The Role of Internet/YouTube in the Socialization/Popularization of Science in Brazil

Abstract

The study aims to analyze how science is socialized and popularized through the internet, more specifically, through the YouTube (YT) platform in Brazil. The study gives a brief presentation of the current socio-historical context in Brazil before presenting the theoretical framework that is based mainly on Michel Foucault's notion of knowledge and power, and its relations with the forms of control in society and on Theodor Adorno's view of mass culture. In order to analyze YouTube's role in the socialization/popularization of science, sixteen YT channels were analyzed in the first semester of 2019. The method used is mixed (Dörnyei, 2007) using a predominantly quantitative approach to measure projection in the internet of the channels analyzed. Qualitative analysis focuses on issues of content and source in the videos analyzed. In general, the analysis of the results suggests that STEM areas have a higher prevalence in the description of the videos. The study concludes with the suggestion that the platform improves the search engine so that users can filter more specific areas of knowledge, thus expanding the potential of the internet and this site in the dissemination and popularization of modern science.