Why Do Health Professionals Create Content on Social Media? Uses and Gratifications of Egyptian Physician Vloggers on YouTube

Objective: While there are clear potential benefits for viewers of health videos, much less is known about why health professionals create content on platforms like YouTube. This article therefore explores the uses (or motivations) and rewards (or gratifications) these health professionals associate with using YouTube to publish video content, or vlogs, about health information. Method: We applied reflexive thematic analysis to data from in-depth interviews and focus groups with 12 popular Egyptian `physician vloggers (i.e., physicians, pharmacists, and psychologists with many YouTube subscribers). Informed by Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), we examined what motivated these health professionals to vlog on YouTube and the rewards, or gratifications, they received from doing so. Findings: Physician vloggers used YouTube to achieve self-focused goals, such as to develop their professional brands and save time in their offline work, as well as society-focused goals, such as to spread medical awareness for illness prevention, address cultural and social stigma around mental health, and offer free medical advice to those who need it. In return, vlogging on YouTube gratified participants with a sense of influence, recognition, and professional fulfilment, as well as with opportunities to build digital communication skills and deepen medical knowledge. Implications: Findings extend limited work on UGT to a context in which users create and share content, not just to consume it and, in doing so, furthers our understanding of what motivates health professionals to share content on YouTube. The results could be used to encourage medical professionals to pursue vlogging for health communication.