Medical professionals have figured out that video sharing on YouTube is a great way to provide vital medical information to a wide audience. Back in January, I blogged about internet videos detailing breast examinations, effective condom use, and attention deficit disorder treatments, all freely available on YouTube. Back then, I stressed that verifying the facts was important. Now another problem with Dr. YouTube has begun to emerge.
Not only is there inaccurate and dangerous medical information available on the internet, but it turns out that bad information is more compelling than the good stuff. A new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association tested the accuracy of a number of YouTube videos. The study, reported in the tech blog Ars Technica, found that videos with bad information got far more views than videos with good information. For example, videos emphasizing the negative side of immunization were far less accurate but far more popular than videos emphasizing the positive side. And videos released by public health authorities were almost entirely ignored.
—Bennett Gordon
