1. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
Climbing the Mountain and Seeing the Light
Naomi Hirsch
@naomiadventure
ehsc.oregonstate.edu
oregonstate.edu/superfund
2. Topics
Role of Research Communication
Communicating Science
Social Media Strategies
Needs and Future Directions
3. Research
Translation
Community
Outreach &
Engagement
NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
Since 1969
Reducing Susceptibility to
Environmental Stress
Throughout the Life Span.
K-12, Teacher Training, Community
Workshops/Education, Professional
Development/Training
Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbon Mixtures: New
Technologies and Emerging
Health Risks
Since 2009
Communication and technologies
supporting stakeholders, high-risk
populations, and the general public.
Columbia
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
MIT
NYU School of Medicine
Oregon State University
University of Arizona
University of Cincinnati
University of Iowa
Univ of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey
University of Michigan
UNC Chapel Hill
Penn
University of Rochester
USC
UT MD Anderson Cancer
Center
UT Medical
Branch, Galveston
UW
UW Milwaukee
Vanderbilt
6. 2001
2003
2008
Started at
OSU
Started
with
EHSC/M
FBSC
2013
• ScienceOnline
Watch Party
• NIEHS
Presentation:
Using Social
Media Tools to
Enhance
Communication
• Launched
Facebook and
Twitter for EHSC
• “OSU Science
2012
• SRP Twitter, YouTube,
and Pinterest (EHSC
Flickr)
• Gulf oil spill videos for
communities (Spanish
and Vietnamese)
• 2-minute elevator
speech videos for grad
students
• MPH Students: Web and Emerging
Technologies in Health Promotion
• NIEHS SRP colleagues: Utilizing
Social Media in SRP (webinar)
• Public Health Grad Students:
Opportunities to Communicate and
Educate via the Web
• NIEHS PEPH Meeting: Sessions on
web and social media
• SRP Annual Meeting to
Administrators: Web
Communications and Utilizing
Social Media
2011
• Produced Training videos
and Gulf oil spill research
video
• Launched SRP Facebook
• Facilitated Roundtable
session on Web
Technologies at APHA in
D.C. (started the resource
page: Web and Emerging
Technology Resources
for Scientists)
• EHSC
Channels on
iTunesOSU
• New position
with SRP
Research
Translation
Core (RTC)
• Partnered with NPIC - Pestibytes
podcast developed
• EH@Home Podcast – EHSC
Investigator Interviews
• Presentation at NIEHS Annual
Meeting: Web Technology Tools for
Your Outreach Program - An
Introduction to New Possibilities.
• Started blogging: PODELATION:
Harnessing Technology for
Environmental Health
Outreach/engagement.
20092006
Started
podcastin
g: The
Hydrovill
e Café
2007
• Produced LPI on
Health podcast for
the Linus Pauling
Institute
• Attended the
Podcast and New
Media Expo
• Presentation at
NIEHS Annual
Meeting: Social
Networking,
Podcasting, and
New Partnerships
2012 Presentations
7. Graphic Credit:
Communicating the science of climate change
Richard C. J. Somerville and Susan Joy Hassol
Physics Today, October 2011, page 48 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1296
Communicating Our Science
8.
9. “If you wanted to learn about scientific issues such as global
warming or biotechnology, where would you get information?”
University of Chicago, National Opinion Research
Center, General Social Survey (2008)
Source: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind10/c7/c7s1.htm
Most scientists are not
on-line educating and
informing the public
and policy-makers
10. How Much Do People Trust What Scientists Say?
In Science We Trust: Poll Results on How You
Feel about Science (Scientific American
9/22/10)
“Trust is not about
information; it’s about
dialogue and transparency”
Borchelt, Friedmann, & Holland
Managing the Trust Portfolio: Science Public
Relations and Social Responsibility
11. Only 28% percent of
Americans can pass a
basic science literacy
test
Science literacy is
only a small factor in
how people form their
opinions.
The interplay between
values, religious
affiliation, and the
opinions of others
whom they trust is
much more influential.
12. "Every scientist reading this has a deep passion for science.
I implore you:
let your passion out. Share it with us.
Warmly, with stories, imagination, even with humor.
But most of all, in your own voice.”
- Alan Alda
Communication is not
something extra you add
on to science; it is the
essence of science
13. Social Media
engagement
Effective social media
use requires
engagement with the
audience.
Social media includes
web-based and mobile
technologies used to turn
communication into
interactive dialogue.
(Wikipedia)
17. Table 1. Comparison of Online Tools.
Bik HM, Goldstein MC (2013) An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists. PLoS Biol 11(4): e1001535.
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
18.
19. Pinterest has grown from roughly 1 million users in
July 2011 to more than 20 million today.
Graphic source:
http://blog.evidon.c
om/2012/09/07/evi
don-gtr-pinterest/
21. Our Center’s Social Network: The Core
EHSC
NIH/NIEHS
Other
NIEHS
Centers
Educators
and Health
Professionals
Students
and
Scientists
Community
Groups, Govt
agencies, and
Industry
Stakeholder
Advisory
Board
22. Our Center’s Social Network Utilizing Social Media
People talking
about our
research and
related research
Potential
students and
faculty
People who need
to know about
our research
Peer-reviewed
and open source
journals
Journalists and
science writers
who want to write
and share about
our research
Potential
partners for
research and
projects
Being
accessible,
fostering trust,
and
having platforms
for engagement,
dialogue and
sharingEHSC
25. Why Twitter Works
What people share
140 character limit
Efficiency of posting, replying,
re-tweeting, supporting, dialogue
#Hashtags
Analytics
@CDC_DrCPortier
@lisapjackson
The People:
Journalists, scientists, bloggers, students, educ
ators, industry, nonprofits, national, state and
local govt, community
leaders, mothers, doctors, nurses,…
Being
accessible, foste
ring trust, and
having platforms
for
engagement, di
alogue and
sharing
26. What to Tweet?
Relevant news
Info (links)
Research and the caveats
Opinions (seriously)
Culture
Anything you typically
discuss in conversation
Slide from “For Scientists: The Changing Face of Science Communication” http://t.co/qyWrKxohWR
27. A decision tree for
scientists who are
interested in
communicating online.
Bik HM, Goldstein MC (2013) An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists. PLoS Biol 11(4): e1001535.
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
28. Twitter
Connect w/
stakeholders,
create new
partnerships,
promote center
and research
Stakeholders,
Scientists, Science
writers, community
organizations,
general public
- Referral Traffic
# of Followers
# of Tweets
# of Retweet by others
# of
Exposure/impressions
- New partnerships
- Outcomes of new
partnerships and
exposure
Google Analytics
Analyze:
TweetCharts, Twitaly
zer, TweetReach, Tw
eetArchivist, TweetSt
ats
Influence:
Klout, PeerIndex
Facebook
Share about
awards, stories,
and
accomplishments
with pictures
Students
Stakeholders
General Public
- Referral traffic
- Total Likes
- Engaged Users
- “People talking
about this” –
Reach
Google
Analytics,
Facebook
Insights
Measuring Evaluation and Impact - Example
Metrics
Audiences
Goals
Tools to Measure
Data Tells a Story
Focus on
connections,
relationships,
community impacts,
share case studies
32. 1. Build up content that is sharable/desirable.
• Include share buttons on web pages
• Include images, visuals, multimedia, interactive maps
2. Train grad students/interns on communicating science to the public.
3. Think Big. Contribute to sites with large audiences.
Wikipedia, Guest blogging, Guest interview
4. Lurk and Engage for professional development.
• ScienceOnline community
• Find/create a list of hashtags, such as #reachingoutsci, #scicomm
#sciox #scioscicomm (new hashtag for this group: “OSUSciComm”?)
5. Share. Share. Share.
• Write about your research stories and communication strategies
• Create a collaborative blog with community partners and stakeholders on
specific topic.
• Contribute to research, new practices, utilize open-access journals
Make a Difference
33. Future Needs
Social Media & Research
Crowdsourcing
Citizen Science
Community Needs /
Communication Strategies
Building Capacity
Organized professional development/Training
Narrated slides and archived webinars
Opportunities for dialogue
Curation, Community, and Creation
Research
PlanEngage
Measure
34. OSU Science Communicators
A Collaborative of Scientists, Writers and Outreach Specialists
Draft Goals
• To connect with peers within OSU, and be aware of the skills,
knowledge, and resources available through cooperation
• To generate and share story ideas
• To navigate and build connections between the various “silos” at
the University
• To help one another be strong, productive, and driven to find
solutions
• To increase awareness of professional training opportunities in
science communication, and to build opportunities where gaps
exist
• To provide one another with feedback on campus-wide
resources in science communication, and develop ideas to fill
training gaps
Who’s in the audience?How many are scientists? Science writers? PIO? Communications/outreach specialists? Students?Rate yourself 1-5 fingers on your level of social media knowledge? Rate interest? Did anyone come with clear questions that they wanted answered?
What makes us unique? Importance and obstacles of communicating science onlineThe culture of social mediaChallenges is showing impact. I think strategically, but I also take risk. What we need to be doing more of in the future?OSU Science Communicators – How it came about? Why it’s important to OSU
Quick bio of both Centers here, structure that includes community engagement and research translation. Helps lay the foundation to the importance and challenges of social media to build and strengthen relationshipsTwo OSU Centers funded by NIEHS. Interdisciplinary Centers that cross over into 5-6 Colleges, Linus Pauling Institute, PNNL, etc. Naomi’s role is spread out into research translation and community engagement, with some overlap.Thejob is about Multi-directional communication, interdisciplinary research, complex science, EPA, CDC/ASTDR, Training Students, Risk Communication/communicating uncertainty, Taking information and communicating research in a way that is valuable to those living near Superfund sitesMany networks, connected to universities nationwide
All cores and projects are scored equally. The research has equal importance to the research and community engagement work. Focused and exceptional research make the outreach component much easier to do. The Science of Science Communication is really important. Scientists focus on peer review journals and funding. Risk Communication/communicating uncertainty. We want to communicate what we know…. It’s complex… Science of Environmental health is always changing as we are learning more about environmental chemicals and human heath. Our budget is minimal.
Funders want Grantees to engage large audiences and amplify and promote their research. Most grantees in the academic culture do not harness social media. What other Centers/grantees have shared as needs, could be accomplished using social media. Building relationships, leveraging resources (communities, state and local, with other COECs)New ways to reach out to the communityFurther collaborating with stakeholders• bi-directional conferences with various stakeholdersResources on community mapping projectsTwitter analytics shows scope and reachDialogue and resources on emerging issuesScience communication resourcesEvaluation ideas
My Career1996 Started in Web Communications at UC Davis. From Webmaster to “Managing web communication with an engaging online presence via multiple channels”.2001 Started at OSU2003 Started with EHSC/MFBSC2006 – 2009 Podcasting.From Dabbling to building capacity building2011 Video and Social Media, Training Grad Students
We want to support scientists in communicating their science to the public via social media, so they have the ability to connect, relate, have dialogue, build trust.Social media is a tool to communicate science to the public. The tools help us with sharing the “The Bottom Line” and thinking of “Why” and leads back to supporting details on your web site.
Think strategically -- On paper is easy… Actually doing it is something else. We need to show impact (5-year grant cycles) (persevere dry years)
Another aspect of Social Media that is important for us to remember is that……….Responses to “If you wanted to learn about scientific issues such as global warming or biotechnology, where would you get information?” Now we are talking about Climate change, fracking, nanotechnology…Govt. Sources are included in the Other categoryWe know when it comes to social adaptation and technology, scientists are behind the curve. Although 72% of internet-using Americans are on Facebook, less than 2/3 of college faculty are. Similarly, in one survey, more than half of lab managers said they have never used Facebook.We want to support the scientific community to be more engaged. Challenge of communicating uncertaintly.. Using visuals, having dialog. In 2009, Research!America polled the average American and asked them a very simple question: name a living scientist. A sobering 65%didn’t even try, and another 18% got it wrong. The challenge is that…. poll in 2007 shared that only 28% percent of Americans can pass a basic science literacy test. *Note: Science literacy is only a small factor in how people form their opinions, while the interplay between values, religious affiliation, and the opinions of others whom they trust is much more influential.Internet is where people get their information about science, generally what’s relevant to them..(in the news, tied to political issues, things that impact their health). We focus on complex science/risk communication issues: low dose, mixtures, windows of exposure, biomedical research ethics, routes of exposure, toxicity screening, etc.The Internet is the main source of information for learning about specific scientific and emerging hazards and issues.2013 Pew Internet Survey: 59% of U.S. adults say they looked online for health information within the past year. (Pew’s last study was in 2006 for science use)
It’s great that the public does trust the information coming from scientists.2009 Poll, Your Congress, Your Health.http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=in-science-we-trust-pollOf course, the public is suspicious if scientists are funded by industry in specific areas like GM foods, etc.
Perception of risk and values are hand in hand. Wewant people to make responsible decisions on complex scientific issues when only a small percentage of our population—including our policy-makers—has even a basic grasp on the science behind the debates?The public trusts scientists in general, but part on specific issues…..It is especially important that we engage in social networking because studies have shown science literacy is only a small factor in how people form their opinions, while the interplay between values, religious affiliation, and the opinions of others whom they trust is much more influential.While political parties and religious organizations jump head first into discussions of their beliefs with anyone who will listen, thus playing an active role in the decision-making process, scientists stand back, hand out facts, and expect that information alone is enough to sway attitudes. Instead of appearing as beacons of knowledge, our actions make us appear stuffy, elitist, and disengaged. By connecting scientists with the rest of the world, social media is the most powerful tool available for us to shift this paradigm.
The best scenario is that the Scientist are where the people are and explain science, which is their passion in their own words. Not just put out information.TedTalks are great examples! Work internally to help and guide scientists to think differently about how they share their research via the web.As scientists, we pride ourselves on doing meaningful, cutting-edge research and publishing it in the top-tier journals of our field. The problem is, these publications only communicate science to other scientists.Wise words of Alan Alda. In an essay for AAAS, he said "Every scientist reading this has a deep passion for science. I implore you: let your passion out. Share it with us. Warmly, with stories, imagination, even with humor . But most of all, in your own voice.”Think about branding yourself as a scientistAlan Alda currently at Stony Brook University School of Journalism, Center for Communicating Science, founding member, PBS show Scientific American Frontiers,
Engagement is not just about volume.. Effective social media use requires engagement with the audience.Replying. Asking questions. Public ally supporting the work and activities of others doing eh work.
AMPLIFICATIONScience communication is as important as ever for Scientists. Large scientific community on Twitter…Peer-reviewed journals are informing scientists. Does Media Coverage Increase Citations?most of the non-content factors influencing citation rate relate to article discoverability. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1891034 -New England Journal of Medicine 1991-In the first year after publication, publicized articles received 72.8% more citations. Can Tweets Predict Citations? Metrics of Social Impact Based on Twitter and Correlation with Traditional Metrics of Scientific Impacthttp://www.jmir.org/2011/4/e123/Conclusions: Tweets can predict highly cited articles within the first 3 days of article publication. Social media activity either increases citations or reflects the underlying qualities of the article that also predict citations, but the true use of these metrics is to measure the distinct concept of social impact. Social impact measures based on tweets are proposed to complement traditional citation metrics. The proposed twimpact factor may be a useful and timely metric to measure uptake of research findings and to filter research findings resonating with the public in real time..Matt Shipman wrote about it in SciLongs, blog with Nature.com: http://www.scilogs.com/communication_breakdown/does-media-boost-citations/What all of this tells us is that science communication is more important than ever for researchers: because anything researchers can do to raise the profile of their articles will improve their citation rates, for the simple reason that more people in the research community will be aware of them. The well-known Kiernan study (2003) showed this to a certain extent, highlighting a correlation between newspaper coverage of a journal article and the number of citations it received. 10 Ways to Increase Usage and Citation of your Article Using Social Media: http://www.sagepub.com/journalgateway/usage.htmaltmetrics is the creation and study of new metrics based on the Social Web for analyzing, and informing scholarship.
“Don't do social media. Do big things using social media as the tools”.Chris Brogan @chrisbroganThink strategically!! One at a time.. Juggle. And this doesn’t include analytical tools….It’s ok to drop the ball and take a break, especially with Twitter. Soon you have a social media package
http://bryandulaney.com/worldwide-social-media-usage-trends-in-2012Twitter’s U.S. growth is predicted to be four times greater than Facebook’s over the next couple of years. 93% of US adult Internet users are on FacebookGo to Pinterest and search “Facebook 2012” or “Social Media 2012” to see infographicsTools on measuring the impact on social media will be growing.
Pros and Cons of everything. Making strategic decisions is challenging.. Get various perspectives. Group think tank.
Educators are a huge audience. People appreciate visuals.Pinterest is an online pinboard that lets you put your favorite images on a single Web page. You can share your “pins” with others or browse pinboards created by others.Minimum will organize your information into categories using pictures…. I get people who regularly repin.Provides exposure, place to comment
Social Network the act of engaging with one another…Expanding contacts by making connections through individuals.
Social Media is important because… multiple sources from multiple perspectives, gives you a larger scope of eh issues and those working in the field. It takes us to people who talk about our research, have interest in our research, need our research, that we don’t know about…We have the ability to learn about related research, other people’s interests and needs, and all of the things we don’t know that we don’t know.World of possibilities – potential partners, listening the needs of various groups, being visible and easy to followFostering a culture of trust, because you care about being transparent and available to everyone.Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue – Tools for community building – bi-directional communication
Academic need basic information. Good workshops, videos and support at the campus level.
Example of a talk available on Slide share: http://t.co/qyWrKxohWRI’ve tailored this talk for those new to Twitter so for those already entrenched in social media, it may be a little elementary. But I’ve also included a number of nuggets I think you’ll find interesting. This morning I’ll basically take you through the what, the why and the how with links to additional resources that will help you along your Twitter journey.But first, the what…
The People: Integral part of the news system in the futureCDC's Chris Portier and EPA's Lisa P. Jackson both connect with the public via Twitter. 140 characters on Twitter: “Hook” title, phrase or quoteLink to visual, photo, and more information Reply to and support others by retweetingIt’s not just about your center or research – support and share about others search and promote key works and topics via #hashtags Twitter Events: Building community – leveraging.Lisa P. Jackson and Mom’s Clean Air Force. – Twitter event on air pollution and mercury. #momscafArchive #hashtag events, good notes of conversations and meetings to share or return to later. When time is limited, hashtags allow you to find information (I search #superfund, #NIEHS, etc.)
It can be news you find interesting, perhaps information about a project you’re working on, information you found particularly useful (and why), reports, publications, articles, blog posts or about your research or the research of others, and – here’s an interesting oneYour opinions on things (exercise restraint and judiciousness). Seriously. People want to hear your opinions on science-related matters. And you are an expert in your field.There are a myriad of other topics that are well-suited for science tweeting but what it basically comes down to is if it is something you’d typically discuss in conversations with others, it’s probably well-suited for a tweet.
Effective social media use requires engagement with the audience.Like the defined roles: Curation, Community, and Creation
For most Facebook and Twitter serve different audiences and may serve different goals. Analyzed differently. Each social media tool is unique.Evaluation for Social Media (Choose desired outcomes or goalsfor each platform/tool) , Choose specific metric to measure each desired outcome )What results do you want?Who are the people you want to connect with?How will those people find you?What measurements matter the most to you?
Social media firm 5Loom, which is owned by Council member IMRE, created a new concept to turn a pile of analytics into contextual opportunities for brands.Which pieces of social media data are most relevant?CS: There are infinite social media data inputs, some are half-baked (in channels such as Pinterest), and some are over-baked (in listening/monitoring tools). Either way, which data matters? Our motto: All data matters, capture all, analyze less.To be more specific, every program should map to two key reporting elements:Program success: Measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that map to unique goals.Program adjustments: A changing set of metrics that let us evaluate all aspects of a program and steer the ongoing strategy. We modify these in real-time and monthly.
Data via Google Analytics shows when my pages have “gone viral”.. Been cited. Bottom shows the impact of hosting an event and sharing on Twitter. Great exposure!
Image shows the variety and number of people (stakeholders) tweeting with very limited promotional effort. Besides NIEHS and NIEHS-centers from OSU, UCincinnati, and UW, tweeters included non-profits, individuals, industry and related govt and universities such as NLM, NIH, EHP, and CROET at OHSU, and NPIC and CPPHS at OSU. Leveraged larger networks like NIEHS and EPA Summary1. This week brought together a community on air quality and human health. 2. The hashtag #healthyair now can be searched with worthwhile information and resources. However, EPA and others may have used other hashtags, such as #airquality, and we may have missed the opportunity to be in a larger network.3. My number of followers increased, and having a focused week of tweeting helped me gain some skills and practice. (Others may have more to share here)4. I feel it’s worthwhile to have Tweetfests 3-4 times per year. It will build as other Centers begin to recognize the value. Possible Future TweetfestsOctober - Healthy Literacy MonthMarch - World Water Day. Groundwater Awareness WeekApril - National Public Health Week, World Health Day, Earth Day, Cancer Control MonthMay - Asthma and Air, May 6–12, 2012 isDrinking Water Week. Days to focus on SRP projects and have conversations via TwitterEncourage hashtag tweeting and sharing at conferences of interest to others in the network
Forces you to take a close look at your web site and make improvements. Is your web site prepared to get more attention.They can also help with your social media effort.3. Be where the people are. Build up stakeholders…. How do you keep track of stakeholders?4. Really just be on Twitter and practice engaging on Twitter. Great way to collaborateCommunication Research – Strategies and Evaluation (Community Needs and Ways to Engage effectively using social media
Topic for instance that people can share on….How do I use Twitter effectively at a conference?We need strong networks to share these kinds of good news and examples, in both the professional and the personal realms. Sharing our experiences – exuberant successes and the bitter disappointments alike – challenges us with what is currently possible and motivates us to do more. This was the impetus for the blog carnival in conjunction with our PLOS paper, and a core motivation for current and upcoming COMPASS projects. It’s also why the #reachingoutsci conversation is so successful. As long as we lack official recognition and rewards for science engagement, we must support each other.To be clear, I am not arguing for unconditional cheerleading. Part of truly supporting each other is pushing each other, as Simon Donner does when he argues that we may be dismissing valid criticism and forgetting that excellent outreach requires excellent science first. In that spirit, here are three additional problems I challenge us to address:1) Thinking of celebrity as a solution. Of course charisma and visibility are valuable, but they are not a substitute for collective action. Let’s celebrate our Neil de Grasse Tysons, but stop dreaming that somehow a new era will dawn with the coming of the next Carl Sagan;2) Conflating science communication (explaining results) with science advocacy (championing our values). Science cannot tell a society what it ‘must’ do. As a community we need to understand what is problematic with normative science, and get comfortable calling ourselves advocates when we are acting as such; and3) Failing to make use of the best available science! The misguided ‘deficit model’ approach to science communication is unfortunately resilient. Many involved in outreach are unaware that providing more data can polarize audiences or how debunking can inadvertently reinforce myths. A large body of knowledge is languishing in disciplinary journals that practitioners simply aren’t seeing.My point here is that from conceptualization to execution, we must aspire to the same level of clarity and rigor in our outreach as in our science. In other words,we need to mature from a community of interest into a community of practice.
Building community… infrastructure at OSU to build relationship, understanding, professional developmentOSU Science CommunicatorsScienceOnline communityan example of how twitter can be used to bring together a community of similar interests and experience to share expertise and raise the bar for research and capacity building andPassion, expertise, drive to further the science and level of science communication and help others. Starting following nerdychristie and her series of blog articles at Scientific American on social media and scientists. Then in 2012 reading about the conference I was determined to go the next year. Waiting list and watch party. Plan to attend next year. Feel isolated working with scientists when my interest and the way I think is communication and learning strategies
Hang out community is an interesting way to share and engage for professional development on Science Communication