Information-Sharing and Community-Building: Exploring the Use of Twitter in Science Public Relations

TLDR

Social media have created new opportunities for science organizations to communicate with the public. The study aimed to investigate how scientific institutions use Twitter for one‑way and two‑way communication during science festivals. The authors examined Twitter use by scientific institutions during science festivals from 2012 to 2015, using NanoDays as a case study and grounding their analysis in theories of science communication and public relations. They found that tweets primarily served informational purposes with hyperlinks, but over time increasingly incorporated community‑building practices such as hashtags, illustrating how social media shape science communication paradigms.

Abstract

Social media have given rise to new opportunities for science organizations to communicate with the public. Building on theories of science communication and public relations, this study examined scientific institutions’ use of Twitter for one-way and two-way communication in connection with science festivals over the period 2012 to 2015, using NanoDays as a case study. It identified three communicative functions of tweets by organizations—information, participation, and community—with most tweets being informational and containing hyperlinks. Nevertheless, longitudinal analyses indicated that organizations have increasingly incorporated community-building practices such as hashtags. Findings help clarify how social media engender science communication paradigms.