Science opinion leaders in digitized communication environments: Media use, trust in science, and conspiracy affinity

Research on opinion leadership has gained new relevance in the digital age, where information is increasingly curated by networks, algorithms, and individual preferences rather than traditional journalism. While opinion leadership has been used to characterize individuals engaged in specific issues, mainly political communication, it is also crucial to apply this concept to scientific contexts due to the societal prominence of science. Although scientific information differs from opinion or news, its prominence supports this application and raises questions about how much science opinion leaders trust science or believe in conspiracies. This study addresses this by examining science opinion leadership using data from an online survey in Germany ( n = 2435). We confirm the relationship between science opinion leadership, interest, perceived knowledge, and media use for receiving and disseminating information. Additionally, trust in science and disapproval of conspiracies and populist media were less pronounced and more varied than expected.