Self-Injury Videos on YouTube
March 29th, 2011 | No Comments | Source: LA Times, MedPageToday, PediatricsMillions of people watch YouTube videos depicting teens injuring and cutting themselves, according to a new study. The authors conclude that the videos may serve to legitimize the behaviors as acceptable, even normal.
To assess the scope and accessibility of self-injury videos on the Internet, Stephen Lewis of the University of Guelph, and colleagues searched YouTube for keywords like “self-harm,” and “self-injury.”
They found that the top 100 most frequently viewed videos were watched more than 2.3 million times. Ninety-five percent of the viewers were female. Their average age was 25, although Lewis’ group suspects their actual average age was lower, since some YouTube viewers provide restricted content only to older viewers.
Typically, the videos contained graphic images of cutting, embedding and burning. Many of the videos contained statements of despair or images of sad or crying people. About 42% of the videos neither encouraged nor discouraged self-injury. An additional 26% denounced the behavior, while 23% gave a mixed message and 7% actually encouraged people to perform the depicted behavior.
Most of the videos contained no warnings or viewing restrictions. Viewers tended to rate these videos highly (an average score of 4.61 out of 5). Self-harm videos were identified as “favorites” over 12,000 times. (more…)

















