One of the main objectives of academic research is to have an impact on society and its development. But as much of this research is published in specialised international academic journals, it is read by only a limited number of people. Consequently, its impact and reach are very limited.

We are all familiar with the emerging social media landscape – YouTube, Vimeo and other popular social media sharing websites as well as video sharing concepts such as TED Talks – where popular speakers share their ideas in a convenient, accessible and effective video format streamed online. Given the ubiquity of online technology why does academia not make greater use of it, instead of continuing to rely on writing papers as a means of publicising research?

In other words, why does academia lag so far behind the current audio-visual and digital revolution?