Instagram and the science museum: a missed opportunity for public engagement

Abstract

Science museums are missing an opportunity to promote informal education, scientific literacy, public engagement and public visibility of scientists outside of museum walls via Instagram. With an analysis of 1,073 Instagram posts, we show that museums are using Instagram as a promotional broadcasting tool, with a focus on end results of collections and curation work over communication of museum-led discovery and science as a process. We suggest that science museums create more Instagram posts that offer educational information and visibility of exhibit creation and museum researchers' work behind the scenes.

Exploring the digital media ecology: insights from a study of healthy diets and climate change communication on digital and social media

“…However, this had yet to translate to extensive organisational use (range 13-36%, highest in Serbia) or professional use (10-28%, lowest in the Netherlands). Our scoping study findings suggest that science communicators may not yet be particularly visible on this platform, complementing the findings of Jarreau, Dahmen and Jones [2019] who argue that science museums fail to make effective use of Instagram.…”

Science Communication Meets Consumer Relations: An Analysis of Twitter Use by 23andMe

“…In the world of science, this especially has been a concern. Extant research has explored how science organizations communicate to their main constituents (e.g., Jarreau et al, 2019; Lee & VanDyke, 2015), but we have seen less focus on the science communication practices of for-profit companies, especially beyond communicating specifics of a product. Companies communicate about various topics related to health and the environment that can have substantial implications at the individual and society levels.…”

“…Recently, there have been calls to examine science public relations more (e.g., Borchelt & Nielsen, 2014). Such studies have looked at different types of organizations such as government agencies (Lee & VanDyke, 2015) and museums (Jarreau et al, 2019). However, less attention has been given to how for-profit organizations, especially large corporations, communicate science and their role in influencing scientific knowledge and attitudes.…”

Comunicação pública e divulgação científica em tempos de Covid-19: ações desenvolvidas na Universidade Federal de Uberlândia - Brasil

“…Salienta-se que todas essas reportagens, incluindo as da seção "Leia Cientistas", foram compartilhadas nos perfis oficiais da UFU nas redes sociais Facebook, Instagram e Twitter, que, por suas característicashipertextualidade, interatividade, multimidialidade e compartilhabilidade -oferecem potencialidades, como, por exemplo, distribuir e valorizar os conteúdos, bem como amplificar o alcance, captar, fidelizar e engajar o público com divulgação científica (Jarreau, Dahmen, & Jones, 2019;Sandrini, 2014).…”

“…Considerando-se os critérios de popularidade pela análise de imagens apresentada por Jarreau et al (2019), destas publicações no story, com 9.888 visualizações, 366 cliques no link, 29 compartilhamentos e 35 visitas ao perfil, e no feed, com 2.766 curtidas, 76 comentários, 1.270 compartilhamento e 53 arquivamentos, fica evidente o envolvimento do público captado no contexto do coronavírus.…”