What should students look for? A response to the commentary ‘From appealing science to accountable science’ on social media

In response to Batac's (Citation2026) commentary, we further reflect on our study of students' criteria for science communication on social media (Majcen & Spitzer, Citation2025b). We welcome the opportunity to clarify the study's scope and to consider how its findings may inform science education. Acknowledging the tension between visibility and reliability, we argue that this underscores the importance of coupling Nature of Science perspectives with targeted science media literacy and informed trust strategies in science teaching. We suggest that future research should explore how these educational approaches can help young people critically engage with, recognise, demand, and produce science communication that is both engaging and trustworthy.