"We Lied to You... and We'll Do It Again": Communicating Science via YouTube

There are many guides and examples regarding how to create effective science communication. However, the steps for creating such communication pieces are often complex, but suggestions often offer only simplified sets of instructions. This is especially the case for emerging mediums and methods for science communication as they often involve exciting and useful digital developments that simultaneously bring along new challenges and blind spots.

One of these blind spots is that trending practices and recommendations do not always allow for a focus on the long-term view, something we call the "long tail" of science communication. This long tail recognizes that current practices and science communication offerings can prevail long beyond an initial encounter. Such moments can even prompt particular audience members to significantly alter what would have been a very different life.

We take this long-tail focus by examining audience engagement with the YouTube video "...And We'll Do it Again," by the German media company Kurzgesagt. Their English YouTube channel, created in 2013, explores science communication topics through animation with almost 20 million subscribers. [...]