Understanding how exposure to science content on social media shapes normative expectations of scientists’ communication: A social media affordances perspective

As social media continue to shape where science is communicated and how it is consumed, this study adopts an affordances approach to advance our understanding of how audiences observe and make sense of online scientific content and evaluate science and scientists more broadly. By analyzing a two-wave survey ( N = 878) conducted in February and March 2025, this study reveals that online science content exposure is associated with increased normative expectations across a range of scientists’ communication behaviors, including political advocacy, warmth- and competence-oriented strategies, and public engagement. In addition, stronger expectations of competency-oriented communication and political advocacy were associated with greater trust in and vulnerability toward scientists. Political ideology was found to moderate the relationship between science observation and certain normative expectations. Findings underscore the role of social media in influencing science communication norms and (re)shaping what it means to be a trustworthy scientist in an increasingly visible and networked media environment.