Browsing by Author "Van Rooyen, Renier Stephanus"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Die verhittings- en verkoelingswarmteoordrag en drukval van laminere olievloei vir die geval van konstante wandtemperatuur in gladde en intern gevinde pype met wentellint-insetsels.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1977) Van Rooyen, Renier Stephanus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of . Dept. of .
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Science communication and the nature of the social media audience: Breaking and spreading of science news on Twitter in the South African context
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Van Rooyen, Renier Stephanus; Claasen, G.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Twitter has been shown to be a powerful medium for the breaking and spreading of news and science news. In this study the TAGS v6.0 software and the Gephi graph visualisation platform are used to visually analyse how, and by whom, various science news stories were actually spread on Twitter in real-time, in order to determine who are the most prominent disseminators of science news globally as well as in the South African context. This is measured in terms of total number of retweets per Twitter account. The conclusion is made that the Twitter audience tends to retweet mainly from sources that they know and trust to be true and accurate. This has implications for how science communicators ought to go about understanding the nature of the social media audience. The study shows that globally major scientists and scientific institutions use public trust on Twitter to great effect to successfully communicate science, but that science communication role players in South Africa have so far failed to realise Twitter’s potential. Recommendations are made for how South African scientists, science institutions and science journalists ought to best exploit the platform to enhance the effective communication of sound, evidence-based science.