Analysis of over 1,600 chemistry YouTube channels from 2005 to 2023

Chemistry – “the central science” – has found broad appeal on the freely available global video-sharing platform YouTube. Given that YouTube is now almost universally accessible and may be the first place people look to engage with science topics, and that chemistry YouTube videos are now even being cited in the peer-reviewed literature, it is important to know what sort of chemistry YouTube content is available, who is producing it, and who the target audiences are. By applying both manual and semi-automated search methods, we identified and analysed publicly available data for 1,619 chemistry YouTube channels that were available in 2023. We found that (1) the majority of chemistry YouTube channels (84%) were being produced by independent content creators with no clear affiliation to institutions, corporations, or any other body; (2) the background of the majority of chemistry channel creators was not readily apparent (57%); (3) that the majority of videos were aimed at students (71%); (4) that the majority of videos (71%) were focused on chemistry theory or exam revision. The USA, India, and the UK were the top three countries for producing English-language chemistry YouTube content (19%, 11%, and 5% respectively). 51% of chemistry YouTube channels had not posted a video in the 12 months prior to the sampling period in 2023. We also examined the number of videos produced, channel lifespans, the use of features such as playlists and short-form videos, apparent revenue streams (outside of default advertising), the use of other social media, and whether or not channels were exclusively producing chemistry content. We note that chemistry YouTube video production massively increased in 2020, concurrent with the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This study and its associated dataset provide the first large-scale ‘census’ of how YouTube is being used for chemistry communication and education worldwide. We expect our findings to be of interest and use to policy makers, funding agencies, educators, content creators, and the public.