Handling the Haters in Science Communication

I was recently featured on an Instagram live hosted by @shine.science and I was asked the question, “How do you handle negative comments on social media?” I had such a long answer that I thought it would make an excellent podcast episode!

I’ve been putting myself out there (and by there I mean the Internet) since about 2010 when I started a professional Twitter account and blog. Eleven years later (where has the time gone??) I am still here and in the last few years I’ve put myself even out there more with the creation of a YouTube channel and this podcast.  

No matter how amazing you are, you will receive some negative comments if you do science communication. In this episode, I talk specifically about how I handle my negative comments and what you should expect if you put yourself out there just as much as me. 

Specifically I talk about and cover:

• What is science communication and why in the world would a scientist choose to do it? 
• Why I choose to do science communication and why it’s important
• What scientists are scared of if they were to put themselves out there
• A summary of my experience with negative comments and my categorization of comments: Trolling,
• negative, but informative, and disagreements
• All of the tools, techniques, and thoughts I use to deal with these comments such as:
• Reprogramming my brain using neuroscience
• Putting things in perspective and changing the meaning of comments
• How to immediately disarm nasty comments
• Why getting haters is a good thing
• Evaluating myself: Am I doing anything to attract negative comments?
• Use my comments as sources of material for content creation
• Creating a happy folder
• Visualizations that help me
• AND MORE!

For full show notes click here.

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