Anomalous waves: the role of rumors and social networks in communicating the discovery of waves

DIDASCALIA IMMAGINE: le forme d’onda del segnale GW150914 raccolto dagli interferometri LIGO di Hanford e Livingston il 14 settembre 2015.

ABSTRACT: The discovery of gravitational waves, announced on February 11, 2016, was a scientific event of enormous significance, receiving media coverage that was virtually unprecedented in the history of scientific reporting. thames watch But the path that led to the official announcement of the discovery also represented an intriguing case study for those involved in science communication: in the months leading up to the announcement, some scientists outside the experiment spread numerous rumors via social networks,
producing tangible effects on researchers, the media, and the public. This is a paradigmatic case because it raises a problem of great importance
in the era of Big Science: how to manage the communication of a major scientific discovery when the research involves thousands of
people, including researchers and funders? And how to deal with the increasingly frequent leaks, whose rapid dissemination
is made even easier when conveyed by the web and social networks?