Discussing science on social media or in the press may be more important than ever, but it also carries a risk of backlash. Prepare yourself by following these steps if you frequently address the public.
Watch for signs that an online mob is forming.
- Has there been a surge of comments and messages? Is your post or topic suddenly trending on Twitter?
- What is the tone of mentions, comments, and private messages? Are users asking questions about the science or are they endorsing conspiracy theories, attacking your credibility, or threatening to harm you?
- Are messages starting to spill into other channels, such as phone calls, emails, or attempts to contact your family or employer?
Make a plan.
- Decide ahead of time how you want to handle the situation—you can either ignore attempts to contact you and temporarily shut down social media accounts or release a clarifying statement or video message.
- Use platform-native tools, including muting, blocking, and reporting harassers.
- If applicable, reach out to your institution’s leadership or safety office for additional support. In some cases, you may also choose to alert local law enforcement.
- Try to keep things in perspective. Trolls are aggressive and attention-seeking by nature, but they only represent a small fraction of your audience—and they tend to move on quickly.
Remove public information to stay one step ahead of the trolls.
- Use a service such as DeleteMeopens in new window or manually remove your informationopens in new window from online databases.
- Consider choosing enhanced privacy settings for social profiles where you make personal posts.
- If necessary, work with your institution to remove your contact information from the internet or to change your email address so it can’t be easily guessed.
