Science and the Social Media Revolution

Whether we like it or not, humans born from around 1982 to the year 2000 will forever be labeled as millennials, myself included. When you think of a millennial, I'm sure there are a myriad of different stereotypes that pop into your head! For example, author David Burstein notes that we carry our own brand of unique idealism and are very conscious of causes for social justice. Others say we are a pretty optimistic bunch of folks compared to our parents. But the most pervasive commentary on my generation is that we are population of narcissistic individuals, driven largely in part by what has been known as the social media revolution.

Figure 1. Social media and science are a match made in heaven!

I'll freely admit that I fall under the category of "social media obsessed twenty something". I've got it all: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google +, Ello, WordPress, and so on and so forth. To those who choose not to plug in to social networks, spending time looking at your friend's vacation photos or pinning cool ways to reuse old shoes on Pintrest may seem like a total waste of time, and it indeed does seem to really put a damper on our work productivity. Just think about it: for every minute that goes by, over a hundred hours of content has been uploaded on YouTube. Over 350 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day, and Twitter users worldwide send half a billion tweets per day. Who has time for all of that content?

While this may seem like an energy sink, you've got to admit that there is significant power in the social network. It has heavily influenced everything from political elections to armed uprisings around the globe, and it seems like it has reached its tendrils into every facet of human existence. This is no different for science, and I think that we are witnessing a beautiful collision between the two seemingly different worlds.

I've spoken before about how important it is that science communication be a part of our everyday lives. Scientists will never bring down the ivory towers surrounding their fields until the flow of information from academic to laymen is so fluid that the line between them ceases to exist. With the advent of social media, we possess the immense ability to easily reach out to huge groups of people (such as you, dear reader!) simultaneously. We can share our ideas, explain our research, and show the whole world what we are doing to make it better.

Most importantly, we have the ability to start conversations. I don't think science should ever possess a "I say, you listen" mentality. The greatest exchanges of understanding and of knowledge often come moments of disagreement, and while these disagreements can often come in the form of distasteful comments on YouTube videos, I do think that we would be doing the right thing if we embraced social media with open arms. This is certainly easier said than done - the majority of scientists don't use common social networks to promote a great understanding of their science. With new kids on the block such as yours truly coming onto the scene, we will hopefully see that shift significantly in the coming decade.

If you have a science background, I challenge you to explore the different ways that you can use social media to talk about your research with the world. Engagewith others and facilitate discussions. Most importantly, remember that science is easily distilled but should never be diluted. Practice communicating your message in a clear, concise way without losing the core ideas that you're trying to convey. It's not easy, but practice definitely makes perfect! If you don't have a science background, I challenge you to go follow a few science oriented accounts on Twitter (I hear @ATPandMe is a great one), like some pages on Facebook, and make an honest effort to learn something new and have a little fun. The more you integrate the sciences into your personal social media machine, the more routine our conversations about the world around us will be.

Consider this blog my attempt at using these incredible technologies to further those conversations, #NoFilter needed!