Sapiophile: University Teachers as Vloggers
Sapiophile: University Teachers as Vloggers

Summary/Abstract: The Sapiophile video blog1 was launched on 24 October 2016 by the PR team of the Miercurea Ciuc campus of Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania. The vlog appeared on the Faculty’s YouTube channel2 and was promoted on the Facebook social networking site. The vlog has already reached its second season, and there were presented more than 16 episodes.3 Four university teachers present on a monthly basis in 5–10-minute videos scientific topics in a science-promoting way. This vlog opened a new chapter in the University’s branding and PR strategy and reached great popularity among students, among alumni, among the local society but also in the Hungarian mass media and public discourse of Transylvania. This paper, as part of a wider research, will present and analyse the Sapiophile vlog as a case study. Beyond the quantifiable parameters (the purpose of the vlog, the list of the presented topics, the technical design, the number of likes, comments, views, shares), it also seeks a qualitative focus through an interview with the director and cameraman of the vlog. Our research questions are: how do digital content consumers become digital content creators? Why does a user of Generation X or Y become a vlogger, which is a typical behaviour for members of Generation Z? Why does a university teacher start vlogging? What are the topics in this digital experiment? What is the vlog’s reception among different generations, within and outside the academia? What goals can be identified behind vlog producing? How and when does this digital opening come to fruition? Of course, what kind of damages, barriers, and challenges can there be?

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