Twitter’s Technological Affordances and Science Journalism in the Global South: A Media Richness Approach from South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study uses media richness theory to examine social media usage in science journalism from the Global South. By analysing content from the Twitter feeds of three South African-based science journalism outfits, the central question is: How do South African science journalism outfits use the affordances of Twitter to engage local audiences with global science issues in contextually relevant ways? The study finds that multilingualism in science journalism tweets is made possible by the affordances of Twitter as a multimodal platform, which allows science journalists to make content available in Zulu, the most widely spoken language in South Africa. It further demonstrates that by using simplified graphics, science journalism tweets can simplify what would otherwise be complex scientific developments. Finally, it shows discrepancies in how these accounts respond to their audiences and harnesses Twitter’s affordance of real-time engagement between the senders and receivers of messages. By using these case studies to illustrate how Twitter’s technological affordances empower South African science journalists to bridge linguistic and informational gaps, engage diverse audiences, and facilitate real-time interactions, this study demonstrates the potential of social media platforms to democratise science communication and foster inclusivity, in science journalism in the Global South.