Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jan 23, 2025
Date Accepted: Jul 4, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Online video platforms as sources of information on body image dissatisfaction in adolescents: A content and quality analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Body image dissatisfaction among children and adolescents is a significant public health concern and is associated with numerous physical and mental problems. Social media platforms, including TikTok, BiliBili, and YouTube, have become popular sources of health information. However, the quality and reliability of content related to body image dissatisfaction have not been comprehensively evaluated.
Objective:
The primary goal of this study was to examine the quality and reliability of videos related to body image dissatisfaction on TikTok, BiliBili, and YouTube.
Methods:
The keywords “body image dissatisfaction” were searched on YouTube™, TikTok, and BiliBili in November 2024. The first 100 videos on TikTok/ BiliBili/ YouTube ranked by the algorithm were analyzed. After excluding videos that were (a) not in English or Chinese, (b) duplicates, (c) irrelevant, (d) no audio or visual, (e) contained advertisements, and (f) videos with a GQS score of 1, the final sample consisted of 64 videos, which formed the basis of our research and subsequent findings. Two reviewers screened, selected, extracted data, and evaluated all videos via the Global Quality Scale (GQS), modified DISCERN scores, and the modified Journal of the American Medical Association (mJAMA) benchmark criteria. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 28.0.
Results:
Sixty-four videos were analyzed in the study, including 20 from TikTok, 13 from BiliBili, and 31 from YouTube. The median duration of the involved videos was 3.01 minutes on TikTok, 3.52 minutes on BiliBili, and 4.86 minutes on YouTube. Compared with the other two platforms, BiliBili videos attained higher likes and more comments. The majority of the videos (62.5%) were uploaded by self-medias. The quality of the videos on YouTube shows the highest overall scores. Videos uploaded by professional authors had significantly higher GQS, mDISCERN, and mJAMA scores, compared to those uploaded by non-professionals. Spearman correlation analysis did not find correlations between video quality and the number of views and likes, however, the number of views and likes were significantly positively correlated. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the JAMA, Modified DISCERN, and GQS scores.
Conclusions:
Online video platforms have become an important source for adolescents to access health information. However, the lack of a significant correlation between video quality and the number of likes and comments poses a challenge for users seeking reliable health information. It is suggested that the quality of the videos on health information would be taken into consideration in the recommendation algorithm on online video platforms. Clinical Trial: This study did not require trial registration because the data from the three online video platforms were publicly available without clinical datasets, biological specimens, or laboratory animals.
Citation
