Scientific American is undergoing a digital awakening. As the oldest continuously-published magazine in the United States, we’ve embarked on a journey to bring our legacy media brand onto TikTok. Our goal is to translate science and technology news into entertaining and educational videos that resonate with a younger audience less familiar with traditional print media. We want our channel to inspire curiosity and spark interest in STEM, while also serving as a source of high-quality information on a platform rife with misinformation.
TikTok is a volatile, dynamic platform. As newbies to the space, we weren’t really sure what sort of response to expect. But over the last nine months Scientific American has thrived on TikTok. Our first video immediately received hundreds of thousands of views – it now has more than 700,000. We’ve gone truly viral a few times already with videos on all sorts of subjects: a glowing houseplant, emoji biodiversity, period products, fear, AI, Joy Division’s science connections and even gift-wrapping oranges.
We now have over 10 million views in total and 1.1 million likes. We’re particularly encouraged by the age range breakdown of our viewers: 25–34 (40%), 35–44 (24%), and 18–24 (22%). We really are finding the younger audience we were looking for.
Beyond the numbers though, what really gives us joy and hope are the kinds of comments we receive on our videos. Our comments section is overwhelmingly positive and thoughtful. It’s simply chock full of curious minds who want to know more about dog behavior, cat physics, and what really happens when Mercury is in the microwave—er—in retrograde. Our editorial team is inspired by questions posed by audiences on these platforms, like what sludge videos are doing to their brains or if walking backwards really benefits joint health.
It’s just the beginning of our journey on TikTok, but we’ve found our footing. We will continue to evolve and forge a deeper connection with our audience, but we are already proud of the foundation we’ve built on a brand new (to us) platform. We are delighted to take our nearly 60,000 TikTok followers with us as we continue to bring high-quality STEM news to the forefront of social video spaces.
