Does the use of humor make science concepts more palatable to the listener? Sara Yeo, Assistant Professor of Communication, has received an NSF grant to find answers.

The research questions are: How do lay audiences respond to messages about scientific issues on social media that use humor? What are scientists’ views toward using humor in constructing social media messages? Can collaborations between science communication scholars and practitioners facilitate more effective practices?

The second component of the research will quantify the attitudes of scientists toward using humor to communicate with publics on social media.

The broader impacts of this project are twofold: findings from the research will be shared with science communication scholars and trainers advancing knowledge and practice; and an infographic (visual representation of findings) will be distributed to practitioners who participate in research-practice partnerships. It will provide a set of easily-referenced, evidence-based guidelines about the types of humor to which audiences respond positively on social media.