Many different types of social media are now used at ESA to share with people about the exciting things happening in the world of space. Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, blogs, google+ and tweetups are just some of the many ways you can find out about all kinds of fascinating space events.
Twitter @esa was created in 2010 and now has more than 57,000 followers. It keeps people updated with non-stop space news. You can also follow ESA and space news in many different languages including English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Dutch (http://twitter.com/esa).
ESA also organises events for Twitter followers, known as ‘Tweetups’. A Tweetup is when Twitter users actually meet up with space experts and each other, to share their knowledge and passion for space. ‘Tweeps’ write thousands of tweets about what they are learning for everyone else to read, as well as sharing images, video clips and blog updates.
You can also follow real astronauts on Twitter like Andre Kuipers (@astro_andre), Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha), Tim Peake (@Astro_TimPeake) and Luca Parmitano (@Astro_Luca) who tweet about their training and their missions.
During his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers took so many incredible pictures which he then posted them on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_andre/). More than 25 million people have now seen these beautiful images taken from space!
ESA has been on YouTube since 2008 and has had almost 1.2 million views. Lots of great videos can be found here including questions to astronauts like Frank De Winne and Paolo Nespoli, the Mars500 experiment and videos about the different space mission (www.youtube.com/esa).
ESA’s Flickr channels are a great place to find wonderful pictures of everything from launches, special science and earth images, astronauts and all the latest hot topics (http://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanspaceagency).
On Facebook Friends of ESA is run by volunteers and is dedicated to people who love everything about space. It already has more than 25,000 likes and is perfect if you want to learn more about space!
