YouTube updates the way search results are presented for health-related queries, adding a section dedicated to personal stories from patients.
In an announcement, YouTube said it was making the change in response to the way people search for videos related to health conditions.
“A lot of times people don’t come to YouTube with health questions at all,” YouTube says. Instead, they come up with a human question: How do I live with this?
Search patterns on YouTube indicate that people with chronic health conditions do not always come to the site looking for information. They seek support from others who are going through the same thing.
“…they were all getting the same human element: We help each other get through things. The need to connect and belong is a universal need, and this has been proven by data – the science of peer support shows that social connectedness positively affects physical and mental health” .
Your personal story shelf from YouTube
To further the kind of connection people are looking for, YouTube is launching a personalized stories shelf in search results.
When you search for topics related to a health condition, YouTube will show a collection of videos with people sharing personal stories about the condition.
Your personal story shelf is interspersed with other search results, as you can see in the example below:
To be eligible to appear on the shelf, a video must focus on a personal and authentic lived experience related to a specific physical or mental health condition.
Promotional content, or content that spreads false information, is not eligible for personal storytelling.
YouTube says its Personal Stories shelf will first start popping up with queries related to cancer and mental health topics like anxiety and depression.
The Personal Stories shelf is available to users in the US, but YouTube plans to expand it to more markets and more types of queries.
Source: Youtube
Featured image: metamorworks/Shutterstock
