Utilizing Twitter to Communicate Risk after a Natural Disaster

Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle as a category five hurricane on October 10, 2018. One of the risks after a hurricane is the spread of mosquito-borne disease due to standing floodwaters, which provide perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. People often turn to social media during times of crisis to receive up-to-date information. Therefore, there is a need to understand how to use social media to communicate about risks after a natural disaster. The purpose of this study was to explore how Twitter was used to communicate about mosquito control before and after Hurricane Michael and was guided by the Centers for Disease Control’s crisis communication recommendations. Data were collected using Sysomos Media Analytics Platform (MAP). The search included tweets about mosquito control two weeks before and two weeks after Hurricane Michael made landfall and was limited to Florida residents. There were 198 tweets about mosquito control in this timeframe, and a sharp increase in tweets in the weeks following the hurricane. Users tweeting the most about mosquito control were public agencies like mosquito control districts, and common hashtags included #mosquito and #mosquitocontrol; #HurricaneMichael was rarely used. The largest number of tweets were identified with the frame Be First to warn people about mosquito spraying in their local areas. A minority of tweets promoted self-efficacy or promoted action related to mosquito control. None of the analyzed tweets expressed empathy. Extension can use the findings from this study to guide future risk communication on social media following a natural disaster

Leveraging Skype in the Classroom for Science Communication: A Streaming Science – Scientist Online Approach

A growing need exists to identify, implement, and research alternative methods to communicate with, educate, and engage youth about science, in order to increase science literacy and knowledge of future societal decision-makers. Electronic field trips (EFTs) are one channel of non-formal communication and education that have been introduced in agricultural and natural resources to reach youth audiences with science-based information in real-time. EFTs can be conducted in several different ways due to the proliferation of video production and web-streaming technologies. The following professional development article offers science communication professionals and scientists a detailed model and specific steps to develop and host an EFT via the Skype in the Classroom platform. The outlined model builds off of prior application and research from the Streaming Science online science communication platform and offers a secondary model for effective EFT implementation and research. The authors describe the establishment of an online science communication network, the development of the Streaming Science: Scientist Online format, content creation, the production team structure, and mobile production hardware and software. Scientist Online EFT program outcomes in terms of participation are noted, as well as student outcomes in the form of excerpts to demonstrate student engagement are shared

Myopic risk-seeking: The impact of narrow decision bracketing on lottery play

Decision framing, Bracketing, State lotteries, Myopic loss aversion, Peanuts effect, Gambling, C91, D81, I30,