SY043-11
Identifying Best Practices for an Impactful Twitter Platform: Examples from the International Ocean Discovery Program
Friday, 11 December 2020: 16:31
Virtual
Adriane Renee Lam, Binghamton University, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton, NY, United States, Kira Homola, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI, United States, Rebecca Fowler, U.S. Science Support Office, IODP, Palisades, NY, United States, Sarah Kachovich, JOIDES Resolution Science Operator, IODP, College Station, TX, United States, Carl Brenner, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, Randi Wold-Brennon, Hawaii Academy of Arts & Sciences PCS, Pahoa, HI, United States, Sharon K Cooper, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, Don Haas, Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, United States, Jonathan C Lewis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Main Campus, Geoscience, Indiana, PA, United States, Richard D Norris, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, Suzanne OConnell, Wesleyan Univ, Middletown, CT, United States, Sian Proctor, Organization Not Listed, Washington, DC, United States, Mitchell D Schulte, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States, Kristen K St John, James Madison Univ, Harrisonburg, VA, United States, Marta E Torres, Oregon State Univ, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, OR, United States and Lisa D White, University of California Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA, United States
Abstract:
The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) targets an array of scientific topics of broad interest and great societal importance. As in previous science plans, the new 2050 Science Framework (SF) outlines IODP’s education, outreach, and science communication efforts, including disseminating information and materials to the general public, educators, stakeholders, and the scientific community through web tools. In addition, the new SF is more explicit in its goal to communicate knowledge gained through scientific ocean drilling to the global community as an essential part of its identity. Because IODP data, information, and science outcomes are freely available to the public, this method is an excellent way to expand accessibility. Social media is a major component of these platforms and critical for achieving broader impacts goals including engaging with other fields to reach more diverse and inclusive audiences both within and outside the scientific community.
Social media platforms allow for rapid knowledge sharing, networking, and the opportunity to build a virtual community. Historically, IODP has maintained its presence on several social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and will continue to do so. Quantifying the performance of previous posts from IODP social media platforms is necessary to assess how to best reach target audiences, expand our community, and continue disseminating impactful scientific data and resources, and to design and develop strategies to meet the 2050 SF broader impacts goals.
Here, we present results of our analyses from over a year of data from the IODP Twitter accounts to assess which types of posts and content have the highest engagement rate. We also examine what elements of a post are most attractive to the IODP Twitter audience to learn whether certain types of images receive a greater response. This synthesis of historical Twitter data will inform effective implementation of the education and outreach components of the 2050 SF by identifying social media strategies that impact the widest, most diverse Twitter audience possible. Our findings will also be beneficial to other science Twitter users who seek to learn more about analytics and improve the reach and effectiveness of their feed.
