Title |
Scientists Popularizing Science: Characteristics and Impact of TED Talk Presenters
|
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Published in |
PLOS ONE, April 2013
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DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0062403 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Mike Thelwall, Vincent Larivière, Andrew Tsou, Philippe Mongeon, Benoit Macaluso |
Abstract |
The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference and associated website of recorded conference presentations (TED Talks) is a highly successful disseminator of science-related videos, claiming over a billion online views. Although hundreds of scientists have presented at TED, little information is available regarding the presenters, their academic credentials, and the impact of TED Talks on the general population. This article uses bibliometric and webometric techniques to gather data on the characteristics of TED presenters and videos and analyze the relationship between these characteristics and the subsequent impact of the videos. The results show that the presenters were predominately male and non-academics. Male-authored videos were more popular and more liked when viewed on YouTube. Videos by academic presenters were more commented on than videos by others and were more liked on YouTube, although there was little difference in how frequently they were viewed. The majority of academic presenters were senior faculty, males, from United States-based institutions, were visible online, and were cited more frequently than average for their field. However, giving a TED presentation appeared to have no impact on the number of citations subsequently received by an academic, suggesting that although TED popularizes research, it may not promote the work of scientists within the academic community. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 49 | 23% |
United Kingdom | 19 | 9% |
Canada | 17 | 8% |
France | 7 | 3% |
Spain | 5 | 2% |
Germany | 5 | 2% |
Japan | 4 | 2% |
Singapore | 3 | 1% |
Australia | 3 | 1% |
Other | 32 | 15% |
Unknown | 72 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 138 | 64% |
Scientists | 55 | 25% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 16 | 7% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 7 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Canada | 4 | 2% |
Australia | 2 | <1% |
Netherlands | 2 | <1% |
Brazil | 2 | <1% |
United States | 2 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Romania | 1 | <1% |
Italy | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 220 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 35 | 15% |
Student > Master | 31 | 13% |
Researcher | 28 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 24 | 10% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 17 | 7% |
Other | 56 | 24% |
Unknown | 44 | 19% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Social Sciences | 50 | 21% |
Computer Science | 17 | 7% |
Linguistics | 16 | 7% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 16 | 7% |
Arts and Humanities | 15 | 6% |
Other | 71 | 30% |
Unknown | 50 | 21% |