How Is Marijuana Vaping Portrayed on YouTube? Content, Features, Popularity and Retransmission of Vaping Marijuana YouTube Videos

J Health Commun. 2018;23(4):360-369. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2018.1448488. Epub 2018 Mar 13.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate how vaping marijuana, a novel but emerging risky health behavior, is portrayed on YouTube, and how the content and features of these YouTube videos influence their popularity and retransmission. A content analysis of vaping marijuana YouTube videos published between July 2014 to June 2015 (n = 214) was conducted. Video genre, valence, promotional and warning arguments, emotional appeals, message sensation value, presence of misinformation and misleading information, and user-generated statistics, including number of views, comments, shares, likes and dislikes, were coded. The results showed that these videos were predominantly pro-marijuana-vaping, with the most frequent videos being user-sharing. The genre and message features influenced the popularity, evaluations, and retransmission of vaping marijuana YouTube videos. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Marijuana Smoking*
  • Social Media*
  • Vaping*
  • Video Recording / statistics & numerical data*