The impact of science communication on Twitter: The case of Neil deGrasse Tyson

Denia, Elena The impact of science communication on Twitter: The case of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Comunicar, 2020, vol. 28, n. 65, pp. 21-30. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

Public perceptions of science have been studied extensively since the mid-twentieth century. The aim of this project is to explore the interaction between science and the public in the digital world as a complement to traditional studies on the societal impact of science, particularly on the social network Twitter. It thus proposes a low-cost, easily reproducible methodology involving the design of an algorithm operating on representative sets of tweets to analyse their content by using computational techniques of data mining and natural language processing. To test this methodology, I analyse the communications of the popular science communicator Neil DeGrasse Tyson. The impact of the information is calculated in terms of 1) likes and retweets; 2) suggested formulas for measuring the popularity and controversial nature of the content; and 3) the semantic network. Relevant elements of the communications are then identified and classified according to the categories of “science”, “culture”, “political-social”, “beliefs”, “media” and “emotional”. The results reveal that content with an emotional charge in the communicator’s message triggers a substantially more profound response from the public, as do references to socio-political issues. Moreover, numerous concepts peripheral to the scientific discussion arouse more interest than the concepts central to the communication. Both these results suggest that science is more interesting when it is linked to other issues.

Spanish abstract

La percepción social de la ciencia se ha estudiado ampliamente desde mediados del siglo XX. El presente proyecto pretende abordar la interacción ciencia-público en el marco de la vida digital para complementar los estudios clásicos sobre impacto social de la ciencia, en particular en la red social Twitter. Se presenta así una propuesta metodológica con el diseño de un algoritmo que opera sobre conjuntos representativos de tweets para analizar su contenido utilizando técnicas computacionales de minería de datos y procesamiento del lenguaje natural, fácilmente reproducible por otros investigadores y de bajo coste. Para probar la herramienta, se analiza el discurso del popular divulgador Neil DeGrasse Tyson. El impacto de la información se calcula en términos de: 1) likes y retuit; 2) medidas sugeridas para la popularidad y el grado de contenido polémico; y 3) la red semántica. Tras identificar y clasificar los elementos relevantes del discurso por las categorías «ciencia», «cultura», «político-social», «creencias», «medios» y «emocional», los resultados revelan que una transmisión con carga emocional en el mensaje del divulgador despierta una respuesta sustancialmente más profunda en el público, así como la alusión a cuestiones socio-políticas. Además, numerosos conceptos periféricos a la discusión científica suscitan mayor interés que los propios centrales en el discurso. Ambos resultados sugieren que la ciencia interesa en mayor medida cuando va ligada a otros aspectos.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Twitter; communication; science; dissemination; impact; public; participation; computational analysis; Twitter; comunicación; ciencia; divulgación; impacto; público; participación; análisis computacional
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 09 Jan 2021 06:42
Last modified: 09 Jan 2021 06:42
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/40890

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