Coverage of the Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic on YouTube

Corey Hannah Basch

111 citations0/0 files storedDisaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness

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Public Relations and Crisis Communication Social Media in Health Education Communication and COVID-19 Impact

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The recent Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014-2015 has been the largest and longest lasting to date. Media coverage about the outbreak has been extensive, but there are large gaps in our understanding of the ways in which widely accessed social media sites are used during times of public health crisis. The purpose of this study was to analyze widely viewed videos about EVD on the YouTube video-sharing site. METHODS: We coded the source, content, and characteristics of the 100 most widely viewed videos about EVD on YouTube. RESULTS: The videos included in the sample were viewed more than 73 million times. The death toll in West Africa was mentioned in nearly one-third of the videos. Over one-third of the videos mentioned how EVD was generally transmitted. There was little mention of treatment and no mention of the need for US funding of disaster preparedness; coordination between local, state, and federal governments; or beds ready for containment. No significant differences in the number of views were identified between video sources with the exception of a significantly higher number of views for "consumer videos" compared with "commercial television videos." CONCLUSIONS: With 1 billion unique users a month, YouTube has potential for both enhancing education and spreading misinformation.

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2019Science and Environmental Communication on YouTube: Strategically Distorted Communications in Online Videos on Climate Change and Climate Engineering 2020Evaluation of Korean-Language COVID-19–Related Medical Information on YouTube: Cross-Sectional Infodemiology Study 2016Social Media's Initial Reaction to Information and Misinformation on Ebola, August 2014: Facts and Rumors 2016Ebola virus disease and social media: A systematic review 2021Promoting Mask Use on TikTok: Descriptive, Cross-sectional Study 2019Ebola and Localized Blame on Social Media: Analysis of Twitter and Facebook Conversations During the 2014–2015 Ebola Epidemic 2020Characteristics of YouTube Videos in Spanish on How to Prevent COVID-19 2019YouTube videos as health decision aids for the public: An integrative review.

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