STAT November 24, 2021
How does one communicate the fast-moving science of a pandemic to the public? Social media, with its short messages and inflamed memes, would seem an imperfect fit.
And yet Twitter and other online platforms have become vibrant public squares for discussion about Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
At the 2021 STAT Summit, three social media influencers in science reflected on their experience of using social media to communicate new scientific findings — and the challenges that came with it.
Here are the highlights:
Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration, said social media has taken debates that usually play out within the scientific community and made them public for all to see.
“Scientists sometimes...