JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for diseases and social burdens worldwide. Despite this, scenes depicting alcohol consumption continue to increase in various types of social media. Consequently, there is a growing demand need for regulations regarding how alcohol use is portrayed in the social media.

Objective:

This study aimed to analyze the content of [sulbang] (broadcasts featuring alcohol consumption) on YouTube and to assess public opinions regarding the regulation of alcohol-related broadcasts on social media platforms such as YouTube.

Methods:

To assess public attitudes toward appropriate levels of regulation for alcohol depictions in online media, a survey was conducted with 1,500 adults aged 20–74 residing in South Korea. Additionally, a content analysis of 318 [sulbang] videos on YouTube was performed based on the Korean government’s guidelines for media alcohol scenes.

Results:

This study showed that highly educated individuals, low-income groups, and women were more frequently exposed to [sulbang] content, while younger age groups typically viewed social media containing alcohol-related content more often. Furthermore, individuals who drank heavily were significantly more likely to view alcohol-related content on social media platforms. Although the majority of survey participants believed that regulating [sulbang] content was important, heavy drinkers were less likely to agree. Evaluating current [sulbang] videos against media alcohol scene guidelines revealed that most videos portrayed alcohol consumption positively, depicted binge drinking, and rarely included age restrictions or warning labels.

Conclusions:

Given the negative impact of alcohol-related content in reinforcing positive perceptions of drinking and increasing alcohol consumption, practical regulations for future alcohol-related social media contents should be established.