The objective of this paper is to discuss and demonstrate in a case study the application of social media as a tool for acceptance, sociability and interaction in human–robot interaction (HRI). By adopting the concept of mediatization as discussed in media and communication studies, we aim to propose an extended usage of social media in the design of robots but also in collecting data on their acceptance and sociability. We aim to provide a starting point for ongoing studies into the extension of HRI evaluation frameworks, which provide additional ways to measure HRI based on a media and communication studies approach. Our discussion is supported by results of an HRI public engagement project, which included a social media strategy. The project was designed around a hitchhiking robot, called hitchBOT, which was dependent on the public’s engagement and support in its hitchhiking objectives. The robot’s social media strategies included accounts and profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a website. The aim was to use social media in order to engage not only with those people finding hitchBOT on the side of the road, but also a wider international audience. The robot’s social media accounts provided a tool to communicate hitchBOT’s origins, personality, goals, and travels. Our use of social media to communicate hitchBOT’s personality and to instill trust, interest and emotional engagement constituted a novel contribution to the design of social robots and to the scope and scale of evaluation in HRI.

中文翻译：

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人机交互中的社交媒体

本文的目的是在案例研究中讨论和演示社交媒体在人机交互（HRI）中作为接受，社交和交互工具的应用。通过采用媒体和传播研究中讨论的中介化概念，我们旨在提议在机器人设计中以及在收集有关其接受度和社交性的数据方面广泛使用社交媒体。我们旨在为正在进行的有关HRI评估框架扩展的研究提供一个起点，该框架为基于媒体和传播研究方法的HRI评估提供了其他方法。HRI公众参与项目的结果支持了我们的讨论，该项目包括社交媒体战略。该项目是围绕一个名为hitchBOT的搭便车机器人设计的，这取决于公众对搭便车目标的参与和支持。该机器人的社交媒体策略包括在Facebook，Twitter，Instagram和网站上的帐户和个人资料。目的是使用社交媒体，以便不仅与那些在路边找到hitchBOT的人互动，而且还与更广泛的国际受众互动。机器人的社交媒体帐户提供了一种工具，可以传达hitchBOT的出身，个性，目标和旅行。我们使用社交媒体来传达hitchBOT的个性并灌输信任，兴趣和情感参与，这对社交机器人的设计以及HRI评估的范围和规模做出了新的贡献。