for scientists and for the general public. It seems that people don’t know who to believe, or where to go for accurate information.
I am a fan of the Intertubes, and I am a fan of space, so it’s a given then that I keep an eye on NASA’s news online. Thinking about Sir Nurse’s concern that the scientific world has not been effectively communicating with the public, I soon began to think about NASA and their activity on the Internet. They are great at engaging with the public. I follow @NASA on Twitter, and a number of their other accounts such as @apod (Astronomy picture of the day – well worth following if you love looking of stunning pictures of space, the sun, and other celestial bobbins), and @marscuriosity the robot who will soon join @marsphoenix roaming around the Red Planet.
They also have very informative websites with up to date information on their projects, and a presence on Facebook.
I also follow @CERN (the European Organisation on Nuclear Research and the biggest particle physics lab in the world) on Twitter, who are also great at reporting their work to the general public. Their website (although it could really do with looking a little less ‘90s) is informative and easy to navigate.
They key here is obviously having someone, or a team of people, who understand science but who also understand the science of modern day communication. For most scientists and their projects, it will not be possible to go to the lengths that NASA has gone to as they simply won’t have the resources. Nonetheless it would still be worth their while looking to them as an example and utilising some of the methods they have used in communicating with the public. This can make keeping up to date with the latest scientific discoveries and projects fun and interesting for the rest of us, whilst also saving the scientific community from having to clean up a big old mess when their work gets miscommunicated and misunderstood by us, the masses.
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