Abstract
BackgroundAlthough gun violence has been identified as a major public health concern, the scope and significance of internet gun advertising is not known.ObjectiveThis study aimed to quantify the characteristics of gun advertising on social media and to compare the reach of posts by manufacturers with those of influencers.MethodsUsing a systematic search, we created a database of recent and popular Twitter and YouTube posts made public by major firearm manufacturers and influencers. From our sample of social media posts, we reviewed the content of the posts on the basis of 19 different characteristics, such as type of gun, presence of women, and military or police references. Our content analysis summarized statistical differences in the information conveyed in posts to compare advertising approaches across social media platforms.ResultsSample posts revealed that firearm manufacturers use social media to attract audiences to websites that sell firearms: 14.1% (131/928; ±2.9) of Twitter posts, 53.6% (228/425; ±6.2) of YouTube videos, and 89.5% (214/239; ±5.1) of YouTube influencer videos link to websites that facilitate sales. Advertisements included women in efforts to market handguns and pistols for the purpose of protection: videos with women included protection themes 2.5 times more often than videos without women. Top manufacturers of domestic firearms received 98 million channel views, compared with 6.1 billion channel views received by the top 12 YouTube influencers.ConclusionsFirearm companies use social media as an advertising platform to connect viewers to websites that sell guns. Gun manufacturers appropriate YouTube servers, video streaming services, and the work of YouTube influencers to reach large audiences to promote the widespread sale of consumer firearms. YouTube and Twitter subsidize gun advertising by offering server and streaming services at no cost to gun manufacturers, to the commercial benefit of Google and Twitter’s corporate ownership.
Highlights
Gun production and imports of guns in the United States have risen significantly over the past 30 years
Gun manufacturers appropriate YouTube servers, video streaming services, and the work of YouTube influencers to reach large audiences to promote the widespread sale of consumer firearms
Building on work to characterize print advertising [2,10,14], this paper examined major themes in firearm advertising used in social media
Summary
Background Gun production and imports of guns in the United States have risen significantly over the past 30 years. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, there has been a three-fold increase in the total number of guns made in the United States from 3 million in 1986 to over 11 million in 2016. Proliferation of firearms presents significant challenges to domestic and global public health: weapons from US markets have been linked to elevated crime, violence, and homicide in other countries [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Public health responses to firearms require a closer examination of the company practices that facilitate the widespread distribution and increased lethality of small arms in the United States. Gun violence has been identified as a major public health concern, the scope and significance of internet gun advertising is not known
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