The Coaxing Architecture of Reddit’s r/science: Adopting Ethos-Assessment Heuristics to Evaluate Science Experts on the Internet

Abstract

ABSTRACT Concerned with how individuals assess scientific experts on the Internet, our research investigates the virtual r/science subreddit and their popular Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) series, where scientists engage with an audience for a question-and-answer forum focused on their research. We attend primarily to the Reddit architecture and social norms, examining their role in mediating ethos – that is, the scientist’s performance of expertise. We argue that r/science AMAs promote the adoption of simple ethos-assessment heuristics that enable participants, with little cognitive investment, to presume the trustworthiness and credibility of participating scientists and therefore defer to their expertise.