A tale of two citizens : how South Africa’s most visible scientists use Twitter to communicate with the public

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dc.contributor.advisorClaassen, Georgeen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMudde, Storm Elenien_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-17T09:57:46Z
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-17T08:10:39Z
dc.date.available2019-01-17T09:57:46Z
dc.date.available2019-04-17T08:10:39Z
dc.date.issued2019-04
dc.descriptionThesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2019.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: In an age that is often described as being both the best and worst of times for communication, it is becoming increasingly important for science to be as decentralised as possible. One of the ways to achieve this is for scientists to make an effort to communicate and engage with other scientists as well as members of the general public. This can be facilitated via a variety of modern information communication technologies and applications such as social media. However, since there is no exact or specific formula for how to communicate on social media platforms like Twitter, some scientists are hesitant to get involved. For this reason, scientists can and should benefit from other scientists who have experience on social media, especially those who have been criticised in a public way. Therefore, this study examines how two highly visible and controversial South African scientists – Lee Berger and Tim Noakes − use Twitter to communicate with their diverse publics, despite pressure from other scientists and social media users. One hundred tweets published by Berger and one hundred tweets published by Noakes before and during periods of controversy has been collected and analysed in order to make sense of the online communication strategies of these prominent scientists.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ‘n era wat gereeld beskryf word as die beste en slegste van tye word dit toenemend belangrik vir desentralisasie van die wetenskappe. Een moontlikheid vir die bevordering hiervan is vir wetenskaplikes om ‘n poging aan te wend vir kommunikasie met ander individue binne die wetenskapsveld en met die algemene publiek. Dit kan gefasiliteer word deur ‘n verskeidenheid inligtingskommunikasietegnologieë en toepassings soos sosiale media. Siende dat daar egter geen spesifieke of vasgestelde formule vir komunikasie op sosiale media platforms soos Twitter is nie, huiwer sommige wetenskaplikes om betrokke te raak. Wetenskaplikes kan en moet dus leer by ander individue in die wetenskap met ervaring op sosiale media, veral diegene wat al blootgestel was aan openbare kritiek. Daarom ondersoek hierdie studie hoe twee sigbare en kontroversiële Suid-Afrikaanse wetenskaplikes – Lee Berger en Tim Noakes – van Twitter gebruik maak om met hulle diverse publiek te kommunikeer ten spyte van druk vanaf ander wetenskaplikes en die publiek. Een honderd twiets van Berger en een honderd van Noakes voor en gedurende tye van omstredenheid is versamel en ontleed om sin te maak van die kommunikasiestrategieë van hierdie prominente wetenskaplikes.af_ZA
dc.format.extent94 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/105733
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subjectCitizen journalism -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectParticipatory journalism -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectPublic journalism -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectCommunication in science -- Journalists -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectCommunication of technical information -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectSocial media platforms -- Twitter -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScience communication -- South Africa
dc.subjectScience news -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectNews, Science -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectPopularization of science -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScience -- Popularization -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScience journalism -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectJournalism, Scientific -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScientific journalism -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectBusiness insiders -- Aspects -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectUCTD
dc.titleA tale of two citizens : how South Africa’s most visible scientists use Twitter to communicate with the publicen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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