SLIDE 1 A decade of lessons learned in using social technologies for science communication
Lead Change Designer Center for Communication Science. RTI International @chiefmaven
Translation and Communications Interest Group, AcademyHealth 24 June 2017
SLIDE 2 The Overview
communication.
- What does social media do?
- What have we learned in a
decade of practice?
- What are the implications
for your social media research and practice?
SLIDE 3 Goals for Communicating Science
- 1. Share the findings and excitement of science.
- 2. Increase appreciation for science as a useful way of
understanding and navigating the modern world.
- 3. Increase knowledge and understanding of the science
related to a specific issue.
- 4. Influence people’s opinions, behavior, and policy
preferences.
- 5. Engage with diverse groups so that their perspectives
about science can be considered in seeking solutions to societal problems that affect everyone.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23674.
SLIDE 4 Two Widely Shared (and wrong) Assumptions
- A lack of information or understanding of
science fully explains why more people do not accept scientific claims or engage in behaviors
- r support policies that are consistent with
scientific evidence.
- If only science communication were done
“better,” people would make choices consistent with scientific evidence.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23674.
SLIDE 5 Converging Influences of Science Communication
- The complex nature of scientific information
- Ways in which people process such information
- Social influences, such as social networks, norms,
group memberships, and loyalties.
How is scientific information accessed, encountered, understood, shared, or discussed by policy makers in formal policy processes? How can science communication affect these processes? How are these policy processes affected by science communication when science is involved in public controversy?
SLIDE 6 Better Understanding of the Media Environment
differentiation
concentration
effectiveness
social media
social media effects
SLIDE 7
What is Social About Media?
SLIDE 8 What Does Social Media Do?
- Becomes a collaborative platform
- Harnesses collective intelligence
- Enables everyone to be a content creator
- Provides greater access to knowledge and
information resources
- Encourages media multiplexity
- Expands and manages social networks
SLIDE 9
SLIDE 10 TWO-STEP FLOW MODEL OF INFLUENCE
Source: Watts, DJ, Dodds, PS. (2007). Influentials, networks and public opinion
- formation. Journal of Consumer Research; 34.
SLIDE 11 NETWORK MODEL OF INFLUENCE
Source: Watts, DJ, Dodds, PS. (2007). Influentials, networks and public opinion
- formation. Journal of Consumer Research; 34.
SLIDE 12
What Have We Learned in a Decade?
SLIDE 13 Using New Media
Kaiser Family Foundation. New media and the future of public service advertising. April, 2006.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Federal Voting Assistance Program and Ad Council
Office of National Drug Control Policy, Partnership for A Drug-Free America
- National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Teen People
U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Ad Council
Girl Scouts of USA, Ad Council
SLIDE 14 New Media Cookie Cutter
- Set up a web site with information and/or 'cool stuff' to
interact with or download
- Convert the PSAs and print material into digital formats
- Promote like crazy through traditional media and the web
(blogs, MySpace, viral, WOM) - now it's new!
- Use cell phones and SMS as a response channel
- Push messages and alerts out to participants who opt-in at
the web site or through SMS to receive them
- Measure results by eyeballs and click throughs
Caution: Adherence to these principles will insure that you develop a program that uses new media and does not apply social technologies that fit into people’s lives and practices and help change behaviors in relevant ways.
SLIDE 15
FDA, CDC and HHS – The Peanut Recall 2009
3,800 products recalled as of 3/30/09
SLIDE 16
Product Recall Database
FDA developed a recall database that enabled consumers to search for products by brand name, product description, and more.
SLIDE 17 Blogs
- HHS and CDC blogs provided
information about the product recalls and outbreak investigations and encourage comments and conversations.
- The HHS Peanut Product Recall
blog contained posts from CDC, FDA, and HHS.
- The CDC National Center for
Zoonotic, Vector Borne, and Enteric Diseases (NCZVED) blog contained salmonella-related information and updates (over 3,000 page views between 1/25 – 2/1).
SLIDE 18
Webinar for Bloggers
On February 3rd, 35 blog writers spoke with FDA and CDC subject matter experts about the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak and peanut-containing products recall efforts, including current and future resources for bloggers during food safety incidents. Bloggers were provided with Web graphics to share with their readers.
SLIDE 19 Online Video
FDA’s video on things you should know during the peanut butter and peanut-containing product recalls was available on both the FDA and CDC YouTube channels.
FDA YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/USFoodandDrugAdmin CDC YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/CDCstreaminghealth/
SLIDE 20 Buttons and Badges
- Online graphics allow partner organizations
and citizens to display simple images and messaging related to the recall.
- A series of 3 buttons were shared with
partner federal agencies and organizations.
- Two badges were made available on the
CDC MySpace page for individuals to use.
SLIDE 21
Twitter
FDA Recalls. Created for product recalls, this Twitter feed was a channel for communicating news and alerts during the recall efforts -- 2837 followers
SLIDE 22 The Little Widget That Could
– 15.5 million page views – Placed on 20,450 external websites, blogs and social network pages.
Searchable Products – Over 22 million page views
SLIDE 23 Social Media in the News
“The results were so overwhelmingly favorable that social media will unquestionably remain a central component of CDC’s communication efforts during future national outbreaks.”
2008–2009 Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak Response. CDC After Action Report, May 18, 2009
SLIDE 24 Social Objects
The reason two people are talking to each other, as
to somebody else.
SLIDE 25
A social object is the centerpiece in a dialogue between two or more people.
SLIDE 26
If markets are conversations, then effective science communication is about the things that conversations are about.
SLIDE 27 In: Tchuenche JM & Chiyaka C. (2009). Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress.
SLIDE 28
SLIDE 29
SLIDE 30 What are the Implications for Your Social Media Practice?
- Put social in your social media
- Social media sites, people and
applications have vastly differing capabilities.
- Collaborate and co-create content
- Create or point people to places where they
can share experiences
- Don’t think about big numbers, think
‘community’
- Honor the trust barometer
- Follow professional standards
SLIDE 31 What’s Your Social Object?
- It’s an ‘attract and join’ world, not a ‘reach and
frequency’ one.
- People don’t just connect to each other. They
connect through a shared object.
- Social networks consist of people who are
connected by a shared object.
ways people make objects social is by sharing them.
SLIDE 32 A Language of Consumer Centricity
- Search
- Proximity
- Recommendation
- Links
- Discovery
- Currency of
information
A Moore. The glittering allure of the mobile society. November 2008.
SLIDE 33
What’s Next?
How and where can I facilitate conversations among people about science, rather than aiming messages at them?
SLIDE 34 What’s Missing?
audience, and they will respond as one.
- You’re not in it for only
yourself, relationships are transactional.
create social objects.
messages, help them solve their problems.
SLIDE 35
What’s Next?
How can we place- shift; use co- presence through geo-fencing and augmented reality technologies with GPS to create on time, context- relevant science information?
SLIDE 36
What’s Next?
How can we use voice activated technologies to deliver science communications where and when people want it (or need it)?
SLIDE 37
The most important asset in science communication is “having something worth talking about.”
