Engaging the Community and Media

Why use social media?

Social media has become a keyway that people connect with one another. According to a 2016 statistical bulletin from The Office for National Statistics: “Use of the internet for social networking continued to grow and has become part of many adults’ everyday lives, rising to 63% in 2016.”1 The bulletin identified that social media use in the 16-24 age group was 91%, and in the 25-39 age group was 89%. Only in the 65+ age group was it used by fewer than half the public (23%). Social media offers a particular opportunity for researchers who want to engage the public with their work.

There are lots of benefits, including:

1. Reach: It provides the platform to connect with a wider demographic of people than face- to-face events, it also allows those that work in remote locations to connect with the public.
2. Immediacy: You can engage with social media wherever there is an internet connection.
3. Dialogue: You can open conversations with others to better understand how they are making sense of your research, or to input into your engagement ideas. It also enables audience–led discussion and debate – exposing you to other interests and ideas. 
4. Community building: It can enable you to develop a community of interest around your research or connect with communities who might be interested in your research.
5. Raising awareness: Increasing your profile, networking, raising awareness of your research or project, socializing and keeping in touch with others and offering the opportunity for an interested public to find out about your research.

Quality engagement

When developing an engagement activity, it is important to consider: There are two key things to bear in mind before developing any engagement activity

Purpose: what you hope to achieve

Social media can serve lots of different purposes. It is important to consider what you are hoping to achieve. This, alongside consideration of the people you are hoping to engage with, will really shape the engagement work that you choose to do.

People: who you want to engage with

Understanding who you would like to engage with is as important as understanding what you are trying to achieve.

Choosing the right tools

Your approach and platform will be shaped by your purpose and the people you are hoping to engage. 

Here’s some top tips in choosing the right platform

• Create a new account for work related posts and keep it separate to your personal account
• Platforms surge and die, people using them shift, so keeping an eye on those changes means that you can adapt your tactics to ensure you’re always working towards your aim

Here is a snapshot of the pros and cons of different platforms. 

X.COM (former Twitter)

X is a news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages known as ‘tweets’.

Pros

• Can be great for engagement with journalists, policy makers, MPs and other professionals and public interest groups (e.g. environment/patient groups). 
• Has a vast user base  Hashtags can be used to follow campaigns
• Other X users can be tagged into tweets to encourage dialogue and expand networks
• Images and videos can be utilized to generate more impressions
• Can be used to give an interesting headline and call to action by linking to external content
• The character limit for each post helps ensure your content is succinct and quick to read. 
• Very open and public
• Easy to gauge the mood on a particular topic
• Can utilize lists (like filters) and add subsets of participant followers 
• X Takeover days are a useful tool for researcher to share their research with a different audience
• Extremely useful platform for disseminating information, consulting with individuals and getting individuals involved with discussion
• Easy to track the reach and engagement of each interaction via X analytics
• Schools, colleges, universities and professional bodies often use X as a form of communication about their activities

Cons – things to think about

• Needs direction and careful planning to be useful, and there needs to be a real awareness of who uses X.
• X has the potential to be excellent because there are few restrictions on who can be in your network (compared to Facebook which relies on accepted friends), but visibility on X can be challenging if you are just one account in a network of hundreds.
• X often feels like lots of people are shouting and no-one is listening – stimulating genuine engagement can be challenging and time consuming 

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website that allows users to post comments, share photos and post links to other websites and watch and share short videos.

Pros

• Used by a diverse audience comprised of different age groups, however more favorable with older age groups compared to other platforms 
• ‘Groups’ and ‘pages’ can be created to bring together those interested in certain topics
• Great for engagement with public audiences, for promoting offline engagement opportunities and getting online engagement through public events (e.g. live streaming). This may require paid advertising 
• Allows you to share a headline, links, videos, images and tag other users for to find out more
• No limits on word count enables you to be more nuanced
• Facebook LIVE allows for analysis of when engagement is happening during a broadcast
• Good for promoting events and disseminating information, rather than stimulating two-way interactions

Cons – things to think about

• More of a commercial focus – there may be some costs involved such as paid advertising
• Can promote and maintain short conversations, but these tend to be slow (waiting for responses, etc.) and require the initial input and audience
• The usefulness of Facebook is decreasing as the algorithms change meaning it normally needs financial investment to sustain visibility 
• Your network relies on accepted friends. These people may not want to engage with your research, or work-based activity
• Inbuilt analytic tools are clunky and difficult to assess

Snapchat

Snapchat is social networking application which is used to share photos, videos, text and drawings. Messages disappear from the application after a few second or after 24 hours depending on how the application is used. 

Pros

• Great for ‘in the moment’ online engagement
• Suited to very specific types of public engagement- typically those that give great short, snappy visuals (like experiments) 

Cons – things to think about

• Not suited for more dialogic, two-way interactions with audiences
• No known ways to capture metrics

Instagram

Instagram is a social networking service which allows users to share photos and videos which can be edited with various filters and tags. Photos and videos are shared publicly or with pre approved followers.

Pros

• Instagram is a great way to share images. It is also the most popular social media platform amongst young people which is very useful if they are your intended audience, but do remember ethical and safeguarding considerations
• Great for engagement via video ‘stories’. Instagram stories allow users to post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours
• A marketing tool, especially useful for under 25-year-olds
• Probably the one platform which is ‘one to watch’ as the popularity increases and the functionality increases scope to rival X/Snapchat/Facebook
• Has the potential for dissemination, and involvement, people also have created small communities around #hashtags which may have potential impacts for utilization for collaboration in future and mobilizing large groups

Cons – things to think about 

• You can’t link to external content on posts, making it a bad platform for sharing links
• Its image led. If you don’t have an eye for a good photo, it’s probably not for you
• Photos aren’t usually a good way to share complex ideas or findings that are difficult to communicate visually
• While posts can generate comments, Instagram isn’t a forum for debate in the same way that Facebook or X can be

YouTube

YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to favorites, comment and report on videos and subscribe to other users. Available content includes video clips, music videos, movie trailers, live streams, documentary films and video bloggers. 

Pros

• A great broadcasting channel – the most popular video sharing platform
• Can link into other social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram and embedded in websites and blogs
• Can be used as a repository for project videos e.g. events. 

Cons – things to think about

• Not suited for two-way engagement better used for dissemination
• Can be visually great, but camera work takes time and needs practice. While video production costs have decreased dramatically in recent years, producing quality video content can still be resource intensive. It’s also worth noting that content created specifically for YouTube has its own conventions which differ from corporate, conventional videos. It’s more direct, DIY, personal etc.

Reddit

Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating and discussion website. Registered members submit content to the site such as links, text posts and images which are then voted up or down by other members.

Pros

• Over 1.6 billion users a month from almost every nation on earth
• Users can share links, images, or start conversations with communities of interest (Subreddits), directly connecting niche content with relevant audiences 
• Over a million communities (Subreddits) organized around every topic imaginable, including academic disciplines like science (20m subscribers), history (13m) and philosophy (13m)
• Closely moderated Ask Me Anything (AMA) posts give experts the opportunity to engage users (Redditors) in informal, time-limited, question-and-answer sessions, often generating thousands of comments and questions and reaching millions of users
• Posts, comments and questions are organized by popularity with users ‘upvoting’ content they like and ‘downvoting’ content they don’t. This democratic approach provides a transparent means of taking the temperature of public opinion on different topics and could provide researchers with quantitative and qualitative data.
• Because Reddit is fundamentally about the conversations that happen ‘below the line’, it’s possible to gauge not only the reach of a post, it’s also impact on users’ the opinions and beliefs
• Reddit has a reputation for crowd sourcing and initiating collaborations between users that often transcend the site, leading to positive change IRL (In Real Life). Researchers have linked to online studies and gathered huge datasets in a matter of hours  Reddit is anonymous, and user data isn’t used to target advertising

Cons

• Reddit’s interface and appearance isn’t as user-friendly as other social media platforms and can be off-putting for new users
• Reddit is a space for internet culture. Memes and self-referential content are prevalent and can be alienating for those out of the loop
• Reddit’s million plus Subreddits include NSFW (Not Safe for Work) communities and toxic / hate groups  While user anonymity prevents the gathering of identifiable personal data, it can also lead to trolling and antisocial behavior
• As the visibility of posts is defined by their popularity through the voting system, quality content can get buried if poorly timed or articulated. There is no guarantee your posts will be seen
• While diverse overall, the average user (Redditor) is male, middle-class, a native English speaker and socially liberal. There’s nothing particularly ‘hard-to-reach’ about the majority of Redditors

PhotoVoice – Visual Storytelling for Advocacy

Objective:
This activity aims to help participants, particularly individuals with Down syndrome, express their personal narratives through photography, fostering advocacy and spreading awareness about their rights and inclusion.

Learning outcomes:

• Empathy and Understanding: Participants will develop self-expression skills and deepen their understanding of how stories can foster empathy in others.
• Advocacy Skills: This activity enhances the participants’ ability to advocate for their rights and inclusion through creative and impactful storytelling.
• Community Engagement: By sharing their stories, participants can engage with their communities, raising awareness about Down syndrome and promoting inclusion.

Materials Needed:

• Cameras or smartphones (one per participant)
• Access to a computer and projector for presentations
• A quiet room for discussion and reflection
• Display boards or digital platforms for sharing the images

Duration: 3 hours

Instructions:

1. Introduction to PhotoVoice

Start by explaining the concept of PhotoVoice, a method that combines photography and storytelling to give marginalized communities a voice. Discuss how participants will use photography to capture elements of their lives that are meaningful to them, related to rights, inclusion, or daily experiences.

2. Planning the Story

Ask participants to reflect on the message they want to convey. Offer guiding questions to help them think about their stories:

• What parts of your daily life do you want others to understand?
• What challenges do you face regarding inclusion or rights?
• What moments or places make you feel empowered or included?

Encourage participants to write or draw their ideas, helping to clarify the message they want to share through their photos.

3. Taking Photographs

Provide each participant with a camera or smartphone. Guide them to capture photos that reflect their experiences, thoughts, or emotions. Remind them to consider different angles, lighting, and composition.

If needed, arrange for group outings to help participants explore their surroundings and take photos in a relaxed setting. Support participants with hands-on help as they document their narratives.

4. Group Reflection and Story Sharing

After the photos have been taken, gather the group and display the photos. Encourage participants to share the stories behind their images, explaining why they chose specific subjects and how the images reflect their experiences.

Facilitate a supportive discussion by asking:

• What do you want others to understand from this photo?
• How does this image represent your experience with inclusion?
• How can this story inspire change?

5. Presenting the Stories

Prepare a presentation of the photos and stories, either digitally (using a projector or online platforms) or as a printed display. This exhibition should focus on advocacy and raising awareness about Down syndrome inclusion.

6. Reflection on the Impact

Conclude the activity by reflecting on the process. Ask participants how they felt during the storytelling and how the experience of sharing their narratives helped them. Encourage them to discuss how storytelling can be used in the future for advocacy and awareness campaigns.