Abstract
We evaluated videos on the social media website, YouTube, containing references to seizures and epilepsy. Of 100 videos, 28% contained an ictal event, and 25% featured a person with epilepsy recounting his or her personal experience. Videos most commonly fell into categories of Personal Experience/Anecdotal (44%) and Informative/Educational (38%). Fifty-one percent of videos were judged as accurate, and 9% were inaccurate; accuracy was not an applicable attribute in the remainder of the videos. Eighty-five percent of videos were sympathetic towards those with seizures or epilepsy, 9% were neutral, and only 6% were derogatory. Ninety-eight percent of videos were thought to be easily understood by a layperson. The user-generated content on YouTube appears to be more sympathetic and accurate compared to other forms of mass media. We are optimistic that with a shifting ratio towards sympathetic content about epilepsy, the amount of stigma towards epilepsy and seizures will continue to lessen.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 247-250 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Unknown Journal |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology
- Behavioral Neuroscience