As we came into the new year, the world had no idea that we would be in the predicament that were in right now. With millions dead from this new disease, the world was swept over completely by Covid-19 causing a worldwide pandemic. We were able to endure the first couple months of COVID-19 by learning how to combat the virus through the usage of face masks. Face masks have been encouraged all over the world to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. But many people doubt the effectiveness of the face mask or even the seriousness of the disease and don’t wear a mask. A YouTube video titled “Bill Nye demonstrates why wearing masks protects people from COVID-19” discusses the importance of wearing a mask and how it is a great aiding factor in stopping the spread of coronavirus. For this paper, what would be discussed is whether CBS having Bill Nye demonstrate and educate a general audience, especially those who are totally oblivious about Covid-19 and mask wearing, is successful or not in spreading their message to the public. After analyzing the video and concerns it might bring up, it was clear that those who are oblivious to the dangers of Covid-19 and not knowing how to properly protect themselves, Bill Nye’s video would be perfect for providing crucial information we need to help stop the spread of covid-19.

The video was posted on the “CBS This Morning” YouTube channel. On their channel they displayed a video of Bill Nye demonstrating how to properly put on and wear a mask. CBS is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network that ranges from well-known sitcoms and shows to daily news on current events. CBS has gained its reliability from people all over the world and is definitely considered a trusted source. CBS is an older TV Broadcast network so most of their audience are usually those who watch television which happens to be more of the older generations, versus the younger ones. In order to combat this, they were able to expand their audience simply by getting a household name within homes all over the world to relay this message on YouTube. They were able to get Bill Nye, commonly known as “The Science Guy”, to give a tutorial on how to wear different types of masks and how they work. He also explains the science behind wearing a mask and why it’s needed in such a crucial time like now. Bill Nye not only gained his reliability because he was a scholar in the sciences and had a show all about science but also because he’s been chosen by CBS to speak on the topic.

The purpose of this YouTube video is to urgently express the importance of face masks and how they could help not only us, but everyone else around us. Despite the fact that masks have been proven to decrease the spread of Covid-19, a lot of people refuse to wear masks. This endangers not only themselves but those around them. The lack of mask wearing and using other precautionary measures like washing their hands or proper mask care slows down our ability to move forward to eradicate this pesky virus. So, for those who refuse to wear masks and others who don’t understand the importance of wearing masks, this video aids in providing the necessary details to change those specific people. Spreading this change helps to decrease the cases and casualties and buys scientists some time to find a safe and better alternative for COVID-19 like a cure. The way in which this information is delivered is through a video. The medium is the way that information is pushed and how it gets to the audience. Being that it was pushed through a video on the internet that anyone in the world could access, it increases the audience and ultimately creates more awareness about COVID-19. With the main purpose to educate, this video did it perfectly with the explanation of COVID, demonstration of putting a mask on and why it’s important to wear one. Often there are people who are more of visual learners and demonstrations on posters aren’t enough. The video clearly demonstrates the correct way of putting on a make to protect not only you but others around you. The thing about the video is that there are limitations that come with it. This video definitely creates a gap for the older audience who don’t know how to maneuver their way online or just don’t have access to electronics in general. It does create a gap but if someone was to come across it of any age, there’s no doubt that they would understand the content being pushed.

The genre of this video is an educational youtube video. Youtube is a website that millions of people view daily and watch all sorts of videos. Youtube has become a platform which almost any topic you can think of can be found in a form of a video. It allows the main audience of YouTube, which is roughly 81% of people ages 15 to 25 according to YouTube statistics, to understand and practice the information given in the video. Although youtube does have a skewed age category that mostly views the site, this doesn’t stop the millions of others from other age groups from approaching the site as there are videos for everyone’s needs. This progressively changes the climate of Covid-19 and reduces the rate it could have spread if there wasn’t a website like this to relay the message to everyone around the world. Some limitations with the video is that it may not reach older people or those who don’t view media on YouTube. Another limitation is that a good majority of younger YouTube viewers don’t watch educational videos so everyone may not come across it, especially with the recommendation algorithm built into YouTube that recommends similar videos to what the user watches. It definitely creates a gap for those who don’t consume media from YouTube and may not allow a variety of different videos to be seen. Although this can happen, youtube makes sure to push details of Covid-19 on to viewers. This is whether its a commercial for an unrelated video, or one of YouTube’s many categories that they promote on their homepage. With this being said, there is no shortage for youtube success in presenting educational messages to the world.

CBS as a whole definitely did their job at presenting these facts to the public perfectly. It has been proven that the latest generations spend vast amounts of time on the internet, including YouTube, compared to their older generational counterparts. By creating this video and posting on the internet, their purpose was easily fulfilled, getting all ages around the world to understand COVID-19 and why it is crucial to wear a mask during times like these. Each and every viewer gained knowledge on the plague that we live with day to day. Generations and generations after this can also have this video to refer to, to understand everything about COVID and how the whole world was able to prosper through a pandemic.