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Short Abstract

We explore how familiar communication platforms such as WhatsApp can enable inclusive and sustained participation in citizen science and demonstrate how communicative practices themselves can serve as non-intrusive indicators of social impact and inclusion.

Abstract

This contribution responds to the panel’s call to advance inclusive and non-intrusive impact assessment in citizen science by examining communication as both a mechanism and a measure of inclusion. Drawing on the principle of Meeting People Where They Are, we designed communication methods that align with participants’ social, cultural, and technological habits. We argue that assessing impact can utilize these communication features considering how such infrastructures reflect and foster meaningful engagement.

We illustrate this through the Big Backyard Bird Count (BBBC), where informal WhatsApp groups emerged as self-organized spaces for community building and knowledge sharing. Using a mixed-methods approach combining an online survey (n=97) with content analysis of group interactions, we assessed the communicative functions of the platform and their implications for sustained, equitable participation. Rather than treating participants as research subjects, our analysis focused on naturally occurring interaction patterns as indicators of inclusion, belonging, and empowerment.

Interpreting the findings through the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, we show how social, cognitive, and facilitator presences manifest organically in accessible digital environments. This framing provides an avenue for impact assessment grounded in lived communication practices rather than external measurement. The study offers practical insights into how everyday digital communication can serve as an ethical, low-intrusion approach to evaluating the inclusive impact of citizen science initiatives.