Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Spanish public universities’ YouTube channels

Abstract

The university system has had to unexpectedly face a complicated process since the first state of alarm was decreed in Spain throughout the 2020/2021 academic year. This longitudinal study focuses on analysing the impact of the pandemic on the YouTube channels of Spanish public universities. To this end, data was collected on the presence, influence, and intensity of each YouTube channel, and we identified the themes of the videos shared during the study period. The videos with the most views have also been analysed to determine the content type with the most significant impact. The results indicate that from March 2020 until July 2021, the activity on these channels increased, mainly in terms of subscribers and views. It also confirms that COVID-19 monopolised much of these channels’ content during the first state of alarm, followed by a decreasing trend. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed public universities’ use of their YouTube channels. In addition, this situation also altered the channels’ consumption trends.