Digital science communication: ways to achieve digital visibility (Part 1/2)

Digital formats for science communication make it possible to raise the profile of research, build networks and target specific audiences. These formats also offer the opportunity to set one’s own agenda, free from existing structural barriers, thereby fostering collaboration, securing funding and strengthening one’s position within the field.

Strategically, two areas must be taken into account: creating the conditions to be found by the public, and bringing one’s own research to the public’s attention.

Being found by the public and networking

Digital visibility begins with being found and only realises its full potential through networking. Various channels work together to achieve this: a personal website as a stable foundation, as well as active, consistent and linked profiles on social media and in relevant online communities.

A personal website is far more than a digital business card. Precisely because journalists, collaboration partners or funding bodies search specifically online for experts, a clearly structured and up-to-date web presence is crucial. Well-presented information on research priorities, ongoing projects, publications, (academic) lectures or brief analyses of current topics increases the chance of being noticed and approached. An actively maintained institutional profile page can serve as a basic version of a personal website without requiring much effort on your part.

However, visibility also stems from activity: you should share posts, respond to others, ask questions and contribute to discussions. Digital visibility is closely linked to digital networking: it is only through interaction that contacts, collaborations and long-term relationships are formed. In this context, it can be helpful to focus initially on a single channel and build a targeted network there.

Those who strategically combine discoverability and networking can sustainably increase the reach of their own research.

Reaching out to the public: an overview of different formats

There are a wide variety of (digital) options and formats available for bringing your own research to the public. These can be categorised by target audience (general public vs. specialist audience) and by format (written vs. oral).

Written formats for the general public

These formats aim to convey complex topics in easily understandable, often narrative language without excessive technical jargon.

Popular science books are aimed at laypeople with a keen interest in science. Articles or guest contributions in newspapers or magazines reach a wide audience and are well-suited to providing a scientific context for current debates. Press releases are usually drafted in collaboration with the press office of the author’s own university and are primarily aimed at journalists, providing them with a summary of research findings for further reporting. Written interviews (in Q&A format) are published in magazines, newspapers or online portals as traditional question-and-answer pieces. Formats with a particularly digital focus, such as science blogs or social media posts, allow for narrative and more freely structured presentations, for example on everyday life in the laboratory or new studies of one’s own.

Oral and audiovisual formats for the general public

Here, the focus is often on ‘storytelling’, enthusiasm for the topic and the researchers’ approachable personalities.

At science slams, researchers present their work on stage in a few minutes in an entertaining way that is accessible to non-specialists. TEDx Talks are similarly structured, but more formalised and often more emotionally inspired. Public lectures, for example at adult education centres (VHS), engage people directly in their everyday lives and make a wide range of academic knowledge accessible to them. Radio and TV interviews are usually shorter in duration, whilst podcast interviews in scientific formats offer scope for deeper conversations in a relaxed atmosphere. Other formats with a particularly digital focus, such as short videos/social media reels—for example, TikTok— Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, allow researchers considerable creative freedom, but require engaging visual storytelling and a fast pace to convey complex scientific content in an entertaining, concise and wide-reaching manner within a few seconds to minutes.

Written formats for a specialist audience

These are traditional academic publication formats written in highly formalised and precise language, which require prior knowledge and an understanding of methodology.

Specialist books/monographs provide space for detailed, in-depth scientific treatises. Specialist articles/papers (peer-reviewed) may appear in specialist journals or conference proceedings and are subject to rigorous peer review by other researchers, whilst preprints are advance publications of studies designed to share results quickly with the specialist community. Policy papers/white papers are aimed at a specific specialist audience from the worlds of politics and administration. They present evidence for policy-makers.

Oral formats for a specialist audience

Their focus is on professional exchange, networking and the discussion of preliminary or published findings.

Conference talks or poster presentations are used to present current research findings by international colleagues. Guest lectures are given by invitation at another university or research institution, often as part of a course. Colloquia/brownbag seminars are usually also held at universities and allow for very detailed discussions on methodology and content. Keynotes are main presentations at specialist conferences or events, usually by invitation, which introduce the overarching theme of the event or provide visionary new food for thought. Panel discussions are public discussions with other experts.

Conclusion

Many successful researchers combine these formats. Thanks to the digital transformation of the media landscape, open-access publication formats and digital recordings of lectures, scientific findings can be communicated more quickly and to a wider audience, whether the general public or a specialist audience. At the same time, the resulting public attention brings both opportunities and risks for one’s own research.

This is the very point where the bidt working group “Research for the Public” – from which this article originated – comes into play. How researchers can confidently handle public attention and prepare for controversial topics and societal debates is the focus of a second blog post.

The blog posts published by the bidt reflect the views of the authors; they do not reflect the position of the institute as a whole.

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