USING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION AND EDUCOMMUNICATION PRACTICES IN WEB 2.0 TO PRODUCE CULTURAL VIRAL CONTENT: AN EXPERIENCE PAPER

The information age with its rapid evolution of digital technology can be equated with change and adaptation. In this context a research developed by members of the Social Communication career to the university community at "Universidad Tecnica de Ambato" (UTA) in May 2015 - Ecuador, contributes with important data to be considered in this investigation: 95% of the public considers there is a need for an insertion of scientific, cultural and educational contents in social media. Alluding to social responsibility and satisfying the needs and requirements of a seeking-for-knowledge society, the present study covers results based in own experience and the methodology regarding to the production of audiovisual contents placed in the Web 2.0 community; aiming to achieve a longdistance educational, cultural and entertainment medium. We used experimental investigation methodology to visualize the impact of the title and keywords over the number of views of a scientific video in the YouTube platform. Two similar videos were produced and considered for this research; both of them were uploaded to the same channel in order to have impartial conditions. At first, they are titled in a very general way, without giving much detail of specific topics covered in them. Then, after a considerable period of nearly two years, the title and keywords of one of the videos are changed. The favorable results were quite visible when the actualized video reached a "viral" category over passing the 500.000 views threshold, generating public opinion and feedback phenomena. The unedited video on the other hand, stayed stable with a very slow increase of viewers. Production under this scheme puts into practice a series of consolidated procedures in scientific communication and educommunication. Television and radio techniques applied to the Web 2.0, aiming to present local cultural content, can be effectively disseminated by choosing the precise words so the title is specific, concise and startling.