Speaker
Description
Social media has become part of our lives, and for many it is already the main source of information. During the Covid pandemic it became clear that misinformation can put people’s lives at risk. Science communication is relying on trusted sources and the accuracy of the information provided. The planetary defense community is aware of this and is successfully raising the public’s awareness about planetary defense in general and ongoing missions and activities within the field.
However, discussions within the planetary defense community on the use of social media for real-time events such as close flybys are currently mainly revolving around wanting to avoid spreading fake news and to debunk any potential inaccuracies, leading to a reluctance in sharing information with the media in general due to concerns of being misunderstood or misrepresented. This in turn fuels the circle of a lack of trusted sources with accurate information as the media has difficulty to find accurate information or contacts to clarify their questions if they attempt to do just that, leaving the field to inaccurate fear-inducing posts.
In view of the upcoming close flyby of asteroid Apophis on 13 April 2029 and the associated International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defense, the planetary defense community needs to work on closing this communication gap.
This paper outlines why misinformation is and will always be a part of the social media landscape and proposes a strategy for the planetary defense community to effectively use social media communication for planetary defense, and concludes with recommendations on how to bring the planetary defense community and the media closer together to address some of the existing communication issues.