No. 113/2021

Illustration: Raufeld Medien, Photo: Frank Sonnenberg What lessons do you draw for science – not to communicate on social media at all? On the contrary: science communication is more important today than ever. And these digital channels are a great way of doing it. Can you recommend any recipes to help researchers avoid shitstorms? If my entire energies are directed at not caus- ing a shitstorm, I should restrict myself to using Latin or Ancient Greek on social media. No, but seriously, I would recommend com- municating as neutrally as possible and try- ing to avoid polarisation – just as the laws of good behaviour teach us. And then what should you do if you get caught up in a shitstorm? Keep quiet and wait until the storm has passed? No, on no account! A shitstorm can have dire consequences – legally, professionally and pri- vately. You should definitely try to save the sit- uation, by apologising if you have said some- thing that has offended someone. And, in any case, with an open explanation – why you judged the way you did, for example. When it comes to science communication, the best thing is to explain your scientific analysis again. Usually, you will then reach the members of the public who didn’t actually intend to misunder- stand you. Interview KILIAN KIRCHGESSNER PROFESSOR DR HEKTOR HAARKÖTTER teaches communication science with a focus on political communi- cation at Hochschule Bonn- Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences. A former journalist and Humboldt host, he is editor and author of several scientific books such as Shitstorms und andere Nettigkeiten. Über die Gren- zen der Kommunikation in Social Media (2016) or, most recently, Notizzettel. Denken und Schreiben im 21. Jahr- hundert. 23 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 113/2021