Social-science media

Last week, Scientell’s Alysha attended So you think you’re social? a Science Journalists Association of Australia seminar, run by Carl Smith. Carl spoke with an all-star science and social media cast: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and daughter Lola, April Chan and Ketan Joshi.

Social media continues to be a dominant news source for many, especially young people. So there’s a valuable opportunity to weave science into the constant stream of information. But how do you make your science interesting and engaging? And how do you make it stand out on these saturated platforms?

The experts had a few tips…

Consider your content:

• If you run a science social media channel, consider interspersing science content with fun content or lighter science facts that mix up what followers receive.
• Content is king, but it’s how you deliver it: start with something amazing, give an explanation, finish with a joke.

Add flair to your text:

• The more easily digestible you make the information, the better it is for your followers.
• Video is great, but it isn’t the only way.
• Make your text-based posts more interesting with an image, or at least an emoji.
• Explain complex concepts using hand-drawn figures and charts.

Break up the text:

• Consider how you layout your text: break it up by, for example, saying ‘here are the 3 things you need to know,’ and listing them as dot points.
• Use line breaks to punctuate sentences more clearly.
• Use thread posts for longer stories.