Characteristics of the most viewed YouTube™ videos related to bullying

Abstract

Bullying is an intentional act that can wreak havoc in the life of an individual. With more than 1 billion users, YouTube™ is a powerful medium for disseminating information. The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which content related to bullying is present on YouTube™ with respect to source, content, number of views, length, and year uploaded. Collectively, the videos in this sample were viewed more than half a billion times. The source of the most widely viewed videos was consumers, and none of the most widely viewed videos was posted by a governmental agency or a professional organization. The most common content in the videos was describing or depicting violence (n=89). Over one-half addressed getting help (n=56). Suicide was mentioned in 38 of the videos. Additional investment by professional agencies is warranted to improve understanding about ways to increase the dissemination of positive messages about bullying prevention, and about helping adolescents who are bullied on social media.

Subject matter of videos for teens on YouTube

“…At the same time, and at all levels, the existence of videos linked to suicide and the presence of phenomena such as blackmail should be addressed. These data coincide with the work of Basch, Ruggles, Berdnik, and Basch (2015), which refers both to the large number of videos on this issue and to their link with descriptions of violence and with the idea of suicide. Once more, it is possible to observe potential opportunities regarding this topic offered by the dissemination of positive messages (including those with a professional nuance) about prevention, especially for adolescents.…”

“…Whereas the other topics are divided into five or six subthemes (excluding the 'other' section), the videos about sex are divided into 10 different categories. Meanwhile, the second theme as regards number of views is bullying, in line with the findings of research such as that conducted by Basch et al (2015). In this respect, the prevalence of preventive/educational videos is noteworthy, as is the connection with violence and with videos related to suicide.…”

Examination of YouTube videos related to synthetic cannabinoids

“…There was a low volume of public health based videos and those produced by a trusted source with credentials to better deflect these glorified messages. This study is consistent with findings from other studies of YouTube content, whereby consumer messages are most popular (5). Despite the novelty of these findings, this study has limitations.…”

“…The Internet and social media act as a considerable source of information about a variety of synthetic cannabinoids. In addition, the ease of use and popularity of social media provides consumers “extensive online user-generated content” (UGC) that engage them actively (5). Social media platforms facilitate and generate “chatter” to engage consumers and capitalize on “word of mouth” communication (6).…”

YouTube lens to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a social media analysis

“…Though there have been various studies in the last decade on quality of information in YouTube videos related to general internal and surgical medicine [ 4 – 9 ]. Limited studies on the quality of these YouTube videos related to mental health including those on anxiety disorder, bullying is published [ 10 , 11 ]. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral disorder in children and adolescent, plus has a significant burden in adult population.…”