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YouTube videos imply alcohol makes you popular

A study of popular alcohol-related YouTube videos has found the clips insinuate alcohol can make you funny and attractive but offer little-to-no reference to the health risks of drinking too much.

Alcohol-related YouTube videos imply drinking can make you funny and attractive, a study claims

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in the US analysed a total of 70 of the most relevant and popular alcohol-related videos on the site, having searched terms including ‘drunk’, ‘buzzed’, ‘hammered’, tipsy’, and ‘trashed’.

They discovered that videos tended to involve males more than females and nearly half (44%) referred to a specific brand name, with 55 cited throughout the 70 clips.

However, while excessive intoxication was often shown (86%), just 7% of the videos made any sort of reference to alcohol dependence or withdrawals.

The results will be published in full in the March online issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

“If you want to learn about something in general, you will often ‘Google’ it,” commented Brian A. Primack, associate professor of medicine and paediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh and corresponding author of the study.

“Several studies have linked watching movies containing alcohol abuse in them with actual alcohol-related behaviours.

“These initial studies were cross-sectional, so it was hard to determine if exposures influenced the behaviours or if people who drank alcohol were drawn to alcohol-related media exposures.

“However, more longitudinal studies have suggested that media exposures can be influential.”

His findings also showed there were more “likes” when humour was present compared to when it was not and a more “positive sentiment” on occasions when brand names were mentioned, liquor was mentioned and there was an “attractiveness” present.

On the contrary, there was less positive sentiment when negative emotional or physical consequences from alcohol use were shown, such as videos depicting people injuring themselves that consequently received fewer likes.

What’s more, spirits and wine were more common than beer in the YouTube videos studied.

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