Ini Vanwesenbeeck awarded the KVAB/Jonge Academie Annual Scientific Communication Prize
Every year, the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium and the Young Academy award the "Scientific Communication Awards" to scientists with exceptional merit in scientific communication. Ini Vanwesenbeeck and her team receive this award for "Magditonline", a project through which they aim to inform parents about the dangers and responsibilities associated with portraying children online.
The awards are presented to researchers who have worked intensively for two years on a concrete project in science communication. Ini Vanwesenbeeck and her research team receive the award for Magditonline.be (Can I post this?), a socially relevant communication project to raise awareness about the dangers of sharing information about your child on social media. "Today's parents are the first to record their children's stories on social media. Mag dit online aims to inform these parents about the sensitivities of portraying children on social media and support them to deal with this responsibly." This project is in collaboration with Ghent University.
What struck Ini Vanwesenbeeck most about this project? "Although children find creating influencer content quite fun, they have a hard time assessing the consequences if their photos and data are posted online."
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Ini Vanwesenbeeck
Assistant ProfessorIni Vanwesenbeeck is Assistant Professor with the TSHD Department of Communication and Cognition. Within the Center for Social Influence research group she explores how influencers have an effect on their followers’ behavior.
Eos Science Audience Award nomination
In addition, the research team also has a chance to win the audience award from Eos Science. This prize will be awarded on 14 November to the scientist who best succeeds in attracting their research to the general public. Eos Science is a Flemish monthly magazine with news about the latest developments in science.