Engagement in Plastic Surgery Content on YouTube: A Comprehensive Analysis.

[BACKGROUND] As the digital age progresses, individuals are increasingly seeking online websites for the dissemination of information. YouTube, the most popular free video streaming platform worldwide, garners over 2 billion users. Plastic surgery information is widely available on YouTube and acts as a common interface for the distribution of plastic surgery-related information. This investigation aimed to identify trends in YouTube videos describing common plastic surgery search terms based on narrator gender, channel type, and language patterns.

[METHODS] Top-ranking videos for six common plastic surgery search terms were queried. Video characteristics and transcripts for each video were extracted. Transcripts were subsequently analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Comparisons were performed using various statistical analysis methods.

[RESULTS] Significant differences in audience engagement were noted by search topic (p < 0.05). Speakers in plastic surgery videos were predominantly male only (108 [60%]), with notable variation observed across channel type and search topic. Significant differences were found for videos on medical professional channels (p = 0.004) and videos regarding gynecomastia (p < 0.05). Linguistic pattern analysis revealed that female speakers used more authentic (p = 0.01) and emotional (p = 0.012) language than male speakers.

[CONCLUSION] With YouTube being the most visited online video platform website worldwide, plastic surgeons must understand trends to appropriately tailor their content and maximize their social media reach. Also, while plastic surgery is making strides in the right direction, continued work should be done in promoting adequate representation among online material.

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