You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
A team of scientists from across the country has today launched a crowdfunding campaign to investigate how researchers can use social media platform Instagram to boost public perceptions of their profession.
Led by Paige Brown Jarreau, a science communication specialist at Louisiana State University, the project is driven by research that suggests people see scientists as intelligent, but not very warm -- a key component of trust.
The research will ask whether sharing “scientist selfies” -- pictures of scientists themselves, rather than just their research subjects -- can improve scientists’ perceived warmth. The project aims to show “empirically that it is worth scientists’ time to share their lives (and faces) on social media, not just their science.”
“Scientists are often reluctant to take pictures of themselves in the field, but perhaps this could be used to promote credibility,” said Jarreau. “With everything that is going on in the country, we need scientists to be able to speak out, and have the public trust the information they provide.”
