How to evaluate Science Communicators w/ Kacie Luaders of Could Be Pretty Cool (Out Think Influencers ep3)

“ How do we actually encourage our audiences to have trust in us and to feel comfortable with information that is being presented to them? I think in some ways also that is also why the role of the influencer, can be really important because people aren't just latching onto these personalities to just get information.

They could get information anywhere. There is a connection with a person, even if it's through, you know? The phone or the screen where they're like, oh, I followed this person. I subscribed to this person. I want to hear their perspective on hopefully this factual issue. And so again, it's messy.”

 

Out Think Influencers is the second podcast series from Out Think Media, where I team up with experts to give you the historical, cultural and emotional context needed to understand kids' media today.

Today’s episode takes a new turn down the road of Science Communications with Kacie Luaders.

In 2011, I was very online and very into new ways to use social platforms creatively, both for narrative and also marketing purposes. That had naturally led me to explore TweetUps in their early incarnations.

But Science Communicators were having a moment. Between the rise of YouTube, the early positive outlook of how YouTube could educate, combined with these micro-blogging platforms to draw new people to your content, I saw a LOT of scientists and science communicators grab their spotlight to shine on their corner of our life cycles. Some of my favorites are doing even better on TikTok and elsewhere, and I link to Out Think approved science influencers in the comments. 

Now, in order to be considered for any outreach events at NASA, you need social media credentials (if they even have the programs anymore) and it’s a far cry from when I couldn’t find the guest parking lot at NASA and the Director of Communications met me at the security desk and drove me to the TweetUp herself.

In 2011, enough people at the NASA Communications team knew there was something exciting about showing people behind-the-scenes of a launch with special guests like Bill Nye. Thanks to this TweetUp (and the one I attended at Goldstone that was even cooler), I gained a level of understanding of just how much work goes into these explorations, and did become an ambassador for space to the people who read my work for other reasons–hello there, readers! Here I am, still talking about space in the context of media.

That’s why the work that Kacie Luaders is doing at Civic Science Media Lab to consider creativity in scientific ways and science in an expansive and artistic way is so intriguing to me. So join us as she explains how to be:

• More mindful of what you consume
• More conscious of the messenger
• How to find alternative source to confirm what a science influencer says or not

Join Kacie Luaders and me, Cindy Marie Jenkins, as we Out Think Influencers, a series where I team up with experts to give your family the historical, cultural and emotional context needed to Out Think Media.

Listen until the end to learn how Communicators can also be more mindful and the very first clue to key you into whether this is a reliable source or not.

Show Notes

1. 30 July 2024, “Consider This Next #3: Kacie Luaders talks to Cindy Marie Jenkins about bridging neuroscience and media literacy,” CivicSciTV-Radio,m https://open.spotify.com/episode/2U18wYk7Rwg3ZW57hFZkhK . 
2. 9 August 2023, Veciana-Suárez, Ana, “Why is Miami Still Hit Hard by HIV Rates? UHealth Collective, https://news.umiamihealth.org/en/why-is-miami-still-hit-hard-by-hiv-rates/ .