Evaluating influenza-related short videos on Chinese platforms: information quality, user engagement, and public health implications

Influenza-related short videos have become an important source of health information on Chinese social media. In an ongoing “information disorder” environment, where digital misinformation is known to cause health harms, their information quality and influenza-specific public health implications on major short-video platforms remain insufficiently characterized. On October 7, 2025, new accounts were registered to search for short videos on TikTok and Bilibili using the keywords “流感” (influenza) and “流行性感冒” (influenza) respectively. Basic information was extracted from each video, and quality was assessed using JAMA, GQS, modified DISCERN, and PEMAT, which do not verify factual accuracy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. A total of 229 influenza-related short videos were included, primarily uploaded by doctors (n = 73, 31.9%) and non-professional individuals (n = 88, 38.4%). Disease knowledge constituted the main video content (n = 176, 76.9%), with treatment being the primary video theme(n = 85, 37.12%), and monologue the predominant video format (n = 84, 36.68%). Compared to Bilibili, TikTok videos featured shorter lengths, more recent upload dates, higher counts of likes, comments, and shares, and were posted by creators with larger fans counts (all P < 0.001). Bilibili scored significantly higher than TikTok on both JAMA (2.5 (2, 3)) and GQS (4 (4, 4)) scales (both P < 0.001); while TikTok scored higher on PEMAT comprehensibility (100 (82, 100)) and executability (67 (0, 67)) (both P < 0.001). Videos from physicians, news agencies, and non-profit organizations, and those focusing on treatment or diagnosis, generally showed higher quality. The four quality scales were positively correlated(all P < 0.05), while correlations between quality scores and engagement metrics were weak. In the context of ongoing information disorder, influenza-related short videos have become a major channel for public health information access, yet the overall quality of this content remains suboptimal, with deficiencies in key clinical and preventive points. Improving short-form science communication will require higher-quality content, stronger platform governance, and enhanced public media literacy.