We’re still here!
YLE’s 4th Anniversary
We’re approaching YLE’s fourth anniversary. This means exactly 4 years ago, I told my husband: “I’ll only do this for 6 weeks max. By then, someone will surely pick up the reigns and start explaining what’s going on to the public.”
Well, here we are—an entire YLE team, 712 posts, and a reach of more than 400 million reads. And much to my surprise, growth is not slowing down.
To say it’s been a wild ride is a vast understatement.
Every year I ask the YLE community: “Who are you?” Your survey answers have been instrumental in understanding who I’m talking to, how YLE is being used, what’s most valuable, and how best to forge a path post-emergency.
This year more than 40,000 people took the survey (~18% response rate)! I thought you may be interested in some answers.
Who is the YLE audience?
YLE continues to reach more than 97 countries, with most people in North America and Australia. (This is down from last year, when the reach was 104 countries, and the year before with a reach of 127 countries).
The majority of readers fall into the 45-64 years age range, with the percentage of older readers increasing over the last two years.
YLE still has a highly educated group of readers: 99% have completed some college, and ~60% have a master’s or doctoral degree.
The audience remains politically diverse, which I am incredibly proud of. However, the average reader leans more liberal for social and political issues. This shouldn’t be too surprising, given the topics I chose to write about. I will be working on diversifying this more, as true impact comes from breaking echo chambers.
It’s crystal clear that the audience remains trusted messengers—healthcare, education, science. This indicates that YLE is a node in the vast grassroots information diffusion ecosystem, which is an incredible honor.
Where should we take this in the future?
Around 70% of you are still interested in virus content but are “absolutely” interested in reading about other public health topics.
A lot are interested in “anything and everything!” The top three topics of interest are: public health in the news, infectious disease topics, and misinformation. Challenge accepted.
I was very surprised about these rankings:
Mental health moved from 2nd last year to 6th this year.
Opioids ranked last, which probably has to do with the political leanings of the audience, as this is the number one public health concern among conservatives.
Gun violence ranked low, too.
YLE started as a local (emphasis on the L in YLE) newsletter in Dallas, Texas. Then it grew nationally, then internationally. However, public health is local, especially during non-emergency times—challenges in El Paso can be very different from those in rural North Dakota.
More than 50% of you said you are interested in local topics. I’m very excited to be actively exploring an opportunity to bring YLE locally. I hope to announce more later.
The map above largely follows population distribution. When we normalized the numbers, we found the highest percentage came from five states: Louisiana, Iowa, Utah, Rhode Island, and Illinois.
Bottom line
Happy 4-year anniversary! Last year, I aimed to sustain interest in public health beyond an emergency. And baby, YLE is still here! Thanks to all of you. And thanks to the entire YLE team that continues to bring this to life.
2024 will have the same goal—stay alive and thrive by exploring other topics, building a more diverse audience, and going local.
Thank you, as always, for joining me. It continues to be a hell of a ride and an honor of a lifetime.
Love, Katelyn
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, M.P.H. Ph.D.—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. During the day, she is a senior scientific consultant to several organizations, including CDC. At night, she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health world so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support this effort, subscribe below:
I’m a high school biology teacher in rural western NY. In addition to general bio and AP Bio, I also teach an infectious diseases elective (prior to teaching, I was a clinical/research tech working in an ACTG/AVEG lab). Your work has been a great source of info for me and my students!
While you diversify, please do continue to give us updates on COVID-19. It is a daily struggle to figure out my risk budget. So far my caution and good luck have allowed me to stay Covid-free.