Science in the Social Media Age: Profiles of Science Blog Readers

Abstract

Science blogs have become an increasingly important component of the ecosystem of science news on the Internet. Through a survey of 2,955 readers of 40 randomly selected science blogs, we created profiles of science blog users. Super users indicated reading science blogs for a wide range of reasons, including for community-seeking purposes. One-way entertainment users indicated reading blogs more for entertainment and ambiance. Unique information-seeking users indicated reading blogs more for specific information not found elsewhere. But regardless of science blog users’ motivations to read, they are sophisticated consumers of science media possessing high levels of scientific knowledge.

Science Communication Online: Engaging Experts and Publics on the Internet

“…Almost a quarter of AAAS members reported that they have written for a blog (Pew Research Center, 2015). One study found more than half the readers surveyed from a variety of science blogs, including independent and more established network blogs, were over forty years old and one third were over fifty years old, with a 40:60 female-to-male breakdown for those who identified within the categories of female or male (Brown Jarreau, 2016;Jarreau & Porter, 2018). And, although the majority of respondents were educated in the sciences, more than half reported they never blogged about science themselves.…”

Chanting to the choir: the dialogical failure of antithetical climate change blogs

“…It is possible that many of those participating in the blog as commenters are scientists or have a technical background, which may not be surprising given the aim of the blog is to convey the science of climate change. Jarreau and Porter [2018] likewise found in their survey that the vast majority of readers of scientific blogs were either pursuing or engaged in a science-related career.…”

“…SS had more pseudonyms compared to those clearly identified as male and JN had a majority of commenters who had assumed male names. In their survey of science blog readers, Jarreau and Porter [2018] also found that the majority (55%) reported being male, which compared to 37 per cent identifying as female (the rest did not answer or identify as one of these sexes). More of the commenters from SS used formal, technical language compared to JN commenters who were more likely to engage in short quotes using colloquial language.…”

“…Despite the growing body of research into the activities of science bloggers and blogs, there has been remarkably little research looking at how commenters (those who respond to blogposts and those who respond to the comments of others) engage with science-based blogs. Jarreau and Porter [2018] looked at the profiles and motivations of science blog users, but not how they engaged with blogs. Huber, Wetzstein and Aichberger [2019] applied discourse analysis to user comments in two Austrian newspapers to examine discourse about a publicly funded social science study of Islamic kindergartens.…”

“…(4) Offer the opportunity for publics interested in science to explore the complexities of science and to use sources of information and news outside of traditional mass media [Lemonick, 2010;Luzón, 2013;Readfearn, 2010;Schmidt, 2008;Ritson, 2016;Trench, 2012]; and (5) Enable scientists, journalists and science communicators to engage with publics to explain the scientific contexts behind the news [Bell, 2012;Colson, 2011;Jarreau and Porter, 2018;Luzón, 2013;Swain, 2012;Wilkins, 2008].…”