TIME SCAVENGERS: SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS ALLOW FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

Time Scavengers is a well-organized and engaging website with over 30 informational pages that focus on topics pertaining to paleontology, climate change, evolution, and science education. The site disseminates information through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Time Scavengers is adamant that scientific information is accessible to the general public. The team has begun engaging with hashtag use in posts, specifically we are interested in examining #FossilFriday success across platforms. Data from all social media platforms has been collected to compare the number of post engagements across all platforms. collected data was then analyzed and compared to additional site user data from Google Analytics. Followers of the site on Instagram engaged with the posts more than those on Facebook or Twitter. Between Facebook and Twitter engagements, Facebook is the most active social media platform for engagement with the Time Scavengers community. Twitter has the lowest social post interactions with the site. From the time when we created a Instagram account, site visitors steadily increased, and after a few weeks the active users between Time Scavengers and Instagram rose. Facebook posts consistently do well in regards to engagement with the pubic. The quantitative data that was collected is an important factor for us to understand how the use of various social media platforms allows Time Scavengers to communicate science effectively and reach out to the general public.