Product Profile: YouTube

 

INDUSTRY

entertainment

Category

video streaming service / social media platform

product Profiled

YouTube video sharing platform

 

H-Score

 

30

ranked 11th of 20 within the entertainment industry

ranked 60th of 76 overall

 

product description

 

YouTube is a free online video-sharing platform that emphasizes user-generated content. Users can watch, upload, share, and access videos across various genres, including entertainment, music, news, education, and more. In addition, YouTube enables users to share, comment, and subscribe to other users and their video content. YouTube has become a central platform for video entertainment and information exchange. 

 

product use

 

YouTube’s user experience encompasses various aspects of using the website or app. YouTube nudges users through the ‘discovery’ tab — suggesting various videos through curated recommendations dependent on viewer history. When enabled, YouTube’s autoplay is a feature that automatically queues suggested videos or related content when your video ends. Additionally, when a user ‘subscribes’ to a YouTube channel, they will actively receive push notifications when the user uploads new content. Users can access YouTube in many ways: smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or even smart TVs.

 

who’s affected

 

YouTube is available to everyone 13 years and older. Eighty-three (83) percent of American adults overall and more than 90% of those aged 18-49l use YouTube.(1)

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 

EATING

slight negative influence

 

Social media platforms generally, and YouTube in particular, can affect users’ eating habits in at least three ways: 1) users can literally eat while they are using the site; 2) users can be influenced by the behaviors and the content that they see on the site; 3) time spent on the platform can reduce the time available to obtain and prepare healthy meals.

With regards to the first, Building H’s consumer research found that 15% of adult(2) YouTube users report snacking “always or almost always” when they’re on social media, 28% reported doing so “frequently” and 33% “sometimes.” Forty-six (46) percent of heavy YouTube users (defined as those using YouTube two or more hours per day) reported their snacks as mostly or always healthy. Comparatively, 86% of ‘light’ users of social media (defined as those who don’t use any one social platform for more than thirty minutes per day) reported their snacks as mostly or always healthy.(3)

Exposure to influencers, images, information, and advertisements can significantly prompt our perception of how, what and when we eat. One study of social media users found that people who spend more time on social media each day (including but not specific YouTube) are 2.2 times more likely to report eating concerns. The most frequent users were 2.6 times more likely.(4)

On the other hand, social media platforms can also equip users with abundant information on wholesome recipes, nutritional tips, and meal preparation. This accessibility can aid individuals in making more sound, suitable, guided choices about their diet. 

Our consumer research found that 62% of YouTube users reported that their use of social media has not had a significant influence on their diet. Twenty-seven (28) percent of YouTube users and 37% of heavy YouTube users reported that social media had influenced them to eat healthier, while 10% of YouTube users (and 14% of heavy YouTube users) reported a negative influence on their diet.(5)

A meta-analysis of studies on social media and diet for children and adolescents found that most studies reported that social media (not specific to YouTube) was associated with skipping breakfast, increased intake of unhealthy snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages, and lower fruit and vegetable intake.(6)

Building H’s consumer research also found that use of YouTube is associated with how and what people eat. Forty-two (42) percent of heavy YouTube users eat three (3) or more fast food meals per week; in comparison — only 11% of 'light' and 16% of 'moderate' (defined as those who do not spend more than an hour per day on any one social media platform) social media users eat three (3) or more fast food meals per week.(7) Note that researchers have found 70% of meals served at fast food restaurants to be of poor nutritional quality.(8) 

Heavy YouTube users tend to get meals delivered more often. Thirty-two (32) percent of heavy YouTube users get three (3) or more meals delivered per week. Comparatively, only 7% of 'light' and 9% of 'moderate' users of social media get food delivered three (3) or more times per week.(9)

Finally, 37% of heavy YouTube users eat six (6) or more home cooked meals per week, compared with 51% of  ‘light’ and 47% of ‘moderate’ social media users.(10) Home-cooked meals have in general been shown to be healthier than meals eaten out or ordered from restaurants.(11-15) People who cook at home more frequently also tend to have diets that have higher compliance with dietary guidelines.(16)

 

opportunities:

  • Regularly survey samples of users on their eating habits to identify patterns relating to content that produces negative effects and adjust algorithms to limit or de-emphasize such content.
  • Establish standards for screening out ads that promote unhealthy food, particularly unhealthy food targeted at children.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

slight to moderate negative influence

 

Using YouTube is a largely sedentary activity. People use YouTube by accessing it on a computer or a mobile device, such as a smartphone or a tablet. Even use of smartphones, despite their inherent mobility, tends to be sedentary – studies have found that 80-90% of smartphone use occurs while sitting.(17-19)

Time spent using YouTube and other social media or video streaming platforms can potentially reduce the time available for physical activity. While a moderate amount of social media would leave time for more active pursuits, Building H’s consumer research found that 46% of YouTube users reported using the platform more than an hour per day, with 26% using it for more than two hours per day.(20)  Thirty-eight (38) percent of teens report using YouTube several times a day and an additional 16% report using it “almost constantly.”(21) For many YouTube users, time spent on YouTube represents a large share of the approximately five hours per day of leisure time Americans have on average.(22)

YouTube utilizes several design features that encourage users to frequent their platform more regularly and to spend more time on the platform once they’re there. These features include: autoplay, algorithmically curated content, social rewards, notifications. 

  • YouTube defaults to an autoplay feature, which automatically queues a related video after the previous video ends, for adult users. This feature has the ability to be disabled by the user.(23) 

  • The algorithmic curated content seeks to personalize and prioritize content delivered to each user on their homepage and suggested videos. Their algorithms scrutinize a multitude of factors, such as the user's past interactions, interests, content engagement, and the popularity of posts, to determine what content to display.

  • YouTube uses “likes” and other peer feedback systems to encourage greater engagement. In general, reward learning processes on social media platforms are prominent in user behavior. A user’s social media activity boosts after a post, suggestive of reward anticipation, and users provide more social feedback to others after receiving feedback themselves. 

  • YouTube sends many notifications to keep users informed about interactions and updates on the platform. Users are notified of subscriptions, recommended videos, activity on channel, and prompted to reopen the app. Users can customize their YouTube notifications in their settings menu and control their delivery (e.g., push notifications, email, in-app notifications). 

YouTube offers a daily time limit control. This feature allows users to set a daily timer limit, starting at five minutes and up to 23 hours and 55 minutes. The app will suggest the user take a break once they reach their set time limit. The user has the option to dismiss this message or go to their settings and change the time limit.(24) However, our research found that only 15% of YouTube users set limits on their use of YouTube. We also found that 38% of social media users who set limits report ignoring or overriding them frequently or almost always.(25) 


While time spent on YouTube reduces available time for physical activity, Building H’s research did not find significant differences in the total amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week among heavy YouTube users, and light or moderate social media users.(26)

 

opportunities:

  • Shift away from encouraging binge-watching:
    • eliminate the autoplaying of additional videos or at least eliminate autoplay for children’s programming
    • make autoplay opt-in rather than opt-out
  • Help users moderate the amount of time they spent on the platform by:
    • enabling them to express usage preferences around frequency, duration and time of day and then respecting those preferences by adapting the feed and content accordingly (e.g. limit content in the feed, stop recommendations for more content)
 
 

Sleeping

moderate negative influence

 

Watching and/or interacting with screens at night can negatively impact how long and how well you sleep through three principal mechanisms: 1) by offering a competitive alternative to sleep; 2) engaging the user’s attention and 3) through the bright, blue spectrum light of phone or computer screens that has been shown to suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that signals the onset of the sleep cycle.(27)

YouTube’s techniques to engage users and both draw them to and keep them on the platform can affect sleep by engaging people in social media activity when they might otherwise be sleeping or winding down in preparation to sleep. Children sleeping with a smartphone (not specific to social media use) in their room reported 20 minutes less total sleep time and higher prevalence of perceived insufficient sleep than those without phones in the room.(28)

Building H’s consumer research found that 55% of video streaming users (not specific to YouTube) reported that watching TV or movies caused them to lose some sleep at least once a week on average, with 37% reporting that they got less sleep for this reason two or more times a week. Fifteen (15) percent reported their sleep being affected four or more nights a week.(29)

Using screens for 30 minutes after lights have been turned out has been associated with poor sleep quality.(30) In Building H’s consumer research, 60% of YouTube users and 70% of heavy YouTube users reported “always or almost always” or “frequently” using social media before bed.(31) Nearly a third of adolescents report screen use (which can encompass uses beyond social media or video streaming) until midnight or later on a typical weekday.(32)

High social media use (not specific to YouTube) among youth has been associated with increased frequency of sleep disturbance,(33) late sleep onset(34) and trouble falling back asleep after nighttime awakening.(35) and other sleep problems.(36) Nighttime notifications and compulsive smartphone checking have been associated with sleep problems in college students.(37) Our research found that 26% of YouTube users and 38% of heavy YouTube users reported either frequently or always or almost always waking up in the middle of the night and checking social media or their messages.(38)

YouTube offers a 'Sleep Reminder' feature, allowing users to manually enter a time they intend to go to sleep. With this setting, YouTube will send a pop up notification (if they are on the app) reminding them it's time to go to sleep.(39)

YouTube might also influence sleep indirectly through its influences on physical activity and time spent outdoors, as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.

In our research, we did not see significant differences between YouTube users, heavy YouTube users, and the general population regarding amount of sleep. Between 35-37% of all groups reported six (6) or fewer hours of sleep per night.(40)

opportunities:

  • Develop a more robust bedtime mode that significantly changes the experience – reducing notifications and content – during bedtime and a wind-down period before bedtime.
  • Monitor trends in night time use of the platform and experiment with changes – that could be applied to all users – to reduce use that delays or interferes with sleep.
 
 

Engaging Socially

neutral to slight negative influence

 

The influence of social media platforms on the social engagement of their users is complex because the platforms are evolving, research is continually emerging, and there is evidence of both positive and negative influences. These influences can vary significantly across individuals and any one individual can have both positive and negative experiences. As such, the scientific consensus is evolving with ongoing discussions on how to maximize benefits while minimizing harms.

YouTube offers features that may foster connection. In addition to enabling posts and updates users share with their social networks, YouTube offers live streaming premieres, where users can interact with their audience in real-time through live chat. YouTube also fosters comments and interactions, where users can engage and share opinions amongst each other.

Building H’s research found that heavy users of YouTube users had somewhat higher levels of in-person social activity than others: 57% of heavy YouTube users reported having two or more social visits with people outside of their household per week, as compared with 42% of light social media users and 47% of moderate social media users.(41) Additional research has shown that teens who are “constantly online” are as likely to socialize with friends online as teens who are online less often.(42) Note that it is unclear whether use of social media leads to more in-person interaction or the reverse.

On the quality of connections, a recent study, which measured usage of online social systems and users' positive and negative experiences with social media, revealed that 8.7% of YouTube users reported experiencing a meaningful connection in the last 28 days; 7.7% reported having personally witnessed or experienced something that affected them negatively.(43)

Building H’s research found that higher YouTube use did correlate with higher likelihood of loneliness. Fifty-four (54) percent of heavy YouTube users (2+ hours a day) reported being lonely, as compared to 35% of light and 40% of moderate social media users.(44) 

Building H’s consumer research looked at social connectedness and how social media platforms increased connection with family, friends, and neighbors. Fifty-two (52) percent of YouTube users reported that their social media use made them feel more connected to family, 66% more connected with friends, and 42% more connected with neighbors.(45) Heavy YouTube users reported similar connectedness: 54% reported feeling more connected to family, 65% more connected with friends, and 45% more connected with neighbors as a result of their social media use.(46) 

In the Building H’s survey of social media users, participants were asked how the social media platform they use most frequently had influenced their relationships and social interactions in 13 different ways, including, for example, “meet new people,” “give emotional support to others,” and “feel less excluded.”(47) People who used YouTube the most reported that the platform had a slightly positive influence: on a scale of +3 to -3, the average score was 0.64 across all 13 questions. YouTube scored highest on “interact with people I know” (1.25) and “give emotional support” (0.85) and lowest on “feel less excluded” (0.39) and "create less conflict, adversity, or strain in my interactions with others" (0.36).(48)

 

opportunities:

  • Support and facilitate independent 3rd-party research on the social experience of the platform and social connectedness of its users in order to monitor trends, assess the impacts of different features and designs, identify areas of concern and build on positive impacts.
  • Offer additional safeguards for users to reduce the prevalence of online harassment and develop easy-to-use and transparent systems for reporting, follow-up, and adjudication of such cases.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

slight negative influence

 

Social media platforms can both limit and encourage users to spend time outdoors. By browsing photos, videos, and geolocations of popular destinations, users can be inspired by others to get out and experience these places in the physical world. There is some research to suggest that social media (not specific to YouTube) is drawing new people to outdoor recreation areas.(49) The idea that social media has ruined many outdoor places by drawing new people to them is a familiar discussion in outdoor blogs,(50) which gives credence to the idea that social media platforms are drawing more people to the outdoors. Indeed, visits to national parks have increased significantly over the years that social media platforms have become popular.(51)

Social media, when consumed indoors, can be a competitive alternative to spending time outdoors. It offers the ability to connect with others conveniently, asynchronously and without needing to be together physically (and thus not needing to leave home). One study, which focused on rural youth in the US, showed an inverse relationship between screen time (in general, not specific to social media) and time spent outdoors.(52)

Building H’s consumer research found that 22% of heavy YouTube users reported using social media outdoors frequently. Twenty-seven (27%) of heavy YouTube users reported using social media outdoors rarely or never.(53)

In our research, we did not find a correlation between YouTube use and less time spent outdoors. In fact, 61% of heavy YouTube users reported spending one or more hours outdoors per day, as compared to only 49% of ‘light’ social media users.(54)

 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. Jeffrey Gottfried. How Americans Use Social Media. Pew Research Center. January 31, 2024.

  2. Building H surveyed a national sample of adult social media users. All references in this profile to “YouTube users” or “heavy YouTube users” refer to adult users of YouTube.

  3. Alec McMorris. Measuring the Product Environment: How Does Social Media Influence Health Behaviors? Building H on Medium. May 1, 2024.

  4. Jaime Sidani et al. The Association between Social Media Use and Eating Concerns among US Young Adults. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. May 5, 2016. “Eating concerns” was defined based on a scale adapted from two different eating disorder screens.

  5. McMorris (2024).

  6. Elida Sina et al. Social Media and Children's and Adolescents' Diets: A Systematic Review of the Underlying Social and Physiological Mechanisms. Advances in Nutrition. Volume 13, Issue 3 (May 2022), pp. 913-937. 

  7. McMorris (2024).

  8. Junxiu Liu et al. Quality of Meals Consumed by US Adults at Full-Service and Fast-Food Restaurants, 2003–2016: Persistent Low Quality and Widening Disparities. The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 150, Issue 4 (April 2020), pp. 873–883.

  9. McMorris (2024).

  10. Ibid.

  11. Julia Wolfson and Sara Bleich. Is Cooking at Home Associated with Better Diet Quality or Weight-Loss Intention? Public Health Nutrition. Volume 18, Supplement 8 (June 2015), pp. 1397-1406.

  12. Liu et al. (2020)

  13. R. An. Fast-food and full-service restaurant consumption and daily energy and nutrient intakes in US adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Volume 70 (2016), pp. 97–103.

  14. Sharon Kirkpatrick et al. Fast-food menu offerings vary in dietary quality, but are consistently poor. Public Health Nutrition. Volume 17, Issue 4 (2014), pp. 924–31.

  15. Lisa Powell and Binh Nguyen. Fast-food and full-service restaurant consumption among children and adolescents: effect on energy, beverage, and nutrient intake. JAMA Pediatrics. Volume 167, Issue 1 (January 2013), pp. 14–20.

  16. Arpita Tiwari et al. Cooking at Home: A Strategy to Comply With U.S. Dietary Guidelines at No Extra Cost. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Volume 52, Issue 5 (May 2017), pp.616–24.

  17. Ming-Qiang Xiang et al. Sedentary Behavior and Problematic Smartphone Use in Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Self-Control. Frontiers in Psychology. Volume 10 (2019).

  18. Jacob Barkley and Andrew Lepp. (2016). Mobile phone use among college students is a sedentary leisure behavior which may interfere with exercise. Computers in Human Behavior. Volume 56 (March 2016), pp. 29-33.

  19. Curtis Fennell et al. The relationship between cell phone use, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in adults aged 18–80. Computers in Human Behavior. Volume 90 (January 2019), pp. 53-59.

  20. McMorris (2024).

  21. Monica Anderson et al. Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023. Pew Research Center. December 11, 2023.

  22. Men spent 5.6 hours per day in leisure and sports activities, women 4.9 hours, in 2021. TED: The Economics Daily. Bureau of Labor Statistics website. August 22, 2022.

  23. Autoplay videos. YouTube Help Center website, accessed January 3, 2024.

  24. Take a break reminder. YouTube Help Center website, accessed January 3, 2024.

  25. McMorris (2024).

  26. Ibid.

  27. Matthew Walker. Why We Sleep. Scribner (2018), pp. 267-270.

  28. Jennifer Falbe et al. Sleep duration, restfulness, and screens in the sleep environment. Pediatrics. Volume 135, Issue 2 (February 2015).

  29. Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Sleep; New Data on American Sleeping Patterns. Building H on Medium. May 25, 2021

  30. Nazish Rafique et al. Effects of Mobile Use on Subjective Sleep Quality. Nature and Science of Sleep. Volume 12, (June 2020), pp. 357–364.

  31. McMorris (2024).

  32. Office of the Surgeon General. Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory. 2023, p. 10.

  33. Jessica Levenson et al. The association between social media use and sleep disturbance among young adults. Preventive Medicine. Volume 85 (April 2016), pp. 36-41.

  34. Holly Scott et al. Social media use and adolescent sleep patterns: cross-sectional findings from the UK millennium cohort study. BMJ Open. Volume 9 (2019).

  35. Ibid.

  36. Louise As Brautsch et al. Digital media use and sleep in late adolescence and young adulthood: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Volume 68 (April 2023).

  37. Karla Murdock et al. Nighttime notifications and compulsivity illuminate the link between emerging adults’ cellphone use and sleep-related problems. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Volume 8, Issue 1 (2019), pp. 12–21.

  38. McMorris (2024).

  39. Set a bedtime reminder. YouTube Help Center website, accessed January 3, 2024.

  40. McMorris (2024).

  41. Ibid.

  42. Jingjing Jiang. Teens who are constantly online are just as likely to socialize with their friends offline. Pew Research Center. November 28, 2018.

  43. USC Marshall’s Neely Ethics & Technology Indices. University of Southern California website, accessed December 1, 2023.

  44. Steve Downs. The Connection Paradox. Building H on Medium. October 12, 2023.

  45. McMorris (2024).

  46. Downs (2023).

  47. Using an adaptation of the Retrospective Assessment for Connection Impact (RACI) scale developed by Matthew Smith.

  48. McMorris (2024).

  49. Theodora Doyon. Screen to Summit: An Investigation of Claims About Social Media Use for Outdoor Recreation Purposes. Thesis presented to Humboldt State University (May 2020), p. 120.

  50. See, for example, Jesse Weber, “Like” It or Not: The Realities of Social Media in the Outdoors, on the Outdoor Project website, November 30, 2018 and Morgan Shannon, How Social Media Is Affecting The Outdoors, on the Wilderness Culture website, March 5, 2019.

  51. National Park Service. Annual Visitation Statistics by Year. National Park Service website, accessed December 1, 2023.

  52. Lincoln Larson et al. Outdoor Time, Screen Time, and Connection to Nature: Troubling Trends Among Rural Youth? Environment and Behavior. Volume 51, Issue 8.

  53. McMorris (2024).

  54. Ibid.