The Science of Science Communication: The Brave New World of Science, New Media and the Public

Dominique Brossard, Professor and Chair

Department of Life Sciences Communication College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

UW-Madison Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies

Center for Global Studies

The Science of Science Communication:

The Brave New World of Science, New Media and the Public

2015 ILSI Annual Meeting, 18-21 January 2015 Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, Phoenix

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION RISK COMMUNICATION PUBLIC OPINION RELATED TO CONTROVERSIAL SCIENCE

The Science of Science Communication

Science, policy and media interface Media representations of science

Science online

Construction of scientific controversies

Global climate change Food safety

Biotechnology Nanotechnology Synthetic Biology Stem cell research Alternative Energy

Land Use Invasive species Media coverage of risk

Public perceptions of risk Values and risks Social amplification

of risk

Behavior and Risk

This Talk: An Overview

•  The need for a (science) informed citizenry

•  An evolving science communication context

•  The science information consumer

•  The specificities of the online context

– Rapid pace and scientific complexity of

Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno (NBIC) revolution

•  Synthetic biology

•  Information technologies, Big Data

•  Nanotechnology

•  etc.

– Scientific issues or social issues?

– Concerns emerging at a rate that often

outpaces society’s capacity to debate appropriate policy options

ChemBot, debeloped by iRobot for DARPA/U.S. Army Research Office

Most Scientific Debates Happen In the Political Rather Than in the Scientific Arena

Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2010). The 95 percent solution: School is not where most Americans learn most of their science.

This Talk: An Overview

•  The need for a (science) informed citizenry

•  An evolving science communication context

•  The science information consumer

•  The specificities of the online context

•  Engaging with science online: To comment or not to

Traditional Views of Science Communication

Are Redefined

…

“It’s not possible to talk about science blogging without talking about scientists blogging, or more

broadly about scientists writing.”

Franci, M. (2011). Nature Chemistry 3, 183-184

…Direct Communication Endorsed Particularly By Younger Scientists

Traditional Media Are Being Replaced By

Online/Social Media As Science News Sources

U.S.’s 10 largest newspapers

Daily Circulation (in thousands)

Wall Street Journal 2,069 USA Today 1,784 New York Times 1,151 New York Daily News 606 Los Angeles Times 573 San Jose Mercury News 528 New York Post 512 Washington Post 507 Chicago Tribune 425 Dallas Morning News 410 Total 8,565

Daily Active Users in the U.S. (in thousands)

Facebook 126,000

… (Science) Information Can Go Viral

THE PROMISE OF THE NEW INATION COMEALTH

It Sounds Great! …

This Talk: An Overview

•  The need for a (science) informed citizenry

•  An evolving science communication context

•  The science information consumer

•  The specificities of the online context

New Active Science Audiences Online

National Science Board 2012

Audiences That Apply Shortcuts When Processing

Science Information.

•  Knowledge can account for only a small amount of

when in attitudes toward different scientific issues

•  Heuristics and mental shortcuts play a more

This Talk: An Overview

•  The need for a (science) informed citizenry

•  An evolving science communication context

•  The science information consumer

•  The specificities of the online context

What Do These New Information Environments

Look Like for the Science Information Consumer?

Ladwig et al. 2010

§  For nanotechnology, discrepancy between

§  Searches:

§  what people look for (tracked by

Nielsen online)

§  Results:

§  what search terms are suggested to

them (Google suggest data)

§  what they find (content analysis of

What This Means for Science-Informed Audiences

§  Are opinions formed based on how Google presents results rather than on what individuals are searching?

Google Suggestions Searches Traffic Page ranks

Online newspaper articles or TV shows not consumed in isolated fashion

•  reader comments and feedback

•  Facebook posts/links with “Like”

buttons and comments from other users

•  Tweets, RT

•  …

How are these formats impacting consumers views?

Uncertainty

Emotions

Disagreement

Name calling

Uncertainty

Disagreement

Emotions

And Online Conversations (Blog Comments)

Are Not Neutral

This Talk: An Overview

•  The need for an informed citizenry

•  An evolving science communication context

•  The science information consumer

•  The specificities of the online context

•  Survey/Experiment hybrid with a representative sample of the U.S.

population (N = 1,183)

•  Subjects randomly assigned to 2 types

of comments following a balanced news story about nanosilver and potential water toxicity

–  rude blog comments

–  civil blog comments

–  Only the tone (not the content) of the

comments differ

People who read uncivil comments (which only differ on the tone) end up walking away from the story with a much more polarized understanding

of the actual risks of the technology

The

“

Nasty Effect:

”

Ironically, Our Study Became a Case In Point. The

First Media Mention in the Sentinel …

JUST A FEW OF THE COMMENTS THAT FOLLOWED THE SENTINEL STORY …

THE POSTMODERN NATURE OF ALL OF THIS

Broader Impacts: Informing the Debate on Online

Science Communication

etc.

Broader Impacts: Informing the Debate on

Online Science Communication

In Sum …

§  Audiences constantly encounter contextualized

information in an online world

§  Research in science communication needs to

inform online science communication practice

§  New generation of scientists has to understand this

brave new world of science communication

Thank you!

<dbrossard@wisc.edu>

Twitter: @brossardd

lsc.wisc.edu

scimep.wisc.edu