By Michelle Nguyen
A global pandemic has reinvented much of our lifestyle – from the way we interact, work and learn. The drag and drop of our existence onto monitors and LCD screens has been quite draining. Yes, I’m recalling those never-ending zoom classes… Despite all of this, science communicators are embracing digitalisation and getting creative. They’re now connecting with a wider and more diverse audience by swapping their scientific stage for the screen.
As a many of us know, science can be tricky to explain, let alone understand. Concepts can be so convoluted that in the time it takes to convey a crux of quantum chemistry, you could probably bake a cake. Or two.
Now what if I told you, you only had a quarter of a minute to do so?
Some science communicators are now taking on this challenge. They’re connecting with a global audience from their living rooms through TikTok, a social media platform based on posting brief informal videos, most popular from ages downwards of 24. With TikTok surpassing a staggering 2 billion lifetime downloads world-wide, STEM is being outreached to a younger and wider viewership beyond a niche of specialists! Creators are capturing our short attention spans by linking abstract ideas to our everyday lives through skits, dance routines and art. You don’t need a scientific background to understand the concepts. It’s an opportunity for anybody to learn and interact with convoluted concepts from the couch.
After being encouraged by his students, chemistry teacher, Phil Cook (@chemteacherphil) posted his lab demonstration of a gummy bear exploding into flames while being oxidised in a test tube of potassium chlorate. Cook says “I went away for the weekend and came back to 5,000 or 10,000 followers.” To date, he has earned over 3.4 million followers!
Other social media including YouTube, Instagram and Twitter also home a growing voice for science communicators. Chemistry and physics teacher, Jonte Lee transformed his kitchen into at-home lab to broadcast his lessons through Instagram Live. He noticed that despite the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic, his students’ marks improved compared to previous terms; no student earned less than a C! Lee was even contacted by viewers beyond his hometown, Washington.
As digital communication takes on innovative forms, there is an exciting future for sci comm as well.
Although social media can be a messy landscape, this kind of STEM outreach has an immense scope of benefits. By making complicated content more engaging, it can break down the illusion of STEM being elitist. Since STEM is vital for understanding how the world works and how we exist in it, these ideas should be more accessible to society. These ideas should be less alienating, more relatable and easier to grasp. We as scientists have the power be creative in how we present ideas and findings.
Sharing new discoveries or explaining older theories can help the community trust science more. While online media can be shallow and misleading, by making STEM more accessible to the public, we can inspire curiosity, as well as critical thinking. Social media can also get more people talking about an issue and raise awareness. There is opportunity to shine a light or a new tone on an overlooked topic.
This opens conversation beyond a specific and specialised group of experts. It welcomes more people from different walks of the life to get involved regardless of their background. Issues like how to overcome a pandemic or how to achieve sustainable future impact everybody in some way. It makes sense to involve as many voices as possible to come up with the best solutions to suit a diversity of needs. This could greatly assist with policy making and lead to further research to ultimately
While digitalisation places a glass barrier between us, it also refracts creative alternatives for how we connect with one another. How else can we revolutionise sci comm?
Take a look at these #scicomm accounts:
@chaoticallyscience (TikTok)
@lab_shenanigans (TikTok)
@mrp_chemistry (TikTok)
@rememberthewild (Instagram)
@scidocmartin (Instagram, Twitter)
@nyuroscientist (Instagram)
@scigallerymelb (Instagram)
@lkw_sci (Twitter)
@LynPlen (Twitter, Instagram)
@hypothejess (Twitter, Instagram)
@DjukeVeldhuis (Twitter)
@isobelccampbell (Instagram)