Academic Study Translation Activity
Article Translation by: Jordan Oglesby
Introduction:
In today’s modern world, the internet has made huge leaps and bounds since in the content it provides since it was first created in 1990 under the name “the world wide web.” One major component that rose to proficiency over the years since the internet began improving is the social media industry. Social media as a whole initially started out as platforms where everyday people could post pictures and videos about daily events in their lives and share them with friends, family, and other people across the globe. Since then however, what exactly social media has to offer has grown exponentially and as of the time this is being written social media has become one of the most prominent aspects of today’s society. Media websites like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram have hundreds of different uses today ranging from finding new food recipes to researching about what model of smartphone to buy. Case in point, social media sites are where millions of people get their information from nowadays. However, one study conducted in 2018 from the Pew Research Center found out that people seeking news from social media sites isn’t isn’t always such a good thing; particularly, involving Facebook.
The Study:
The Pew Research Center is a non-profit American website based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. In 2018, researchers at the website conducted a study to see how much science related news was being shown to the public through the app/website Facebook. The research center systematically analyzed six months’ worth of posts from 30 of the most followed science-related pages on Facebook. These science-related pages included 15 popular Facebook accounts from established “multiplatform” organizations – for example National Geographic and the Discovery Channel – along with 15 popular “Facebook-primary” accounts from individuals or organizations that have a large social media presence on the platform but are not connected to any offline, outlet. Through analyzing this information, it was concluded that millions of people follow science related news pages on facebook, some of these pages, like National Geographic containing more than 43 million followers alone. The Pew Center went on to take note of numerous highlights from these 30 sites including the number of likes, comments, and shares on individual posts from each of the 30 pages.
The Results:
Perhaps the biggest reveal from the study was that while many of these official scientific pages were created to inform people about news involving science, only 29% of the posts covered actual new scientific discoveries. In addition, the posts that received the most “traffic” or attention were posts that contained little to no text and either contained pictures or videos. Highly engaging posts among these pages did not always feature science-related information either. According to the completed study, “four of the top 15 most-engaging posts from Facebook’s more prominent pages featured inspirational sayings or advice such as “look after your friends” or “believe in yourself.” And, the single most-engaging post among the multiplatform pages was an expression of support for those in Paris after a terrorist attack.” A 2017 Pew Research Center survey found most social media users in the U.S. report seeing science-related posts and a third (33%) consider it an important way they get science news. Some 44% of social media users say they see content unique to that platform at least sometimes, and 26% of users report that they follow a science-related page or account. This just goes to show how big of a role social media plays in keeping Americans informed on current events (science related or not). As concerns about public understanding and acceptance of scientific evidence have increased over the past few years, this analysis provides a window into the sources of information that – while may differ from consensus views in the scientific community – have, nonetheless, attracted millions of followers and more who see posts from these pages in their Facebook news feed even without following the page. As such, this data helps better understand the sources of information that may influence public views and understanding of science-related issues.
Despite this good news about scientific representation among social media, the results of the study pointed out some less positive information. By delving deeper into the study, the researchers discovered that while most science related facebook pages specialize in one or two subjects, some of these include posts that aren’t very science related at all. Looking across all 30 pages, 39% of posts from Facebook’s main pages and 15% of posts from multiplatform posts were related to health and food topics. Among this group, many featured posts on personal health, nutrition, weight loss, exercise and beauty tips, such as a post suggesting that consuming garlic will help lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels (as seen in a June 16, 2017, Daily Health Tips post); so when someone imagines news about science, this probably isn’t the image they had in mind. Health tips like this were coined “news you can use” (rather than unbiased news or information about scientific discoveries) and ultimately comprised about 21% of posts across the 30 pages.
The Takeaway:
This article is essentially marketed towards the audience of people who use social media on a regular basis, and due to their being more than 3.4 billion social media users in the entire world (as of January 2019), the audience for this study is fairly large. However, it can be said that this article was most oriented towards young adults and or millennials, as they are the age demographic that are the most adept at using social media (the largest amount of social media traffic coming from users under 30 years old with Facebook being the exception).
When interviewing Rachael Dailey, a rising sophomore at Christopher Newport University, she thought the information found in the study wasn’t all that surprising but is all the more reason to remain vigilant about where to acquire news from. “I’ve been meaning to spend less time on social media these days, although I will admit that when I'm not at home, a lot of my news comes from seeing it on there.” In fact, when I asked Rachael what social media platforms she specifically saw the most news from her response wasn’t that surprising: “I probably learn the most about things like current events and politics through Twitter and coincidentally, Facebook. I don’t think it’s always a good idea to get your information like that due to certain platforms most likely being biased based upon who’s paying them to say what, but most posts are super short to read so it’s really easy to get news if i’m multitasking or something.” Rachael clearly has the right idea about finding news from social media sites and how finding information by this method can oftentimes be convenient but should never be your only source. Social media sites can contain biases and try and feed audiences specific news in an attempt to influence them, which at the end of the day, is not authentic and honest.
Sources Used (all links included in essay):
The Pew Center for Research
Image sources- The Pew Center for Research and Google images
Interviewee- Rachael Dailey
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