Reading the comments: An exploratory quantitative analysis of YouTube comments in response to abortion plotlines on fictional television programs

Previous research has found that exposure to abortion plotlines on fictional television programs may influence viewers' knowledge about abortion, and that examining comments under health-related YouTube videos provides insight into discourse around the health topics. We conducted an exploratory quantitative content analysis of YouTube video clips from television abortion plotlines and comments. We identified YouTube clips posted in a five-year period (2018-2023) on official network accounts that depicted abortion plotlines. Two research assistants independently coded the top 20 comments and associated replies for each video using a systematically developed codebook. We calculated descriptive statistics and used chi-square tests to assess for differences in the distribution of content code by sentiment. Of the 275 abortion plotlines in our sample period, we identified 25 YouTube videos that met our inclusion criteria. Fifteen of these clips had more than 10 relevant comments, for a total of 619 relevant comments. Slightly less than half (43.8 %) expressed abortion positive sentiment, 22.0 % expressed abortion restrictive sentiment, and 19 % expressed complex sentiment. The most frequent content category was arguing with another poster (41.2 %,) followed by hostility toward another poster (16.2 %). Potential misinformation was present in 10.4 % of comments; these were significantly more likely to express abortion restrictive sentiment compared to abortion positive or complex sentiment (p < 0.001). Results of this exploratory study suggest that YouTube comments posted under abortion plotline videos express a mix of sentiment, and social media data may offer a unique opportunity for researchers to investigate viewers' reactions to these plotlines.