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In Real Life: How Social Media Propelled One Study (link to poster)Introduced in the session: Maximizing the value of NOAA data through user engagement
Jennifer Fulford (Innovative Consulting & Management Services [ICMS] for NOAA NCEI), Greg Hammer (NOAA NCEI); Ge Peng (Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies [CISESS]); Tom Maycock (CISESS); Mark Essig (Innovative Consulting & Management Services [ICMS] for NOAA NCEI); Andrea Andersen (ICMS for NOAA NCEI); Trinity Foreman
A 2020 sea ice study by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) took on a life of its own with the help of social media, increasing its reach by more than 300% in a brief time. The power of science communication—including the comms planning, the use of plain language, and the collaboration between scientists and communication experts—will be the focus of this presentation.
The study—about the potential for ice-free Arctic summers by 2040—gained social media traction and news media attention earlier this year after a communications plan was executed, placing the study’s important results in the public spotlight. Effective and simple communication methods showcased the science to a much larger audience. Mainstream media reports were released within days of NCEI’s promotion. The work itself merited the attention. Published in the journal Climate by scientists with NCEI and the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS), the study called for more reliable projections of the first ice-free Arctic summer. The Arctic may experience its first essentially ice-f ()ree summer within 15 years, and new models to predict the changes could assist in determining the rate of melt. The future of Arctic sea ice has implications for native people, commerce, shipping, resource extraction, and national security.
After an article about the study was published on NCEI’s website (ncei.noaa.gov)—and promoted through social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts of both NCEI and CISESS—the full-text views of the paper increased 383% over just more than a week. Two major media organizations, USA Today and New York Daily News, picked up the story in that window.
NOAA NCEI Office Support Services, GSA Contract No.: 47QRAA19D000D, Order No.: 1332KP19FNEEN0042
