Engagement With Web-Based Fitness Videos on YouTube and Instagram During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the physical activity (PA) landscape through the closures of gymnasiums, schools, and many outdoor spaces. Physical distancing guidelines have also reduced opportunity for PA. The popularity of free web-based home fitness videos on video hosting platforms (eg, YouTube and Instagram) has spiked during the pandemic. Many web-based fitness videos offer a convenient, accessible, and cost-effective means of engaging in PA through regularly posted videos or discrete programs. Notably, traditional PA programs often suffer from poor adherence and high dropout rates, despite many advantages over web-based workout programs (eg, equipment, feedback, and in-person engagement). Thus, notwithstanding clear advantages of these web-based fitness videos, their ability to maintain long-term engagement and adherence is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We explored patterns of engagement (ie, views, likes, and comments) for channels posting daily or program-based web-based fitness videos since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, over 4 months. Our secondary objective was to examine potential moderators of engagement metrics. METHODS: An environmental scan was used to identify eligible channels. Eligible channels were (1) freely available on YouTube or Instagram and (2) posted daily or weekday series workouts or offered quarantine-specific workout programs. Searches for eligible channels were conducted on June 1 and 4, 2020. Engagement metrics of views, likes, and comments were then collected from channels’ videos posted between March 11 and June 26 or 30, 2020, inclusive, on June 26 or July 8, 2020. A series of multilevel modeling analyses were conducted to examine longitudinal changes in each of the 3 outcome variables. RESULTS: Ten channels were deemed eligible and included in analyses; 6 posted regularly, while the other 4 posted discrete workout programs. Multilevel models revealed that both views and likes significantly decreased across days. Visually, channels display the sharpest drop in engagement within the first week. Linear change estimate indicates that the number of views initially declined by 24,700 per day (95% CI –44,400 to –11,300, P=.01) on average across all the channels. Channels with more subscribers declined in their views, likes, and comments at a significantly higher rate than those with fewer subscribers (P≤.04). The day of the week a video is posted, “virality,” and content of a video appear to influence engagement. Integrating behavior change techniques and posting new and varied videos often may help garner further engagement with these videos. Future research should examine common elements of videos, which drive engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Despite raw engagement metrics, each channel demonstrated peak engagement with the initial video followed by decreased engagement with subsequent videos. As many countries maintain restrictions on traditional PA facilities owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, determining methods to improve engagement and adherence with web-based fitness videos becomes increasingly important.