Understanding the Social Mechanism of Cancer Misinformation Spread on YouTube and Lessons Learned: Infodemiological Study

作者：Ho Young Yoon, Kyung Han You, Jung Hye Kwon, Jung Sun Kim, Sun Young Rha, Yoon Jung Chang, Sang‐Cheol Lee · 发表于：Journal of Medical Internet Research · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.2196/39571 · 被引用次数：25 · 研究领域：Misinformation and Its Impacts、Health Literacy and Information Accessibility、Social Media in Health Education

BACKGROUND: A knowledge gap exists between the list of required actions and the action plan for countering cancer misinformation on social media. Little attention has been paid to a social media strategy for disseminating factual information while also disrupting misinformation on social media networks. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to, first, identify the spread structure of cancer misinformation on YouTube. We asked the question, "How do YouTube videos play an important role in spreading information about the self-administration of anthelmintics for dogs as a cancer medicine for humans?" Second, the study aimed to suggest an action strategy for disrupting misinformation diffusion on YouTube by exploiting the network logic of YouTube information flow and the recommendation system. We asked the question, "What would be a feasible and effective strategy to block cancer misinformation diffusion on YouTube?" METHODS: The study used the YouTube case of the self-administration of anthelmintics for dogs as an alternative cancer medicine in South Korea. We gathered Korean YouTube videos about the self-administration of fenbendazole. Using the YouTube application programming interface for the query "fenbendazole," 702 videos from 227 channels were compiled. Then, videos with at least 50,000 views, uploaded between September 2019 and September 2020, were selected from the collection, resulting in 90 videos. Finally, 10 recommended videos for each of the 90 videos were compiled,...