YouTube as a Source of Information About Air Pollution

YouTube is an important source of information on air pollution. The information presented on youtube may be of high or low quality. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the YouTube videos for their qualities and compare their view numbers, likes, and comment numbers according to high- and low-quality groups. In our study, 32.2% of all videos were in the high-quality group, 15.1% in the intermediate quality group, and 52.7% in the low-quality group according to Global Quality Scale (GQS). Significant differences were found among the quality groups in video length (p < 0.001), dislikes/day (p = 0.043), comment/day (p = 0.005), DISCERN (DS) tool scores (p < 0.001). The duration and DS tool scores were higher in high-quality videos; dislikes/day and comment/day averages were higher in low-quality videos. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in views, views/day, likes/day, likes ratios among quality groups. On this important matter, low-quality videos are abundant. Considering that there are lots of nonreliable information on YouTube, it is needed that individuals should be referred to reliable videos on air pollution.