Public health in the age of TikTok: A content analysis of measles narratives

IF 4.3 2区医学 Q1 INFECTIOUS DISEASES

International Journal of Infectious Diseases Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.ijid.2025.108055

Corey H. Basch , Carlee Denholtz , Rafael Gonzalez Castillo , Christie Jaime

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze TikTok content related to measles.

Methods

TikTok videos tagged #measles were sampled by selecting the first 100 results. Using a structured codebook, videos were classified by source, tone, vaccination stance, content focus, target audience, and Vitamin A mention. Engagement metrics were analyzed using t-tests or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for binary predictors and two-way ANOVA for source–tone interactions. Analyses were conducted in Excel and RStudio.

Results

The 100 TikTok videos tagged with #measles in this sample garnered over 30 million views, with experts producing 44% of them. Expert-created videos received significantly more views, likes, favorites, and comments than non-expert ones, and tone was linked to differences in saves, with an expertise–tone interaction affecting comments. Most coded content features, such as conspiracy theories, policy mentions, side effects, or Vitamin A, appeared in fewer than 5% of videos and showed no significant relationship to engagement. Two-way ANOVAs confirmed that comments were the only metric significantly influenced by the interplay between expertise and tone, with no other meaningful interactions observed.

Conclusions

These results highlight the importance of credible messengers and carefully chosen tone to maximize audience engagement with measles-related content on TikTok. Future research is needed to determine whether such engagement translates into changes in vaccine attitudes or behaviors.

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抖音时代的公共卫生：麻疹叙事的内容分析

目的：本横断面研究旨在分析与麻疹相关的TikTok内容。方法：选择前100个结果对标记为#麻疹的TikTok视频进行采样。使用结构化代码本，视频按来源、语气、疫苗接种立场、内容重点、目标受众和维生素a提及进行分类。使用t检验或Wilcoxon秩和检验对二元预测因子进行分析，并使用双向方差分析对源音交互进行分析。在Excel和RStudio中进行分析。结果：在这个样本中，100个带有#麻疹标签的TikTok视频获得了超过3000万的观看量，其中44%的视频是由专家制作的。专家制作的视频比非专家制作的视频获得了更多的观看、点赞、收藏和评论，并且音调与保存的差异有关，专家-音调的互动影响评论。大多数编码内容特征，如阴谋论、政策提及、副作用或维生素A，出现在不到5%的视频中，并且与参与度没有显著关系。双向方差分析证实，评论是唯一显著受专业知识和语气之间相互作用影响的指标，没有观察到其他有意义的相互作用。结论：这些结果突出了可信的信使和精心选择的语气的重要性，以最大限度地提高TikTok上与麻疹相关内容的受众参与度。未来的研究需要确定这种参与是否会转化为疫苗态度或行为的变化。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Infectious Diseases 医学-传染病学

CiteScore

18.90

自引率

2.40%

发文量

1020

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) Publisher: International Society for Infectious Diseases Publication Frequency: Monthly Type: Peer-reviewed, Open Access Scope: Publishes original clinical and laboratory-based research. Reports clinical trials, reviews, and some case reports. Focuses on epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, treatment, and control of infectious diseases. Emphasizes diseases common in under-resourced countries.