Anna Ahveninen

The head of a sunflower up close, with hand-drawn arcs in two colours, indicating the two opposing arcs, showing where the seed clusters are forming. This relates to the Fibonacci sequence.

Science communication on social media

Posts on this page were published in 2020-2021. I would write shorter copy for today’s attention spans.

As Social Media Specialist at the Australian Academy of Science, I managed content sourcing, approvals and copywriting for more than 20 social media posts weekly across Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Social-first science content to delight audiences

Part of the Australian Academy of Science mission is to share science in a fun and engaging way through its Curious project. I contributed articles and supported video production for this project. But because social media algorithms have long suppressed link content, I also drafted social-first science communication content.

I wrote little explainers in response to key dates and events.

A Facebook post by the Australian Academy of Science briefly explains the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Roger Penrose. The post is accompanied by a NASA illustration of a dense sky full of stars falling into a swirling back hole in the centre of the image. Follow the image link for the full post text.

I contributed to a tradition of scientists hijacking #Superbowl tweets to share #SuperbOwls instead.

I made up games to engage our audience (view thread for the full list and answers!).

Supporting events and initiatives

I planned and drafted social media posts to support Academy events and initiatives, such as the launch of the ‘three degrees report‘.

I started #FellowFriday on the Academy’s LinkedIn page to reuse videos produced for new fellows when elected.

A LinkedIn post from the Australian Academy of Science, dated four years ago. The post is tagged FellowFriday and introduces the work of Professor Richard Bryant.