Science communication approaches of universities: An examination of dialogue and participation models on social media

This study examines the science communication practices of university science communication offices in Türkiye on Instagram. A total of 592 posts were coded through content analysis based on the most recent posts of 32 offices with active accounts in December 2025. The coding was conducted at three levels: (i) content type, (ii) science communication model (deficit/information transfer, dialogue, participation), and (iii) contextual embeddedness (place and target audience). The findings show that the visible content is concentrated mainly in the genres of “expert opinion/conceptual explanation” and “institutional announcement”, while activities such as Science Cafés are often framed as instruments of institutional visibility rather than interactive engagement. Overall, 69.4% of the posts correspond to a one-way information-transfer model, whereas dialogue-oriented (11.0%) and participation-oriented (19.6%) frames remain limited. The frequent omission of the target audience suggests that the public is constructed as a homogeneous and abstract recipient, whereas concrete groups such as young people and farmers are named more often in dialogue and participation-oriented content. Spatially, posts are presented mainly on campus (45.3%) or without a specified setting (40.2%), while off-campus venues such as municipal spaces, cafés, and schools remain limited. Overall, the study suggests that science communication should be understood as a practice shaped by content, place, target audience, and communication model, and indicates that universities are underutilizing the dialogic and participatory potential of social media.