I decided to start a ~pop-sci TikTok, why?
It seems to me that the general attitude of the academic community toward TikTok and social media is rather contemptuous. So it is important for me to clarify my current opinion. For me, this is (the order is random)
- Training (almost) scientific communication
This will hardly help me write papers better, but papers are only one part of scientific communication. Besides colleagues in the field (who will likely read the papers), there are interested people from other areas of science and simply the general public (I hate when people call them taxpayers). It seems to me that for communication with everyone except specialists (and maybe even with them too), TikTok can be a good form of training.
- An alternative to text notes
During my work, both in research and in teaching, thoughts about mathematics that I needed to share started accumulating in my head: from completely silly ones like “how to properly explain the maximum principle to children” to more serious things. I thought about starting to write blog posts. Then I realized that more than one person will read your texts only if you are a visionary like Francis Bach. TikToks, on the other hand, at least somebody will watch. In the end, sometimes I also make funny faces there.
- (General) Communication training
It is difficult for me to structure explanations of complex (or simply not widely known) concepts, and as a non-native speaker in English this is twice as difficult. TikTok helps to develop the skill of alternating examples and generalisation, consciously approaching the choice of the hook, and try keep track of the audience’s attention.
The first TikTok can be found via the link. It is about the maximum principle, and technically it is the third one (the first two still seem to me of insufficient quality for posting). At the beginning, I plan to talk about simpler things in order to find my own tone.
I will also duplicate all videos on YouTube Shorts.