Tom Carruthers: From 7K Followers to 2.4M actively engaged people worldwide

In 2017, the Australian Academy of Science recruited me to support the Curious project, a social-media-first campaign to share breaking science news and science information to Australia and the world. The concept was simple: Australian science is world-class, so we should proudly share its results globally. And if we wanted to reach an international audience, we had to go to where a lot of people already were: social media.

The Curious team consisted of expert scientists, experienced journalists, and trained science communicators. Together we developed a strategy of science storytelling that was accurate, accessible, engaging and relevant. We told stories about fundamental science, new discoveries, and responded quickly to breaking news.

Crucially, we recognised that how we distributed stories was just as important as how we wrote or filmed them. That’s where my role as Digital Strategist came in, curating and framing our content so it resonated in different demographics across Australia and around the world. During a lunar eclipse, we had an astronomer explain why the Moon turns red. When a measles outbreak occurred, we shared targeted posts on the disease and the value of vaccination. After an earthquake or flood, we provided easy-to-use scientific explainers to the media and easy-to-understand scientific explainers to the public, and amplified government warnings on hygiene with messages from our experts. Each time, our focus was to provide content that our audiences found valuable, interesting, and trustworthy.

Because we built a trusted relationship with our audiences, people paid attention to us, even on topics they might otherwise ignore. This was visible by the strong engagement with our videos and articles on science policy or new research papers that weren’t related to current news events. We reached people who were usually disengaged, and we did it at scale: from just 7,000 Facebook followers, our audience grew to more than 2.4 million actively engaged people worldwide in less than two years.

One success story that has stayed with me came from a Fellow of the Academy who had just returned from a conference in South Africa. While walking with colleagues, he was recognised on the street, not by other scientists, but by members of the public, as “that famous Australian scientist who works with coral”. This was Australian science visible on the global stage.

Over the five years I worked on the project, we shared thousands of science stories to millions of people worldwide, amplifying the reputation of Australian science. The outcome? When audiences needed advice, they turned to us. For Australia, that trust proved invaluable during our health crises.

Tom Carruthers

Former President of the Australian Science Communicators, the peak body for science communication in Australia. He served as the Digital Strategist and Communications Operations Manager for the Australian Academy of Science during the Curious project. He now lives and works in the Czech Republic. More details about Curious can be found at science.org.au/curious. The Academy’s strategy has since evolved, with a stronger focus on internal policy engagement. Examples of online engagement from Curious can be found in content shared between 2017 and 2022.

Where to find him?

Follow him on LinkedIn or write to tom@carruthers.studio.