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Could linguists become influencers like people in other fields? Jonathan Downie tries to widen his social media reach

While YouTube has made stars of engineers, scientists, artists, food experts, and even people who video themselves unboxing things, language professionals have not done so well. Sure, there are channels on language learning, some on linguistics, and even one or two on interpreting and translation, but these are hardly taking the world by storm. I wondered why. And then it hit me. Look at any channel on translation and interpreting and one thing is clear: we are making videos for people who are already like us.

Search for 鈥榗onference interpreting鈥� and, apart from a couple of videos from Wired, you will find videos made by interpreters (or trainers) for interpreters. And the presentation style is very professional but not very engaging for those outside our world.

I decided to try something different. Inspired by Will Flannery, an ophthalmologist posting funny short videos on the US healthcare system under the name of Dr Glaucomflecken, I decided to start making my own shorts of less than 60 seconds covering the realities of interpreting, with some humour mixed in. I posted them to my Integrity_Languages Instagram feed and my Inside Interpreting and Multilingual Church YouTube channels. Here鈥檚 what I found.

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Content creation isn鈥檛 easy

The first thing I found was that having a constant stream of ideas is hard. For every day when I can reel off four video ideas before the kids are out of their pyjamas, there are others where my ideas pile consists of notes like 鈥榮omething to do with pastry鈥� or 鈥榮ome speakers are annoying sometimes鈥�. The reality is that even a one-minute video takes time to script, set up, edit, and then re-edit when I realise I said the wrong word.

Initially, I decided to release a short video every week, no matter what. That hasn鈥檛 happened. From flu to norovirus, and from needing mental health days to being short of ideas, I haven鈥檛 kept to my schedule. Just finding a quiet time and space to record can be tricky when you have young children. Another factor is that some ideas don鈥檛 work in short form. I recently made a much longer video, of around 17 minutes, on a revolution that happened in interpreting in the 1990s. I cannot do justice to that in 60 seconds but I can take the time to get it right.

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The algorithm makes no sense

I have learnt one hard lesson. I have videos that took hours of planning and detailed editing. Largely, those videos have done poorly. Yesterday, I recorded a video on the way back from taking a toddler to the park. The sound was basic, the framing was strange, there was no real script, and it was only 17 seconds long. As I write, that video has been viewed over 1,300 times.

I have no explanation for that. I have played with thumbnails, altered titles, looked to follow on from video ideas that worked, and even tried some clickbait. None of those things seems to make much difference. Algorithms are odd and don鈥檛 so much reward effort as they reward consistency.

But that makes things better for us. You never know who will see your videos. While it would be nice to say that being on YouTube had led to a large sponsorship deal and a new career, that isn鈥檛 my story. My biggest aims were simply to bring the realities of interpreting to YouTube in an entertaining way, and to reach people who might not know much about it.

It turns out that I might be succeeding at that. Alongside comments from fellow interpreters, I have comments where people have told their stories of being roped into interpreting or of relying on interpreters. Others have commented on how important and skilful interpreters are. I have even had discussions with people who think human interpreting is dying. People interested in studying interpreting have said that the videos have inspired them.

I might think I am just making silly videos about interpreters鈥� greatest fears (鈥淚鈥檇 like to begin my keynote speech with a joke鈥�) or entertaining things to say during sound checks (鈥渢o reduce carbon emissions, Vin Diesel is to be renamed Vin Solar Power鈥�). But it turns out that I am helping people see interpreting in a new light, creating space for them to tell their stories, and prompting monolinguals to think differently about careers in languages.

It鈥檚 not quite worldwide reach, but it鈥檚 an important start. I can pin my value to the vagaries of the algorithm or I can keep trying and keep creating, knowing my videos are helping people, even just a few.

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Audience engagement
Stills from Jonathan's YouTube short on ''
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Is it worth the effort?

With all the effort that goes into creating videos and results that vary widely, why do I keep going? And why on earth am I working on a longer video project? There are a few answers and they are also reasons why I would like more people to join me.

The first is that scripting, shooting and editing videos can be fun. Changing costumes and playing the role of all the speakers who make interpreting more difficult, wearing my best 90s clothes and trying to rap, and even dressing up as four different kinds of conference interpreter 鈥� all that is fun. It creates space to play and it introduces me to new people. Editing all that into videos that fit the strict requirements of YouTube and Instagram is another interesting challenge, especially since I rarely get my lines right first time.

The second reason is that we all have things that we wish clients would do better. Our current ways of doing client education are mostly boring and ineffective. Few people are convinced to avoid using Apple AirPods for their keynote speech by reasoned arguments about frequencies and latency. A video about AirPods making you sound like a Dalek is much more effective. People can laugh and learn at the same time. If we get the humour right 鈥� being entertaining and not mean 鈥� we can teach in 55 seconds what would normally take weeks to explain.

Finally, our industry public relations have not been that great. We have rightfully fought to be seen as professionals and sometimes that makes us seem aloof. We have rightfully fought to be seen as experts and sometimes that makes us sound elitist. We have rightfully fought for government recognition and that has sometimes meant leaving our clients鈥� desires behind.

AI companies, tech firms and startups have come to dominate the conversation about languages. Language professionals like us will never equal the marketing budget of Google or Apple, or even of a well-funded startup, but we can match them for creativity, insider knowledge and passion. If we are going to have any say in the future of our professions, we need to start changing the conversation and explaining to the wider world what it is we actually do.

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Why you should give it a go

The harsh reality we all face is that we have to change how people see our work or we soon might not have any work at all. I recently came across a client who felt that interpreters were basically interchangeable so they chose whichever interpreter was the cheapest, rather than who was best suited for the assignment. It doesn鈥檛 take much imagination to think that one day soon clients might imagine that humans and machines are interchangeable too.

Without solid advice on the language sector, presented in an entertaining, engaging way, people will make poor decisions. Unless we stand up and create engaging content for new audiences, our voices will be sidelined, perhaps permanently. So, what should we do?

This month, I want to challenge you to produce one video of less than a minute that provides an insight into your work. Avoid just talking to the camera. Maybe go for a walk or script a little dialogue. Feel free to take ideas from any of my feeds or from any channel you like to watch. It鈥檚 time for language experts to show we understand public communication too.
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锘�Jonathan Downie is a consultant church and conference interpreter, researcher, and speaker. He is the author of Interpreting Wit: Humour fresh from the booth (Lulu, 2025), Multilingual Church (William Carey, 2024), Interpreters vs Machines (Routledge, 2019) and Being a Successful Interpreter (Routledge, 2016).

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This article is reproduced from the Summer 2025 issue of The Linguist. Download the full edition here.