AAAS Force For Science Toolkit: Engage the Public with Social Media

Social Media Public Engagement Framework
📌 Public engagement on social media is defined as intentional, meaningful interactions leading to mutual learning between scientists and the public, emphasizing two-way communication.
🔄 The engagement framework follows a circular process: planning, implementation, evaluation, and re-planning based on learned insights.
🌐 Social media platforms are spaces where content is co-created by users, making individual scientist content more likely to be seen than institutional content due to algorithms.

Planning and Goal Setting
🎯 Goals (e.g., starting a lab Twitter, recruiting project participants) must be set upfront to orient engagement and define evaluation metrics for success.
🐢 Be realistic about platform presence; one cannot consistently post on every platform (Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) while maintaining a full-time job.
🌟 Audience engagement is greater than raw numbers; a small, highly engaged group is more valuable than a large, disengaged one.

Audience Identification and Platform Selection
👥 Two out of three Americans use some form of social media, and six out of ten get their news from these platforms.
🔍 Twitter users are often actively seeking news (67% of US adults on Twitter look for news), making it effective for sharing latest scientific work.
🖼️ Select platforms based on content type: Reddit/LinkedIn for text-heavy content, Flickr/Pinterest for images, and YouTube/Vimeo for video, though super-platforms like Facebook/Twitter support all three.

Establishing Online Identity and Messaging
👤 Your online identity determines how you are received; consider merging personal and professional elements into a "professional" account unless platform norms dictate separation.
🔗 Establish credibility through profile details, mentioning roles (e.g., Professor at UC Davis) and relevant affiliations (e.g., #PCASE employee).
📝 Messaging should be Miniature, Meaningful, and Memorable (3Ms); avoid jargon, use images to consolidate information, and make complex topics relatable.

Conversation and Relationship Building
🗣️ Do not be the friend who only posts information; be present, engaged, and consistent, checking in with followers.
🤝 Build relationships with influencers whose shares (retweets/quote tweets) can exponentially increase message reach to wider audiences.
❓ Have meaningful conversations; replying to questions (like Mike Brown answering inquiries about Pluto) helps many followers, but ignore trolls.

Evaluation and Best Practices
📊 Measure effectiveness using metrics like replies (direct conversation), retweets (sharing interest), and likes (enjoyment/appreciation of content).
🛠️ Tools like TweetDeck (Twitter only) and Hootsuite (multi-platform) help manage multiple accounts and gauge audience interaction (replies, retweets).
✅ For government or institutionally restricted individuals, use clear disclaimers like "tweets are my own" to separate personal commentary from official organizational stance, provided institutional rules permit personal accounts.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Engage in two-way communication; social media is not just for broadcasting findings but for mutual learning.
➡️ Consistency and responsiveness are crucial; don't only post when you need something or only push out content without interacting back.
➡️ When drafting content, account for the 280-character limit, reserving about 23 characters if including a link in the tweet.
➡️ Consider Twitter takeovers/curated accounts (e.g., #RealScientists) as an advanced strategy to engage new audiences and refresh content flow.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Oct 23, 2025, 13:34 UTC