McKasy, M., Yeo, S. K., Zhang, J. S., Michael A. Cacciatore, Allen, H. W., & Su, L. Y.-F. (2022, December). “Social endorsement, credibility, and support for the regulation of research on enhanced geothermal systems,” Society for Risk Analysis, Tampa, FL.
Abstract: This paper explores how audiences form opinions about an under-communicated energy source, “Enhanced Geothermal Systems” or EGS. As a new relatively new and unknown energy technology, we explore how social media metrics (likes, comments, and shares) can influence audience perceptions of credibility of a balanced opinion article about the topic, and in turn, how that influences support for regulation of EGS.