The Impact of Digital Communication on Scientific Storytelling

Over the past two decades, the rapid proliferation of digital communications, the explosion of non-expert stakeholders, and increasingly scarce research resources have significantly transformed how science is performed and communicated. These combined pressures have made interesting scientific stories more valuable than compelling scientific results, often to the detriment of scientific research.

The Rise of Digital Communication

One of the primary drivers of this transformation is the rapid expansion of digital communication platforms. Digital tools now enable the almost instantaneous sharing of information on a scale that was previously unimaginable. This has greatly increased the ease and speed of disseminating scientific findings and discussing their significance. However, this abundant flow of information has also led to an almost overwhelming amount of content competing for our attention. In today's digital age, information is no longer scarce, but attention is. As a result, every piece of information must seize our attention in order to be considered at all.

Shifting Focus: Attention Over Data

The sheer volume of information available has turned attention into the rate-limiting factor in almost everybody's daily lives, including scientists. Just as non-experts vie for our attention, scientists must now compete for it too. Given the overwhelming amount of valuable information available, once we decide to consume something, we tend to be highly distracted and rushed. This pressure to capture attention has applied a selection pressure to scientific communications to be both rapidly interesting and easy to comprehend.

The Role of Interesting Stories in Scientific Communication

An interesting story accomplishes both of these goals. Scientific results, when communicated in the typical understated, precise, and conservative scientific style, are nuanced and technically challenging. This style often makes them difficult to grasp for a broader audience. To combat this and to increase the likelihood of being read or published, it has become increasingly important to fit results into a compelling narrative. This is especially true in the current environment where many non-expert stakeholders occupy critical positions along the pipeline of publication, such as full-time editors at scientific journals who make the final decision about publication. These editors, regardless of the quality of the data, often emphasize the importance of an interesting story over rigorous data analysis.

The Consequences of Storytelling Over Data

The push for interesting stories has significant implications for how science is communicated and, to some extent, how it is performed. Advancement through academic research positions is surprisingly dependent on getting published in top-tier journals, which, as mentioned, often select based on the story rather than the data. This means that for many researchers, having solid results is not enough; they must be shaped into an interesting narrative to be considered worthy of publication.

Furthermore, many funding models for scientific research now heavily rely on compelling stories to attract private funding from wealthy donors. This adds another layer of incentive to present nuanced results in a more straightforward and accessible manner, potentially at the expense of rigorous and detailed data analysis. The focus on storytelling over data can arguably harm the field by prioritize public appeal over scientific rigor.

Striking the Right Balance

Strike a balance between making science accessible to non-experts and making it interesting to them is challenging. There are now too many incentives that encourage researchers to cross this line, diluting the accuracy and depth of their work in the pursuit of a more engaging narrative. This shift, while understandable in a world where attention is a scarce resource, risks undermining the very essence of scientific research.

In conclusion, while digital communication has democratized the sharing of scientific information, the shift towards a more narrative-driven approach in scientific communication has profound implications for the future of science. It is essential for researchers to strike the right balance between accessibility and rigor, ensuring that the stories they tell are compelling and the data they present is robust and transparent.