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Series:   Elements of Paleontology

Follow the Fossils

Developing Metrics for Instagram as a Natural Science Communication Tool

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2021

Samantha B. Ocon ,
Lisa Lundgren ,
Richard T. Bex II ,
Jennifer E. Bauer ,
Mary Jane Hughes  and
Sadie M. Mills
Samantha B. Ocon
Affiliation:
West Virginia University
Lisa Lundgren
Affiliation:
Utah State University
Richard T. Bex II
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Jennifer E. Bauer
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Mary Jane Hughes
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Sadie M. Mills
Affiliation:
University of Florida

Summary

The ability for people to connect, learn, and communicate about science has been enhanced through the Internet, specifically through social media platforms. Facebook and Twitter are well-studied, while Instagram is understudied. This Element provides insight into using Instagram as a science education platform by pioneering a set of calculated metrics, using a paleontology-focused account as a case study. Framed by the theory of affinity spaces, the authors conducted year-long analyses of 455 posts and 139 stories that were created as part of an informal science learning project. They found that team activity updates and posts outside of their other categories perform better than their defined categories. For Instagram stories, the data show that fewer slides per story hold viewers' attention longer, and stories using the poll tool garnered the most interaction. This Element provides a baseline to assess the success of Instagram content for science communicators and natural science institutions.
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Keywords

social mediaaffinity spacescase studyqualitative analysisonline learning
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements of Paleontology
Online ISBN: 9781009157476
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 09 December 2021

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