Can Facebook be used to increase scientific literacy? A case study of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Facebook page and ocean literacy
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2015

The Internet provides a unique opportunity for scientists to be in direct contact with the public in order to promote citizens' scientific literacy. Recently, Internet users have started to spend most of their online time on social networking sites (SNS). Knowledge of how these SNSs work as an arena for interaction, as well as for the development of scientific literacy, is important to guide scientists' activities online, and to be able to understand how people develop knowledge of science. This was evaluated by scrutinizing the Facebook page of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the consequences for users' ocean literacy. We investigated which practices could increase the number of users reached by a Facebook story. We also found that Facebook pages do not offer the appropriate social context to foster participation since it has only a few of the features of an arena where such practices could develop.

Facebook

Science communication

Scientific literacy

Online social media

Ocean literacy

Författare

Geraldine Fauville

Göteborgs universitet

Samuel Dupont

Göteborgs universitet

von Thun S

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Johan Lundin

Göteborgs universitet

Computers and Education

0360-1315 (ISSN)

Vol. 82 60-73

Ämneskategorier

Kommunikationsvetenskap

DOI

10.1016/j.compedu.2014.11.003

Mer information

Skapat

2017-10-10