YOUTUBE VIDEOS ARE DESIGNED TO TRICK PEOPLE INTO WANTING PLASTIC SURGERY, STUDY FINDS
ANTHONY CUTHBERTSON
Independent
YouTube has become a source of misinformation on medical procedures, a study has found, with marketing campaigns for plastic surgery found to be masquerading as informational videos.
Researchers at Rutgers University evaluated 240 of the most-viewed YouTube videos relating to facial plastic surgery using a set of criteria designed to assess the quality of medical information provided.
The people who posted the videos, which together had more than 160 million views on the Google-owned platform, were also evaluated by the researchers to determine whether they were healthcare professionals, patients, or third-parties.