It's Beginning to Look a Lot like #25DaysofFishmas: Communicating Freshwater Biodiversity Using Social Media

Abstract

As audiences increasingly turn to social media platforms for information about the environment, scientists can use a variety of techniques to engage with the public in meaningful and productive dialogues about “wicked” ecological problems such as the loss of global freshwater biodiversity. Using #25DaysofFishmas, an annual Twitter campaign that I created to highlight fish diversity in the Laurentian Great Lakes, I examined the relationship between tweet attributes and the number of audience impressions (i.e., views) and engagements (i.e., interactions such as retweets and likes). I hypothesized that audiences would be more likely to engage with tweets about familiar species such as those considered “sportfish.” However, the species that received the highest total impressions and engagements included nongame species like Silver Lamprey Ichthyomyzon unicuspis and Bowfin Amia calva. Using generalized linear mixed effects models, I found that the use of images consistently explained the number of impressions and engagements a tweet received, with other explanatory variables including the use of hashtags and timing of posts. This analysis illustrates how scientists can use social media not only as a megaphone to broadcast research, but as an interactive platform to directly engage broader audiences and foster appreciation for regional and global fish biodiversity.