Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Apr 10, 2021
Date Accepted: May 18, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jun 3, 2021
Community Mitigation of COVID-19 and Portrayal of Testing on TikTok: A Descriptive Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
COVID-19 testing is an essential element of a comprehensive strategy for community mitigation. One of the most popular communication channels used by adolescents and young adults searching for health information is TikTok, an emerging social media platform.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to describe the content related to COVID-19 testing on TikTok.
Methods:
Using discover mode, the hashtag #covidtesting was searched as this was the hashtag with the greatest number of views (~191.2 million) to identify the 100 most viewed videos. Thirteen content characteristics were coded including mentions or suggestions of anxiety, symptoms, quarantine, types of tests used, results of test, and disgust or unpleasantness. Additional data that was coded included and percent number of views, likes, and comments; and use of music, dance, and humor.
Results:
The 100 videos in the study sample were viewed more than 100 times. Even though only 44 videos mentioned or displayed disgust and anxiety, respectively, those with disgust garnered over 70% of the total cumulative views (73+ million), and those suggesting anxiety attracted ~60% of the total cumulative views (61+ million). Suggesting that a COVID-19 test was disgusting or unpleasant was associated with a higher number of views. Among the 33 videos that used humor, 23 (69.7%) also suggested anxiety and disgusting, respectively (a =.0003), hence, using humor was statistically associated with whether a video suggested anxiety and/or disgust.
Conclusions:
Our finding of an association between mention or portrayal of COVID-19 tests as unpleasant or disgusting or tied to anxiety was associated with TikTok views and likes. Rather than portraying the benefits of testing in an attempt to promote health and reduce avoidance of testing, portraying the test as an unpleasant, intrusive medical procedure appeared to give rise to viewer interest and endorsement of the videos. There is a need for public health agencies to recognize and address the kinds of connotations that are being associated with COVID-19 testing on social media.
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Copyright
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