Millions and Billions of Views: Understanding Popular Science and Knowledge Communication on Video-Sharing Platforms

Science and knowledge communication is the process of informing and engaging the public about a diverse array of topics, such as science, health, philosophy, and history. Effective science and knowledge communication is challenging because communicators need to balance several factors, such as the complexity of topics, viewers' diverse backgrounds, and the characteristics of the medium. With the widespread availability of design tools and platforms to create and share content, laypeople can disseminate knowledge widely through online platforms. Popular science and knowledge communication video channels on YouTube, for example, have millions or tens of millions of subscribers, as well as millions or billions of accumulated views. Even with the growing popularity of science and knowledge communication videos, there is little understanding of the practices the creators use to make and increase the reach of their videos, the challenges they encounter while doing so, and how these videos impact viewers. This paper reports on interviews conducted with 27 creators of popular science and knowledge communication videos on YouTube and 13 viewers of these creators' videos. We present the motivations of creators and viewers, the practices creators use for broad science and knowledge communication, and the challenges encountered by members of the community.