Attention, Citizens!Some tips for communicating your Citizen Science

project – and using social media to do it!

2nd May 2014

Nicola Osborne, COBWEB project team

and EDINA Social Media Officer

Nicola.Osborne@ed.ac.uk

Which Citizens do you want to reach?

• What does a successful outcome look like for the project - who would you reach?

• Target your key audiences… but be prepared to be flexible to who actually responds.

• Engage from the start – get citizens in at design stage if possible, test and seek feedback repeatedly.

• Prepare to work hard for attention – plan plenty of events, dissemination, ongoing communications to reach your citizens. Social media is part of that mix.

• Take advantage of existing communities –organisations, online communities, peer networks can be a trusted and instant link to larger local groups of citizens.

Planning Social Media Content

• Make the aim and call to action clear – how do citizens take part? What should they do?

• Why should citizens take part?

– Are they contributing to social/ecological/societal good (e.g. Click to Cure, OPAL)

– Is there personal benefit to taking part? (e.g. GalaxyZoo’s naming and publications policy)

– Is it fun? (e.g. FoldIt)

– Is is just about exploring curiosity? Or being part of something bigger? (e.g. RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch)

• How will their contribution be used? What will it mean?

• Do feedback results and what they mean – and what the scientific impact is.

Social Media Channels: the basics

• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+, Instagram, etc. provide easy and widely used channels to support and maintain contact and engagement with your community….

• Specialist sites, niche social media, etc. may work best for particular communities (e.g. Flickr for photographers). Try stuff out, test the water.

• Brand presences consistently, keep content relevant, human, and up to date, post often, listen and monitor regularly.

• Cross promote and link up your social media, web presences, in person events, activities, press mentions, etc.

• But remember that not everyone uses social media!

What works? A few suggestions…

• Guest posts from influential bloggers and figures can have a big impact, bring own audiences.

• Humanizing the project, team, and research builds trust and engagement. Live events/chats can be impactful!

• Images and video are hugely sharable – make them calls to action that tie back to goals/timings/activities that are your priorities.

• Reward participation– with acknowledgement, responses and thanking others for mentions. It keeps attention, builds respect.

• Long term relationships count, treat all participants respectfully.

• Reflect your audience(s) back to them – their successes, interests, personality.

Great Citizen Science Resources

• European Citizen Science Association: http://ecsa.biodiv.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de/

• UK-EOF’s Understanding Citizen Science and Environmental Monitoring:http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/understanding-citizen-science.html

Projects mentioned in these slides:

• Click to Cure: http://www.clicktocure.net/

• OPAL: http://www.opalexplorenature.org/

• GalaxyZoo: http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

• FoldIt: https://fold.it/portal/

• RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch: http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/

To follow up today…

• Google+ Group for follow up Hang Outs: https://plus.google.com/communities/104894414032760144202

• Questions on the Google+ Group, via Twitter (@suchprettyeyes) or email (nicola.osborne@.ed.ac.uk) welcome!