Social media are used vastly by millions of people around the globe to connect and share information on a variety of science topics. Social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, can be defined as internet services which allow users to create a private account within a specified domain (Boyd and Ellison 2007). In a survey done in 2007 by Bioinformatics LLC, it was shown that 77% of life scientists engage in social media (Van Eperen and Marincola 2011). Although there may be drawbacks to the approach of social media in science education, there are many benefits associated with these web-based resources, particularly the tools used in delivering online materials for students and the general population.
Many highly credited institutions utilize social media in their education programmes. At the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), digital resources have been developed to aid in student learning and the professional development of educators. Pinterest is a relatively new site and is a main channel used by the SSEC. It focuses on students who learn more efficiently through visual means (Schell 2014). Space extraordinaires NASA also engage in the use of social media. NASA is connected to almost all social media networks providing information and latest updates on all projects and programmes to inform and educate not only students and teachers, but also the general public (Townsend 2014).
There are a multitude of benefits for scientists which can be obtained from public visibility on social media. Social media allows more efficient access of knowledge to students and scientists, helping to fine tune the information of which the researcher is in need of. For example, applications such as Google Reader can be used to synchronise articles and books to mobile devices to aid in research (Bik and Goldstein 2013). Visual aids such as Youtube, has proven to very resourceful in communicating information from lecturers to students...