NASA Social Media Policy Is Breaking Boundaries And Expanding The Outreach Of Space Exploration Programs

NASA runs highly advanced space exploration programs round the year. These programs are highly technical, and the output of these experiments is often out of comprehension of common people. In order to broaden its horizons and touch the lives of masses, NASA social media department was launched. This part of NASA takes care of public campaigning of space programs and posting live updates from the International Space Station (ISS), data collected from NASA Curiosity rover and other satellites orbiting the Earth.

NASA first started using social media in 2008, in an effort to make itself more engaging in public point of view. Veronica McGregor, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's head of communication, said that when she heard about Twitter, she got the idea of using it as a platform to generate public interest on the "Phoenix Lander," which was then going to touch down Mars. "At the spur of the moment I decided I would tweet as the lander in the first person," McGregor said.

Since then, there has been a steep increase in the level of public interest regarding the everyday achievements and developments of NASA. Everyday people wake up and check NASA social media updates on Earth and the space, Engadget reported.

John Yembrick, NASA social-media manager, informed that currently, NASA has a team of social media experts, who handle 500 accounts on various social media platforms including Facebook, Tumblr and, of course, Twitter.

According to warc, the posts made by NASA get millions of likes and shares and were attributed to the humor and pop culture references reflected in them. Presently, NASA social media platforms together have 123.7 million regular followers who receive constant updates in the form of images and videos.

This has also provided a chance to the common people to get a glimpse of the zero gravity life of the crew aboard the International Space Station and the controversial signatures of extinct life on Mars.