YouTube as a Source of Health Information: An Analysis of Videos on COVID-19

Abstract

The trend of using social media platforms for health purposes has been increased in recent years. YouTube videos are one of the leading sources of health information for people around the world. The study investigated the portrayal of COVID-19 issues in the videos available on YouTube. The content of the highest viewed 100 videos from January 2020 to May 2020 were analyzed concerning their sources, features, and health messages through the lens of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The results show that the video contents made by any kind of organization and health professionals had more balanced health messages (both threat and efficacy) than other types of sources. Moreover, the results indicate that most of the videos were uploaded by news media (44%), but the source displayed the lowest number of health messages in its content compared to other sources. Though health organizations and health professionals as a source had the highest number of health messages, it had only a 14% stake among the highest viewed content. Overall, the videos on COVID-19 displayed more health threat messages (M=15) than efficacy messages (M=7.76), this imbalance of health messages in the health content might be less persuasive for health promotion.