Daniela Lisbôa, Science Communication Assistant at the journal DADOS and PhD Candidate in Sociology at the Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos (IESP) of the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Giovanna Monteiro-Macedo, Science Communication Assistant at the jornal DADOS, Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos (IESP) da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), RJ, Brazil
Marcia Rangel Candido, Associate Editor of the journal DADOS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, and Integrated Researcher at the Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES) of the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Iscte), Lisboa, Portugal
The internet and, more recently, social media, have drastically changed the speed with which information circulates in the world. Over the last decades, we have witnessed a displacement of science, traditionally communicated through specialized channels, to digital platforms, which are marked by algorithmic logics, ephemeral formats and engagement metrics.
If one of the maxims of scientific communities a few years ago was consolidated with the norm that “if it’s not published, it doesn’t exist”, currently, we face the difficulty of making research results more visible, in a context of immense productivity and information availability.
More than “translating” discoveries for a lay audience, science communication came to be understood as a specific and essential intellectual practice. Today, it not only expands access to science, but also reconfigures the very way of producing and communicating knowledge. The creation of science communication awards by scientific associations, the proliferation of audiovisual material exhibitions at academic conferences or the requirement by funding agencies for science communication plans in research projects give us clues to this broad change.
Science communication has therefore become a field of knowledge of its own that crosses research, allowing an approximation not only with non-academics, but also between different generations within academia. It is about building bridges between academic production and public debate, recognizing that science is also made in the ways it is narrated, visualized and shared.
This transformation is both communicational and epistemological. As Jepsen (2014) proposed, we live in a time when scientific data becomes accessible to anyone with an internet connection, which transforms the public into a spectator and, to some extent, participant in the scientific process. This openness brings challenges and possibilities, among which stand out the need for synthesis, clarity and commitment to transparency, without impoverishment or disqualification of what is being communicated about research results.
Our science communication policy grows from this context. DADOS is an academic journal with more than half a century of continuous publication. Throughout this history, we have consolidated ourselves as one of the most traditional social science journals in Latin America, also having considerable reach in European countries, such as Portugal and Spain.
Since we began operating on social networks, we have experimented with languages, formats and production and dissemination routines capable of translating complex and detailed scientific articles into more concise formats, such as short captions, images and videos. The intention is not to replace dedicated reading of the complete article, but rather to draw attention to its content and stimulate citations and dialogues.
In a short time, we consolidated a relevant presence on multiple platforms. On Instagram, we reached the mark of 4,207 followers and have already produced 561 publications.
We also consolidated our presence on X (formerly Twitter), where, until 2024, we surpassed 5,000 followers, being the Brazilian social science journal with the most impact on this network. However, the journey is winding. In that same year, DADOS made the decision to close its account on the platform, in line with a broader movement observed in the scientific community.
According to research published and conducted by Nature magazine, presented in the article Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty, more than 50% of the 9,200 scientists interviewed reported having significantly reduced platform use in mid-2023, while about 46.1% migrated to other social networks. Motivations for this change include increased misinformation, proliferation of “trolls” and the hostile environment, intensified after Twitter’s acquisition by Elon Musk in 2022.
DADOS‘ decision, therefore, reflects both the critical evaluation of its own digital journey and the perception of broader transformations that have been reconfiguring the dynamics of science communication on networks. In this context, we seek to build our presence in new spaces, such as Bluesky and Threads.
However, these platforms still function, for now, as transitional solutions to a deeper issue: the tension between knowledge production and big tech control over information circulation means.
In this trajectory, we observe the growing effectiveness of certain formats. For example, a few weeks ago, we published on Instagram a video clip from the event A Edição de Revistas em Língua Portuguesa: Desafios e Caminhos (Portuguese only) promoted through a partnership between DADOS, a journal edited at the Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos of the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ), in Brazil, and the journal Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, edited by the Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia of the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (CIES-Iscte), in Portugal.
The event brought together about 60 participants on the day it occurred. Later made available on the YouTube channel of CIES, the video has, so far, 38 views. However, in the clip we made for the social network, the reach reached almost 3,000 views, demonstrating the circulation power of audiovisual format on the platform. This success reinforces something we have perceived: impact performance on Instagram is better for short videos to the detriment of static images and texts, which is reflected in the high engagement rates we have recorded when working with such approach.
However, it’s not just videos that have generated significant impact. Between January and April 2024, our Instagram profile registered more than 66,000 views, demonstrating that, despite changes in algorithmic preferences, images continue to have their usefulness in science communication, as they still represent most of our content.
This engagement motivates us to continue exploring different types of content and formats, always with the goal of preserving the rigor and quality of scientific information, without limiting ourselves to platform requirements.
As part of our good practices on social networks, we implemented the use of the hashtag #PraTodosVerem (for all to see). This resource is oriented to guarantee the inclusion of people with visual disabilities, providing more accessible and detailed descriptions of published images. The idea is to go beyond captions, which often don’t capture the totality of visual content, and promote some type of digital accessibility, an action that SciELO Network working groups have recommended.
Despite remaining active in debates about innovations and improvements in the popularization of academic research, it’s worth pointing out two tensions.
First, it should be noted that science communication is also specialized work, which has specific training and that not every scientist is willing or qualified to do. It is notorious that academic careers have been precarious in various parts of the world and the level of demands directed at researchers have been generating frequent mental health problems among the community. Discussing improvements in the reach of academic journals equally requires paying attention to the working conditions of those who build and sustain them.
On the other hand, many suggest that science communication activities help promote an exacerbated acceleration of research communication, which supposedly also generates loss of quality in what is debated in science and the risk of reinforcing the dissemination of false information. Regarding this, double caution is needed.
However, we argue that science—especially social sciences—should occupy the new spaces that society has been creating. If the scenario is already bad with scientists who strive to intervene in public spaces and reach the population, imagine without them.
References
JEPSON, K.M. An examination of the effects of digital media on the communication of science. Bozeman: Montana State University, College of Arts & Architecture, 2014.
LISBÔA, D. and CANDIDO, M.R. Taking Stock of Social Media Use in a Social Sciences Journal: The DADOS Experience [online]. SciELO in Perspective: Humanities, 2025 [viewed ]. Available from: https://humanas.blog.scielo.org/en/2025/08/08/taking-stock-of-social-media-use-in-a-social-sciences-journal-the-dados-experience/
Recent Comments