POPULARIZING SCIENCE: THE CASE OF YOUTUBE CHANNEL «WHAT THE FACT?!»

Populariser la science ; le cas du canal YouTube : « What the fact? »

Pantelis Vatikiotis (1)

1 Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences

The paper draws on the fusion of science and entertainment, probing into popular science communication through online video. It begins by mapping the field of communicating science, highlighting then the emerging terrain of popular science videos on YouTube. Accordingly, it analyses a case study on Greek YouTube, evaluating critical issues raised when embracing enter- tainment as a vehicle for science communication in user-generated content practices. The paper argues that the capacity of popular science web video to convey the excitement of science to nonex- pert audiences sets further challenges for the integration of science with popular culture. To this end, it sketches constructive ways of approaching this integration in normative and empirical terms.

Mots clés: science; popular culture; storytelling; YouTube; web videos

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication; Education

Pantelis Vatikiotis. POPULARIZING SCIENCE: THE CASE OF YOUTUBE CHANNEL «WHAT THE FACT?!». Media Literacy Throughout Life: New pedagogical challenges to the accompaniment of the citizen. Proceedings of Colloquium Ticemed12 / L’éducation aux médias tout au long de la vie: Des nouveaux enjeux pédagogiques à l’accompagnement du citoyen. Actes du Colloque Ticemed12, Association Internationale Ticemed, Apr 2021, Athens, Greece. ⟨hal-03207375⟩