Study analyzes engagement trends in YouTube vaccine content

YouTube is the world's primary global video platform, hosting both authoritative public health information and vaccine-skeptic viewpoints. Prior research has shown that misinformation on social platforms can attract disproportionately high engagement, complicating efforts to promote accurate health messaging.

This longitudinal study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), tracks engagement dynamics across vaccine-related YouTube videos over an extended timeframe. By measuring how audiences interact with authoritative health content versus vaccine-skeptical viewpoints over time, the research characterizes relative reach and engagement trends for different content types.

Longitudinal engagement analysis of platform content is an established data science method with applications in content moderation, algorithm auditing, and public health messaging strategy. The study's characterization of how engagement trends shift between trusted and skeptic content over time can inform platform intervention design and outreach effectiveness measurement. Scope is limited to vaccine-related content on a single platform; results may not generalize to other health topics or platforms.