Populärvetenskap mellan fakta, narrativ och  desinformation : Diskursiva praktiker för ”science myth debunking” på Tiktok

Sammanfattning: The overall aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how a pervasive digitalization and mediatization takes part in shaping and reshaping the relations between science and society and popular understanding of scientific epistemologies. In recent years, the prevalence of disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories together with suggestions on how to combat this have come to characterize general discourses on knowledge, science, truth and digital media. Encounters with myths or disinformation can give impetus to what is usually called myth debukning. On social media, there are discussions and debates about whats should be considered as truth and facts and what we should reject as disinformation. The digital platform Tiktok has in a short time become one of the most popular places for digital social interaction and is today part of public discourse. The purpose of this study is to study examples of science myth debunking or the exposure of myths about science on the digital social platform Tiktok. The study shows that discursive practices for myth debunking are formed through the interaction between a variety of human and non-human actors. Myth debunking can be seen as to shed light on scientific development and how scientific knowledge production plays out in interplay with society in general. Understanding the role of science communication as a means of disseminating scientific knowledge in some popularized form separates science from the social and cultural contexts in which learning and reflection usually take place. Here, Tiktok, with its "messyness" and as a place for diversity of expressions, palys an important role.