Twitter as science communication tool in Spain. Main agents and communication networks

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Abstract

The study of the main agents, communication networks and information flows on Twitter is an emerging research topic. It has been applied in areas such as political communication, sports or tourism, but not in science communication. The present work is focused on detecting and measuring the main agents and communication networks about science on Twitter through the Network Theory. The 109 personal and institutional users who are acting as science influencers in Spain are identified. This network presents itself as a stable and compact community. The most productive profiles are the personal ones, which indicates that the activity on Twitter depends more on an interest and an individual commitment than on having a communication team. A use of Twitter is detected, not so much focused on the diffusion of contents and opinions on science, but rather on the promotion of products and events of dissemination. A restricted analysis of the hashtags has made possible to verify the strong link between the tweets and the national and international science news. It also shows the special interest that Atapuerca arouses in the conversations about science on Twitter in Spain.

Keywords

Science communication, Twitter, social networks, network theory, Flow Analysis, hashtags

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Author Biographies

Ana Victoria Pérez-Rodríguez, University of Salamanca

PhD from the University of Salamanca (Spain), where she teaches Science Communication as a professor in the Master in Social Studies of Science and Technology. He is currently a manager at the 3CIN Foundation (Foundation Center for the Study of Science, Scientific Culture and Innovation), where he works in research, communication and teaching. His research areas include science communication, public participation in science, science policy, bibliometrics and open science from an RRI (Responsible, Research and Innovation) perspective. He has more than 15 years of professional experience as a science journalist.

Cristina González-Pedraz, University of Valladolid

Master in Research (MRes) in Communication, researcher at the 3CIN Foundation (Foundation Center of Studies for Science, Scientific Culture and Innovation) and doctoral student at the University of Valladolid (Spain), where she has also been an associate professor. He has participated in various competitive research projects on science communication and digital communication, which have resulted in communications in conferences, articles and book chapters. He also has 10 years of professional experience as a science journalist.

José Luís Alonso Berrocal, University of Salamanca

Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Automation of the University of Salamanca (Spain). He teaches in the Information and Documentation degree, in the Master's in Intelligent Systems and in the Master's in Social Studies of Science and Technology. He is a member of the University Institute of Science and Technology Studies and is part of the recognized research group ELECTRA (Editing and electronic reading, transfer and automated recovery of information). His field of research is Information Retrieval on the web and Cybermetrics, in which he has published numerous articles and monographs. He has participated in many international specialized conferences.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v7i13.21986

Published

2018-05-25

How to Cite

Pérez-Rodríguez, A. V., González-Pedraz, C., & Alonso Berrocal, J. L. (2018). Twitter as science communication tool in Spain. Main agents and communication networks. Communication Papers. Media Literacy and Gender Studies., 7(13), 95–112. https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v7i13.21986

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