Speech is silver, silence is gold?! An event review of "Social Media for Citizen Science Projects"

At the event "Social Media for Citizen Science Projects", researchers were introduced to theoretical considerations for constructing or reflecting on their own (ideal) target group(s).

Communications expert Rosemarie Nowak from the Danube University Krems began by presenting various social media channels with their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the method of persona building for reaching different target groups. Following the theoretical introduction, two Citizen Science project leaders from the humanities and natural sciences gave insights into their practical experiences with the use of social media and community management in Citizen Science projects. Barbara Heinisch from the University of Vienna presented how the project Deutsch in Österreich (IamDiÖ) uses Facebook, blogs, podcasts, and other media to reach its diverse target groups, from the research community to the general population. Thomas Hübner from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics showed that in the project Naturkalender, especially the associated app for communication with Citizen Scientists is used very successfully.

The event provided researchers and practitioners with a number of tools for the successful use of social media in citizen science projects, as well as highlighting their opportunities and limitations.

The slides of the presentations are available under Downloads and the entire event can be found in the gallery on the right or directly on YouTube.