If I laugh: the role of humour in reaching new audiences

Abstract

In an increasingly digital world growing number of people are obtaining their information about nature through television programmes and online. Whilst viewing figures for BBC Natural History programming is the highest it has ever been, children are spending less time outdoors than ever. Whilst it has been shown that the most successful behavioural change campaigns revolve around positive messaging, the messages behind conservation based articles and television programmes are increasingly negative. This discourages those who avoid the negative emotions that this messaging evokes from engaging with content about the natural world. Here I demonstrate how humour can be an effective tool for reaching out to people that do not typically engage with programming and online content on the topics of nature and conservation. I will present a number of examples from my own experiences as a popular science writer and social media user to demonstrate how humorous topics that appear unrelated to conservation can be used to communicate conservation messaging to large numbers of people, and inform people about the natural world in the process.