Science and social media

Should science be spread on social media? One one hand, social platforms may provide an ideal forum for sharing and consuming scientific content. On the other hand, the culture of social media may degrade science to the level of mere fun facts or even science gossip. Scientific news can be just as prone to distortion as gossips about celebrities.

Daniele Fanelli, behavioral ecologist at the University of Copenhagen says that we should be cautious when either scientists or journalists share science via social media. His research suggests that people are sharing science articles more and more, but they are reading them less and less. Beware intellectual laziness!

Do you share science news on social platforms? Let us know! Leave a comment below.