Affect in science communication: a data-driven analysis of TED Talks on YouTube

Olivia Fischer, Loris T. Jeitziner and Dirk U. Wulff ()
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Olivia Fischer: University of Zurich
Loris T. Jeitziner: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
Dirk U. Wulff: University of Basel

Palgrave Communications, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Science communication is evolving: Increasingly, it is directed at the public rather than academic peers. Understanding the circumstances under which the public engages with scientific content is therefore crucial to improving science communication. In this article, we investigate the role of affect on audience engagement with a modern form of science communication: TED Talks on the social media platform YouTube. We examined how two aspects of affect, valence and density are associated with public engagement with the talk in terms of popularity (reflecting views and likes) and polarity (reflecting dislikes and comments). We found that the valence of TED Talks was associated with both popularity and polarity: Positive valence was linked to higher talk popularity and lower talk polarity. Density, on the other hand, was only associated with popularity: Higher affective density was linked to higher popularity—even more so than valence—but not polarity. Moreover, the association between affect and engagement was moderated by talk topic, but not by whether the talk included scientific content. Our results establish affect as an important covariate of audience engagement with scientific content on social media, which science communicators may be able to leverage to steer engagement and increase reach.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02247-z

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