Affect in science communication: a data-driven analysis of TED Talks on YouTube
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Authors
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Publication date
2024
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01A - Journal article
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Parent work
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
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Volume
11
Issue / Number
80
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Publisher / Publishing institution
Springer
Place of publication / Event location
London
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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.
Keywords
Subject (DDC)
150 - Psychologie
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ISBN
ISSN
2662-9992
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
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Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Gold
License
Citation
FISCHER, Olivia, Loris Tizian JEITZINER und Dirk U. WULFF, 2024. Affect in science communication: a data-driven analysis of TED Talks on YouTube. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2024. Bd. 11, Nr. 80. DOI 10.1057/s41599-023-02247-z. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-8375