科学传播的公共参与模式分析:以NASA社交媒体表现为例

Debating the Public Participation Model in Science Communication: A Case Study of NASA’s Social Media Performance

社交媒体在一定程度上呼应并加剧了一种从公众理解科学到公众参与科学的转向。以美国国家航空航天局(NASA)为代表的科学机构,借助社交媒体带来的机遇,尝试建构一种新的科学与社会的关系。本研究通过分析NASA社交媒体表现,讨论“公共参与”型科学传播模式的特征和局限。研究发现,尽管“对话”和“参与”视角为理解社交媒体时代的科学传播提供了有益的思考框架,但受限于传播情境的融合以及概念自身的模糊性,“对话”和“参与”视角存在明显的局限,可能会低估科学机构的传播效力。在此背景下,一种基于科学传播的文化观有望打通科学传播与文化、身份认同、物质性等研究之间的关联,从而拓展科学研究的视野。

To some extent,social media echoed and promoted the turn from public understanding of science to public engagement with science.Science institutions like NASA try to grasp the emerging opportunities in the era of social media in order to build a new relationship between science and society.This research joined the debate on public participation model in science communication through a case study of NASA specifically on its social media performance.Findings reveal that“dialogic”and“participatory”perspectives do provide a helpful theoretic framework but there remains obvious weakness of these dialogic approaches which may lead to an underestimation of organization s efforts due to the convergence nature of communication ecology and the blurring boundaries of concepts.Alternatively,cultural approaches may bring studies on culture,identity and materiality together and broaden the horizon of science communication research.