Anything But Trivial
Or Tweeting Your Way to Relevance
and Visibility While Having Fun
Leveraging Social Media
to Promote Your Organization:
A Case Study
Michael E. Newman, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Mark Newell, U.S. Geological Survey
Background: What is Science.gov?
• “One Stop” web-search portal
• Combines databases and websites from more than
15 Federal agencies
• 200+ million pages of authoritative Gov’t science
and research info
• Free of charge
• Celebrating 10+ years of service
• Social Media presence on Web and Twitter
Challenges for Promotion
• Needed to generate more awareness of portal and
its vast knowledge base
• Ad-hoc Promotions Group with volunteer members
from supporting agencies
• No budget for promotion
• Competing with crowded Social Media environment
Fortunately, the Promotions Group has members
with Social Media/communications experience!
3
Goals and Objectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop awareness and exposure
Gain interest
Increase visibility
Encourage use of Science.gov website
Boost other agency participation
Amplify participating agency’s website and
communications goals
• Make science and research relevant and FUN!
The Grand Experiment
• “Science.gov Trivia Challenge”
• Tweets: Each post features interesting sciencebased trivia question from one member agency
• Click on URL in tweet Science.gov landing page
• Landing page: Full question and answer, plus
summary with several links
• Cumulative archive of all postings
• Liberal use of #hashtags to increase traffic
Trivia Status (as of 2/22/2014)
Showing Current and Future Federal Agency Participation
Agency
Formatted Tweets
Tweets Posted
8
8
8
0
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
5
0
4
8
5
5
5
0
5
5
5
6
5
5
4
5
0
3
6
97
64
Homeland Security S&T Directorate
Energy
Transportation
Environmental Protection Agency
Library of Congress
National Archives and Records Administration
NASA
National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Library of Medicine
NOAA
National Science Foundation
National Technical Information Service
Agriculture
US Forest Service
US Geological Survey
Totals
Agencies with 8 Formatted Trivia Tweets
6
Tweeting Cycles (as of 2/22/2014)
6/4/2013
6/6/2013
6/11/2013
6/13/2013
6/18/2013
6/20/2013
6/25/2013
6/27/2013
7/2/2013
7/4/2013
7/9/2013
7/11/2013
7/16/2013
7/18/2013
7/23/2013
7/25/2013
7/30/2013
8/1/2013
8/6/2013
8/8/2013
8/13/2013
8/15/2013
8/20/2013
8/22/2013
8/27/2013
8/29/2013
9/3/2013
9/5/2013
9/10/2013
9/12/2013
9/17/2013
9/19/2013
NLM
USGS
LOC
NIST
DOE
DHS S&T
DOT
NTIS
NSF
No Trivia Post
NARA
NASA
NLM
LOC
USGS
NIST
DOE
DHS S&T
DOT
NTIS
NSF
NARA
NASA
NLM
LOC
USGS
NIST
DOE
DHS S&T
NOAA
DOT
NASA
9/24/2013
9/26/2013
10/1/2013
10/3/2013
10/8/2013
10/15/2013
10/17/2013
10/22/2013
10/24/2013
10/29/2013
10/31/2013
11/5/2013
11/7/2013
11/12/2013
11/14/2013
11/19/2013
11/21/2013
11/26/2013
11/28/2013
12/3/2013
12/5/2013
12/10/2013
12/12/2013
12/17/2013
12/19/2013
12/24/2013
12/26/2013
12/31/2013
1/7/2014
1/9/2014
1/14/2014
1/16/2014
NSF
USFS
No
No
No
No
Trivia
Trivia
Trivia
Trivia
Post
Post
Post
Post
(Shutdown)
(Shutdown)
(Shutdown)
(Shutdown)
NTIS
NARA
NOAA
NIST
NASA
LOC
USGS
DOT
NLM
NARA
USFS
NOAA
No Trivia Post
DHS S&T
DOE
NTIS
NSF
NOAA
NIST
No Trivia Post
No Trivia Post
No Trivia Post
USGS
LOC
NASA
DOT
1/21/2014
1/23/2014
1/28/2014
1/30/2014
2/4/2014
2/6/2014
2/11/2014
2/13/2014
2/18/2014
2/20/2014
2/25/2014
2/27/2014
3/4/2014
3/6/2014
3/11/2014
3/13/2014
3/18/2014
3/20/2014
3/25/2014
3/27/2014
4/1/2014
NLM
NARA
USFS
No Trivia Post
DHS S&T
DOE
NTIS
NOAA
NIST
USGS
7
Steps to Launch of Trivia Challenge
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Got Promotions Group “buy-in” of plan
Developed “how to” guide for creating trivia tweets
Determined resources vs opportunity
Built the trivia collection
Edited and verified trivia tweets
3….2…1…Lift Off!!! June 4, 2013
Post every Tuesday and Thursday – 11:00 ET
Dissecting the Trivia Post
The Tweeted Question
As posted on @Sciencegov
#trivia World’s deadliest recorded #earthquake
occurred when/where? Go.usa.gov/bu2u5
#earthquakes #USGS
•
•
•
Tweet starts with #trivia to identify it as a trivia question and draw in
those seeking trivia on Twitter
Shortened URL takes viewers to landing page on Science.gov website
Hashtags draw in those interested in tagged subjects and featured agency
9
Dissecting the Trivia Post
The Answer
As posted on www.science.gov/trivia
Question: Where and when did the deadliest recorded earthquake occur?
Answer: China, 1556
The world's deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in the Shaanxi Province, central China. It struck a
region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. These dwellings collapsed during the
earthquake, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1976, another deadly earthquake struck in Tangshan,
China, where more than 250,000 people were killed. Worldwide earthquake activity is monitored by the United
States Geological Survey (USGS).
For more information, go to: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
•
•
Full question and answer revealed on landing page; previous posts archived
Links in summary send viewers to additional information
10
A Sample Trivia Challenge Post
#trivia @usnistgov calibrated timers for what 2002 Winter #Olympics
competition? http://Go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
Question: In the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology calibrated the timers for what competition?
Answer: Bobsledding
Racers in the bobsled, luge and skeleton events reach some of the highest speeds
of any Olympic Winter Games competitors—up to 130-145 kilometers per hour (8090 miles per hour). Since winners are often decided by mere milliseconds, the
timing system for these events must be highly accurate and consistent. That wasn’t
a problem at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, thanks to
experts from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The timing
system for the runs at Utah Olympic Park was calibrated against the national time
standard provided by the NIST-F1 atomic clock in Boulder, Colo.
For more information, go to: http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/time-010202.cfm
11
Initial Results and Takeaways
• Virtual growth curve: 8 month “hockey stick”
• More than doubled Twitter followers:
15-25 new followers per week
• 40,000+ “clicks” Twitter
Science.gov website
• Reflected by website “hits”
• Posting retweets average: 20
• Increased traffic to participating agency websites
Retweets Key to Broad Outreach
Current Federal
NASA
Library of Congress
NSF
USGS
NOAA
Commerce
NARA
NLM
NIST
Current Media
6M
564K
442K
357K
236K
86K
36K
New Scientist
Science News
Scientific American
NPR Science Friday
Popular Science
EurekAlert! (AAAS)
Targets for Future
2M
744K
728K
442K
254K
16K
National Geographic
Discovery Channel
Wired Science
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Ars Technica
NY Times Science Desk
5.6M
2.1M
1.2M
1.2M
638K
541K
23K
16K
Also plan to target:
•
•
Educational organizations and associations
Scientific organizations and associations
“Start science classes out with icebreaker trivia”
“Promote trivia for online messages and newsletters”
Project Maintenance and Future
• More trivia from agencies, edit and queue
• Posts amplified by agency websites, blogs,
Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other Social
Media platforms
• Total start-up cost: $2,000 (estimated labor)
• Maintenance costs: $80 per week
• Results PRICELESS!
Summary – What’s In It for You?
• Increases organizational awareness, visibility and
interest
• Leverages low-cost/no-cost social media
• Boosts interorganizational cooperation and
collaboration
• Improves internal morale and agency pride
• Uses available resources to maximize exposure
• HAVE FUN!
More Samples from the
Science.gov Trivia Challenge
16
#trivia: @nlm_news NLM main bldg built 1950s to protect frm
what disaster? http://go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
17
#trivia: @nlm_news NLM main bldg built 1950s to protect frm
what disaster? http://go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
Question: The National Library of Medicine main building was designed and
constructed in the late 1950s to protect its collection from what type of disaster?
Answer: A nuclear attack
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., is the world’s largest biomedical library housing more
than 19 million books, journals, artworks, manuscripts, audiovisual productions and
other materials. Because the NLM main library facility was built in the late 1950s during
the height of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, the building
incorporated many design characteristics that, at the time, were considered state-of-theart means for protecting the collection from a nearby (but not direct) nuclear strike.
These included a collapsible roof, floors and walls that would equalize the pressure of
an explosion, and over 50 miles of bookshelves stored on three football field-sized
underground levels.
For more information, go to:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC200608/pdf/mlab00197-0165.pdf
18
#trivia: Who was only @NASA astronaut to fly on all five Space
Shuttles: Young, Ride or Musgrave? Go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
19
#trivia: Who was only @NASA astronaut to fly on all five Space
Shuttles: Young, Ride or Musgrave? Go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
Question: Who was the only NASA astronaut to fly on all five Space Shuttle orbiters:
John Young, Sally Ride or Story Musgrave?
Answer: Story Musgrave
Dr. Story Musgrave, selected as a scientist-astronaut by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) in 1967, flew six Space Shuttle missions and rode at least
once on all five of the orbiters that went into space: Atlantis (1991), Challenger (1983
and 1985), Columbia (1996), Discovery (1989) and Endeavour (1993). He spent more
than 1,200 hours in orbit. John Young, commander of the first Shuttle mission aboard
Columbia in 1982, piloted the ship a second time in 1983. America’s first woman in
space in 1983 aboard Challenger, Sally Ride, flew on the same orbiter again in 1984.
For more information, go to:
http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/musgrave.html
20
#trivia: Which @Energy laboratory was the birthplace of #video
#games? Go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
21
#trivia: Which @Energy laboratory was the birthplace of #video
#games? Go.usa.gov/b2u5 #scigov
Question: Which Department of Energy laboratory was the birthplace of #video
games?
Answer: Brookhaven National Laboratory
William Higinbotham, head of the Instrumentation Division at what is now the
Department of Energy (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), created an
interactive game called “Tennis for Two” for the annual visitor day in 1958. The game
was run by an analog computer hooked up to an oscilloscope. Simulated on a screen
was a vertical side view of a tennis court. Each player had a knob and a button.
Rotating the knob changed the angle of the ball and a press of the button sent the ball
toward the opposite side of the court. If the ball hit the net, it rebounded at an
unexpected angle. If the ball went over the net, but was not hit back, it would hit the
floor and bounce again at a natural angle. If it disappeared off the screen, a reset button
could be pressed, causing the ball to reappear and remain stationary until a hit button
was pressed.
For more information, go to:
http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/videogame.html
22
Questions?
Michael E. Newman, NIST
michael.newman@nist.gov
Mark Newell, USGS
mnewell@usgs.gov