Melissa Church, the woman behind 'Bad Science Jokes' has been running it for about a decade now and it has definitely changed her life.
"It may seem crazy, but I think about BSJ a lot," she told Bored Panda. "Most of my free time somehow revolves around it as well. I have to actually tell myself 'No 'Bad Science Jokes' for a bit.''"
"I have spent a third of my life working on it."
Melissa said she has already annoyed most of her friends with the, "Hey can you help me with a joke/post?"
"My family write to me things that [they] relate to it. It's a nonstop production," she added. "On the plus side, I have learned a ton. I completely believe that humor can help you remember something, and I am proof of that. "
There might be a lot of truth to that. A Pew Research poll revealed that viewers of humorous news shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report exhibited higher retention of facts than those who got them from newspapers, CNN, Fox News, or network stations.
Neuroscience research suggests that humor systematically activates the brain's dopamine reward system, and cognitive studies show that dopamine is important for both goal-oriented motivation and long-term memory, while educational research indicates that correctly-used humor can be an effective intervention to improve retention in students from kindergarten through college.
'Bad Science Jokes' boasts the biggest following on Instagram, where it has 600,000 fans. To reach all of these people, Melissa employs pretty much everything the platform has to offer.
"To be honest, I think the best performing feature is the Carousel (multiple pictures in one post)," she said. "I have to divvy up the types of content to remain appealing to followers and to better appear on newsfeeds and explore tabs."
"Instagram will hate me, but I don't think reels do all that well on the platform," she added. "At least not with my audience. Of course, there are a handful who prefer it, and for certain types of content, reels work far better. Instagram's typical users are just not as into the short-form video content."
