Exploring the #scicomm hashtag

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If you regularly use Twitter, you’ll already be familiar with hashtags. But are you using them to find out more about science communication? People use the #scicomm hashtag to ask questions, share tips and articles, show great science communication examples, and start discussions about the best ways to communicate research.

This coffee break, explore the #scicomm hashtag

Explore the #scicomm tag on Twitter. (If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can click the link in the previous sentence to view the hashtag search results.)

Here are a few things to look at:

  • Sort by either “Top” or “Recent” results to see popular or current content.
  • Have a look at who is using the #scicomm tag, and follow some new people.
  • Look for links to events, competitions or jobs that people announced with this hashtag.
  • See if you come across any other interesting hashtags, perhaps for an upcoming meeting or for your field of interest.
  • Open up a few tweets that seem to be part of a discussion, to see what people are discussing.

What have you learned?

Twitter is a popular place for discussions about science communication. Even if you don’t participate yourself, you can follow along and see what people in the community are talking about. Science communicators often talk about best practices in sharing scientific information with the public, or about relevant events that are coming up. They also respond to current trends, such as the recent measles outbreaks, and discuss how to best talk about these topics.

The #scicomm hashtag is used both by scientists and by professional science communicators, so you can see different points of view. It’s also a good way to find new accounts to follow.

You can do this coffee break activity as often as you want. This is quite a popular tag, so there’s always something new.

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Image credit: colour-altered image of an original by Charles on Unsplash