Research Article

COVID-19 Information on YouTube: Analysis of Quality and Reliability of Videos in Eleven Widely Spoken Languages across Africa

Table 2

Viewer interaction metrics of YouTube videos analysed by language, video content, and source.

CharacteristicNumber of videosTotal number of viewsMedian number of views (IQR)Median number of views per day (IQR)Median duration of videos in mm: ss (IQR)Median like: dislike ratio (IQR)Median number of comments (IQR)Median number of subscribers (IQR)Videos with views <100 no (%)Videos with views> 50000 no (%)High definition videos no (%)

Total562277,708,221320 (32–48,545)2.4 (0.4–364.9)2 : 48 (1 : 45–4 : 58)12.6 (7–22.6)1 (0–49)1220 (56–134,500)209 (37.2)140 (24.9)506 (90)
Languages
English75183,607,655789092 (199548–2467314)8198 (3261–22125)6 : 31 (4 : 36–11 : 50)15 (9.5–29.4)2050 (761–5050)964 500 (387,000–2,730,000)0 (0)75 (100)75 (100)
isiZulu54128,09235 (12–273)0.4 (0.1–1.8)2 : 16 (2 : 0–3 : 25)7 (5.5–45.6)0 (0–0)51 (19–583)35 (64.8)3 (5.6)54 (100)
isiXhosa496,89516 (11–78)0.3 (0.1–0.6)2 : 28 (1 : 58–3 : 28)2.65 (1.8–3.5)0 (0–0)56 (54–262)40 (81.6)0 (0)49 (100)
Afrikaans5037,12182.5 (32–275)0.9 (0.5–1.9)2 : 08 (1 : 49–2 : 38)3.4 (1.5–3.85)0 (0–0)56 (29–111)28 (56)0 (0)31 (62)
Nigerian Pidgin53426,62558 (20–249)0.62 (0.2–2)1 : 54 (1 : 0–3 : 18)5.5 (3.3–23.7)0 (0–1)84.5 (30–168)29 (54.7)1 (1.9)34 (64)
Hausa40339,120533.5 (57–4902)4 (0.4–30)3 : 20 (1 : 9–4 : 40)18 (11–24.3)1 (0–5)89 (53–162)12 (30)6 (15)40 (100)
Twi4567,04570 (15–279)0.6 (0.2–1.6)2 : 39 (1 : 53–3 : 43)33.2 (23.6–60.5)0 (0–2)35 (11–130)26 (57.8)2 (4.4)27 (60)
Arabic5072,755,229213,102 (60,239–809,166)1473 (353–5551)3 : 23 (2 : 0–4 : 45)11.65 (9.3–16.3)97 (32–488)1 920 000 (18400–6890000)0 (0)42 (84)50 (100)
French4615,830,5977307 (324–109679)57 (2–600)2 : 03 (1 : 7–3 : 43)12.4 (6–17.9)8 (1–181)37000 (900–181000)7 (15.2)22 (47.8)46 (100)
Swahili504,148,448317 (73–7825)3 (1–63)3 : 03 (1 : 39–4 : 47)9.75 (5.6–15.1)0 (0–5)1220 (131–54050)15 (30)10 (20)50 (100)
Amharic50361,394305.5 (56–868)2 (1–6)4 : 06 (1 : 30–11 : 49)20.5 (2.3–47.7)0 (0–3)5410 (3190–5410)17 (34)4 (8)50 (100)
Content
Informative471229,705,869222 (26–7035)1.7 (0.3–52)2 : 45 (1 : 45–4 : 51)13.4 (7.7–25.7)0 (0–15)307 (51–26500)192 (40.8)110(23.4)419 (88.96)
Misleading1275,172280.5 (78–5306)1.7 (0.6–27.48)1 : 53 (1 : 14–3 : 42)49.15 (32.5–66.9)6 (0.5–8.5)133 (19–679)4 (33.3)2 (16.7)9 (75)
News update5941,144,68988837 (7669–493260)1050 (55–7409)3 : 13 (1 : 56–6 : 33)8.95 (5.5–13.6)90 (1–831)2260000 (447500–6890000)8 (13.6)43 (72.9)58 (98.31)
Personal experience206,782,4918549.5 (106–547955)50 (0.6–4954)3 : 05 (2 : 1–7 : 43)16.95 (9.7–21.0)148 (0.5–3150)5560 (895–135500)5 (25)10 (50)20 (100)
Source
Independent users246108,094,174271.5 (31–9519)1.8 (0.3–71.2)3 : 12 (2 : 1–5 : 42)14 (7.2–26.4)0.5 (0–54.3)164 (25–13600)92 (37.4)61 (24.8)218 (88.62)
Government8415,273,139102 (24–1199.75)1.1 (0.3–8.8)2 : 01 (1 : 6–4 : 2)9.15 (5.2–12.2)0 (0–1)5410 (152–8256)42 (50)10 (11.9)80 (95.24)
News agency11881,800,40441207 (544–387864)296.3 (7.5–5714.2)3 : 04 (1 : 39–5 : 3)11.6 (6.7–17.9)13.5 (1–651.3)1920000 (311000–6890000)14 (11.9)67 (56.8)113 (95.76)
Academic institutions/hospitals9370,931,10359 (18–8867)0.7 (0.2–63.8)2 : 24 (1 : 54–4 : 35)19.25 (11.8–34.4)0 (0–7)89 (56–27200)52 (55.9)23 (24.7)81 (87.1)
Medical advertisements/for-profit companies211,609,401115 (36–617)1.2 (0.5–5.5)2 : 25 (1 : 18–3 : 15)10.3 (7–13.1)0 (0–1.5)162 (83–11100)9 (42.9)4 (19)14(66.67)