SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION ABOUT COVID-19 ON INSTAGRAM: analysis of the actions present in the institutional profile of the Federal University of Alagoas from a socio-interactionist perspective
scientific divulgation; health information; higher education institutions; social media; disinformation; Covid-19.
Public universities and institutes assumed an important role related to scientific dissemination during the health and infodemic crisis caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. In this context, social media became the main channel for approaching the non-specialized public. The present study aims to characterize scientific dissemination about covid-19 on the institutional profile of the Federal University of Alagoas on Instagram between the years of 2020 and 2023. It is a descriptive study, in which publications related to covid-19 carried out in the institutional profile of the Federal University of Alagoas on Instagram. The study includes, in its analyses, publications of an informative nature about Covid-19, made between January 2020 and May 2023. To reach the discussions, it works on concepts relating to scientific production, communication and dissemination and the role of research institutions. Higher Education in this process. Perspectives on the contribution of linguistics in relation to scientific dissemination production, materialized in different genres, are also presented. Using linguistic and content analysis techniques, supported by linguistic principles of socio-interaction, below are analyzes and syntheses relating to publications carried out between 2020 and 2023 that met the study's inclusion criteria. Of the 99 scientific dissemination pieces analyzed, 78 presented at least one type of inadequacy regarding textual production strategies, which means that there is no systematic concern in adapting the content to the needs of the audience. These occurrences may be related to difficulty in understanding the content and the inability to adequately recontextualize the information on the part of the non-specialized public.