Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Spanish public universities’
YouTube channels
Impacto de la pandemia de la COVID-19 en los canales de YouTube de las
universidades públicas españolas
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nº 35, pp. 225-243
| 225
July-December of 2022
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Simancas González, E. and Blanco Sánchez, T. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Spanish public universities’ YouTube
channels.
Doxa Comunicación
, 35, pp. 225-243.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n35a1508
Esther Simancas González.
PhD in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising and lecturer in the Department of
Marketing and Communication at the University of Cadiz. First and Second Teaching Innovation Award at the University
of Cadiz and teaching excellence mention. She is part of the research group SEJ-635: Feminism, communication and
cooperation for social justice (FEMCOM).
Universidad of Cadiz, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-0747-8210
Tania Blanco Sánchez.
PhD in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising (University of Extremadura) and a degree
in Journalism (Autonomous University of Barcelona). Lecturer at the
Instituto Superior de Novas Profssões
(Portugal)
and the Department of Marketing and Communication (University of Cadiz).
Universidad of Cadiz, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-4212-7061
Abstract:
e university system has had to unexpectedly face a complicated
process since Spain’s rst state of alarm was decreed throughout
the 2020/2021 academic year. is 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, inuence, and intensity of each YouTube channel, and we
identied the themes of the videos shared during the study period.
e videos with the most views have also been analysed to determine
the content type with the most signicant impact. e results indicate
that from March 2020 until July 2021, the activity on these channels
Resumen:
Desde que se decretó el primer estado de alarma en España y durante el
curso 2020/2021, el sistema universitario ha tenido que hacer frente de
forma inesperada a un proceso particularmente difícil. A partir de un es
-
tudio longitudinal, empleando el análisis de contenido, en este artículo se
analiza el impacto de la pandemia de la COVID-19 en los canales de You
-
Tube de las universidades públicas españolas. Para ello, se han recopilado
datos relativos a la presencia, inuencia e intensidad de cada canal de
YouTube y se han identicado las temáticas de los vídeos compartidos
en el periodo de estudio. Asimismo, se han analizado los vídeos con más
reproducciones para determinar el tipo de contenido que logra mayor re
-
Received: 16/10/2021 - Accepted: 11/01/2022 - Early access: 23/02/2022 - Published: 01/07/2022
Recibido: 16/10/2021 - Aceptado: 11/01/2022 - En edición: 23/02/2022 - Publicado: 01/07/2022
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1. Introduction
e spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused an unprecedented global crisis, with enormous consequences worldwide
(Núñez-Gómez et al., 2020). All sectors have been adversely aected, especially education, in which over 91% of students have
been impacted worldwide (Acosta et al., 2020).
ree days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of this coronavirus strain as a pandemic, the
Government in Spain decreed the rst state of alarm on 14 March 2020, mandating a lockdown of the entire population for the
rst time in democracy and suspending non-essential activities that could pose a risk of contagion. e Royal Decree 463/2020
on 14 March declared a state of alarm for managing the health crisis brought about by COVID-19; consequently, face-to-face
classes were suspended and replaced by online classes at all levels as a measure to contain the virus in the educational area.
is meant the total closure of education centers in the State, including universities. Universities in Spain have developed an
organisational structure and educational model essentially oriented towards face-to-face classes (Torrecillas, 2020), which
suddenly had to deal with this paradigm shift (García-Peñalvo, 2020).
e Minister of Universities and the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) took urgent measures to support
the digital transition a few days after the state of alarm was decreed, launching 2020 Connected
:
e University at home on
20 March, a web platform with online resources for education and investigation and psychological support for the university
community. Likewise, each university implemented specic measures and support services to face the situation in order to
continue teaching and doing other university activities (CRUE, 2020).
e rst state of alarm in Spain was extended until 21 June 2020; therefore, the 2019/20 academic year ended telematically.
e beginning of the 2020/21 academic year continued to be marked by the health crisis and the restrictions to contain the
spread of the virus. Education centres had to ensure prevention and hygiene measures in classrooms and a minimum safety
distance of 1.5m under the Royal Decree-Law 21/2020 of 9 June and the
Measures of prevention, hygiene and promotion of
Health Facing COVID-19 for University Centres in the 2020/2021 Academic Year
, its rst version was published 10 June 2020,
and the denitive one was published on 11 March. is meant that dierent educational scenarios had to be considered, and
increased, mainly in terms of subscribers and views. It also conrms
that COVID-19 monopolised much of these channels’ content
during the rst state of alarm, followed by a decreasing trend. us,
the COVID-19 pandemic transformed public universities’ use of
their YouTube channels. In addition, this situation also altered the
channels’ consumption trends.
Keywords:
Public university; YouTube; online video; COVID-19; Institutional
Communication.
percusión. Los resultados indican que desde marzo de 2020 hasta julio de
2021 aumentó la actividad en estos canales, principalmente el número
de suscriptores/as y de reproducciones. Asimismo, se conrma que la CO
-
VID-19 monopolizó buena parte del contenido de estos canales durante el
primer estado de alarma, pero después sigue una tendencia decreciente.
Por tanto, puede concluirse que la pandemia de la COVID-19 ha inuido
en el uso que las universidades públicas han hecho de sus canales de You
-
Tube y ha alterado las tendencias de consumo de los mismos.
Palabras clave:
Universidad pública; YouTube; video online; COVID-19; Comunicación
Institucional.
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a blended model (face-to-face/non-face-to-face) was chosen. At rst, multimodal teaching was generally preferred. Still, this
modality was substituted with non-face-to-face classes in response to the evolution of the epidemiological situation over that
academic year. Shortly after the academic year had commenced on 25 October 2020 another state of alarm was declared due
to the worsening of the health crisis, reinforcing restrictions throughout Spain to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections,
which was extended until May 2021. Following this date, the restrictive protective measures were gradually eased thanks to the
advances in the vaccination campaign (Güell, 2021). us, universities chose to implement face-to-face classes for the start
of the 2021/2022 academic year after the meeting on 3 September 2021 between the Minister of Universities Manuel Castells
and the CRUE. However, the context of uncertainty and anxiety continued until the start of the 2021/2022 academic year.
e abrupt change to the online model in March 2020 and the exibility required to make face-to-face and online activities
compatible the following year led to the university community’s overexertion and work overload, resulting in criticism from
students and faculties (Tejedor et al., 2020). is has inevitably contributed to the opening up of old debates about the Spanish
university system, highlighting the urgent need to transform the traditional educational system (García-Peñalvo, 2020).
On the other hand, we cannot ignore the informative and communicative context in which the COVID-19 pandemic has
occurred. Since March 2020, the media ecosystem has reected the extraordinary global situation as communication activity
has increased like never before (Gil-Ramírez et al., 2020). Media consumption has shot up (Sierra-Sánchez et al., 2021),
in particular on social media and online video platforms (IAB Spain, 2020; 2021), as an information-hungry population is
immersed not only in one of the biggest health crises ever experienced but also in what has been described as “the worst wave
of disinformation in history” (Valera, 2020, cited by Aguado-Guadalupe and Bernaola-Serrano, 2020).
Given the circumstances, information is relevant in this context (Masip et al., 2020). e scientic community is one of the
most reliable voices (Xifra-Triadú, 2020). In this sense, the public university is a public service guarantor for generating
scientic knowledge (Simancas-González and García-López, 2016; Simancas-González and García-López, 2019), and has had
the opportunity to act as a reliable source of information for the citizenry during this crisis (Mut-Camacho, 2020). us, it
is worth noting that public universities have used social media during the COVID-19 pandemic as a direct communication
channel with their audience. Private universities have not been included in this study. e public university is independent
and dierentiated from the former in regards to its ownership and social function (Díez-Gutiérrez, 2018).
is work focuses exclusively on YouTube because its users access it for entertainment, reliable information, and educational
material (Orduña-Malea et, 2020). It is the most used social network in the university area, while Facebook or Twitter are rarely
used (Rodrigo-Cano et al., 2019). Moreover, YouTube is the leading video platform worldwide (Statista, 2020), with a 66.4%
penetration in Spain (Association for the Investigation of Media [AIMC], 2021). Dierent studies state that it is “a relevant
social network in the study of the changes in communicative dynamics experienced during this health crisis” (Gil-Ramírez et
al., 2021, p. 124).
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us, this research’s main objective is to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Spanish public universities’ use of
YouTube channels and its implications. Specically, we aim to:
–
Examine the Spanish public Universities’ activity and the evolution of the themes on their YouTube channels during the
pandemic.
–
Determine these YouTube channels’ scope in this period.
–
Detect the consumption trends on these YouTube channels during the pandemic.
So far, Sanz-Hernando and Parejo-Cuellar (2021) and Suing (2021) have published research on this topic. e former analyses
the impact of the pandemic on the scientic dissemination units of Spanish universities during the rst state of alarm. e rst
impact study of the pandemic was carried out in the Spanish universities’ scientic dissemination departments during the rst
state of alarm in Spain; the latter, which is more focused on this research’s subject of study, analyses the most viewed videos
posted on YouTube between 16 March and 16 September 2020 by the most prestigious Andean universities. It was concluded
that they did not play a prominent role in socially managing information at this critical time.
1.1. Universities and YouTube
Universities’ communication on social networks is a thoroughly studied topic, mainly in the United States (Valerio-Ureña et
al., 2020), although “the research community has not yet been able to produce a fair picture of the YouTube vídeo-sharing
platform”
1
(Mesenguer et al., 2019, p. 2). is may be because YouTube is not an accurate source for info metric analysis, as
Orduña-Malea et al. (2020) point out.
Dierent studies coincide in highlighting that although there has been an increase in universities’ use of social media since
networks started to gain visibility and presence on the internet over a decade ago (Ladogina et al., 2020), its eectivity is
limited (García-García, 2018; López-Pérez and Lobo-Olvera, 2016). According to Simón-Onieva (2017), this could be the result
of the universities’ management of these platforms since they do not make the most of their interaction potential, nor do they
share contents of interest to users. Instead, their approach is unidirectional and to (self) advertise. ey must also focus on
other determining factors to generate engagement, such as the style of communication or periodicity of publications (Zarco et
al., 2016). García-García (2018) focuses more on strategic planning than management, highlighting universities’ need to work
towards some objectives and a social network communication plan, determined by the importance that university authorities
give to digital communication.
However, universities’ impact and presence on social networks are not uniform. e most prestigious research or teaching
universities tend to have a more signicant impact; the scientic or social content they share seeks to inspire and motivate
users, while the remaining universities do not seem to follow this strategy, as they focus more on institutional promotion
(Segura-Mariño et al., 2020). Likewise, it has been found that private universities in the United States have a higher budget for
marketing strategies, allowing them to attract more followers than public universities (Valerio-Ureña et al., 2020).
1
Translation by the authors.
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On the other hand, universities’ main platform is Facebook: while YouTube has a lower reach (Ladogina et al., 2020; Valerio-
Ureña et al., 2020). is may be due to the high investment in creating high-quality audiovisual content, among other reasons.
However, the investment is worthwhile because Internet users are most interested in online videos and share them the most on
social networks (De-Lara-González and García-Avilés, 2019). Be that as it may, the number of university institutional channels
as well as the amount of available videos has increased exponentially in recent years (Segarra-Saavedra et al., 2020; Ros-
Gálvez et al., 2021), since “university managers have identied the opportunities that YouTube oers as a free access broadcast
channel with global impact”
2
(Ros-Gálvez et al., 2021, p. 1). However, as noted above, only prestigious universities’ YouTube
videos have a high impact (Meseguer et al., 2019).
Generally speaking, universities use YouTube to generate a brand image (Guzmán-Luque and Del-Moral-Pérez, 2014;
Martín-González and Santamaría-Llarena, 2017), which is, in turn, university communication management’s main objective
(Simancas-González and García-López, 2017). Guzmán-Luque and Del-Moral-Pérez (2014) identify that institutional
promotion videos are the most shared content on their YouTube feed based on a sample of Ibero-American universities.
Concerning Spanish universities Martín-González and Santamaría-Llarena (2017) point out that the most shared videos are
institutional ones, followed by those of academic interest due to YouTube’s relevance as a didactic tool (Mesenguer et al.,
2019; Rodrigo-Cano et al., 2019). However, Spanish universities and research centres make little use of this social network for
disseminating research (López-Pérez and Lobo-Olvera, 2016), although young people are becoming increasingly interested in
science and inform themselves about it through platforms such as YouTube (García-Arnau, 2019).
Despite this scenario, this social network could play a signicant role in universities’ strategic communication, mainly due to
students’ acceptance (Ros-Gálvez et al., 2021). Students are one of the priority audiences on social networks (García-García,
2018) to the point that success on YouTube can be determined by the number of students enrolled in a university, among other
factors (Segura-Mariño et al., 2020).
On the other hand, online videos are a growing trend (IAB, 2018), accounting for 80% of total trac on the internet in 2021
(Vidyard, 2021). Audiovisuals are thus gaining more and more prominence as a form of communication and a consumer
product as they t perfectly with audiences’ fragmented consumption (Wang, 2020) since words are processed more quickly,
and viewing can be combined with other activities (Costa-Sánchez, 2017). It is also a highly recommended format for
communicating any type of content, thus making it accessible and attractive (Acosta et al., 2020; Costa-Sánchez, 2017; Lara-
González and García-Avilés, 2020).
In this sense, YouTube could be a channel for universities to broadcast their institutional, academic, and scientic information
to stakeholders and an internal and external space for communication since it enables users to interact and participate.
However, for YouTube to be more than a mere repository of university videos(Santamaría-Llarena, 2017), these institutions
need to design a strategic communication plan (García-García, 2018), specically for this social network and to invest more
resources in audiovisual content creation and management.
2
Translation by the authors.
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2. Methodology
is study used a descriptive methodology based on the objectives set out. Forty-eight public Spanish universities’ institutional
YouTube channels have been identied. e following two centres have been excluded due to their unique nature: e
International University of Andalusia and e International University of Menéndez Pelayo (Registry of Universities, Centres
and Degrees [RUCT], 2008). Each universities’ main institutional account has been considered “since even in decentralised
organisational models that may have thematic or area-based accounts, the principal account is that which has greater symbolic
power and aligns with the general image of the institution” (Ure, 2016, p. 254).
Content analysis was used as the research technique, as it is the one that best ts the study’s objectives and is the most used
in communication research (Eoira and Barranquero, 2017), specically for YouTube videos and content analysis(Aznar-Díaz
et al., 2019).
e study’s timeline includes the rst state of alarm from the beginning until the end of the academic year 2020/2021, a
particularly critical period for these institutions. We carried out a longitudinal study to evaluate the evolution of institutional
channels on YouTube. ree periods of analysis were established (Table 1): the rst state of alarm, the second state of alarm,
and the period that took place between the end of the second state of alarm and the August holidays 2021, a non-working
month in Spanish public universities.
Table 1. Study periods
Period of analysis
DateDuration
First state of alarm14 March to 21 June 202097 days
Second state of alarm25 October 2020 to May 2021194 days
After the end of the second state of alarm10 May to 31 June 2021 81 days
Source: created by the authors
e primary data was gathered from each university’s YouTube channel as shown in the analysis sheet (Table 2): year of
creation, presence, inuence, and intensity. e intensity of the communication corresponds to the number of videos
published (López-Pérez and Lobo-Olvera, 2016). e number of subscribers has been taken into account to determine the
presence of the universities on YouTube. We have counted the number of views of the channel’s contents (Zarco et al., 2016).
On the other hand, according to Atarama-Rojas and Vega-Foelsche (2020), the videos’ subject matter was considered an analysis
variable since it is an essential communicative element of valuable content on social networks. e theme classication follows
Guzmán and Moral’s (2014) proposal based on the public universities’ essential functions (teaching, research, outreach, and
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institutional functions). After reviewing and viewing the videos, two more topics were added to this classication: COVID-19
and EvAU (Evaluation for University Access). ese tests are carried out on university sites.
Table 2. YouTube channels analysis sheet
VariablesDenition
Year of creationYear of the channel opening
Presence
Number of subscribers
Inuence
Number of plays
Intensity
Number of videos
Video emes
Teaching: teaching materials and university teaching
Research: scientic dissemination and knowledge transfer
Outreach: dissemination of cultural, social, sporting, or social responsibility activities
Institutional: university governance, institutional events, and promotional videos
EvAU: Evaluation for University Access
COVID-19: COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, its eects, and consequences on society
Source: created by the authors based on Guzmán and Moral (2014) and López-Pérez and Olvera-Lobo (2016) and Zarco et al. (2016)
On the other hand, the most viewed videos on the university YouTube channels during the three periods of study in the
pandemic (48 videos/period: 144 videos) were identied and analysed to verify the types of content with the most signicant
impact as Bernal and Carvajal did (2019). e analysis variables correspond to the following parameters: date, duration, video
theme (Table 2), and engagement rating, determined from Ballesteros-Herencia (2019) as the metric percentage derived from
the positive votes minus the negative votes, divided by the number of plays.
All data was gathered during the week after each period studied to avoid bias. Finally, the data was tabulated using SPSS
Statistics 24.
3. Results
3.1. Primary data on the Spanish public universities’ YouTube channels
e number of YouTube subscribers from the 48 public universities increased signicantly from the end of the rst state of
alarm (21 June 2020) until 31 July 2021, from 747,736 to 980,060. e average number of subscriptions to the Spanish public
university YouTube channels stood at 10.84 subscriptions/day throughout the study period. In contrast, since these public
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universities had previously created their channel (the average creation date was 11 November 2009), the average number of
subscriptions a day was 4.46.
From the time the universities set up their YouTube channel until the rst state of alarm was decreed, the average number of
plays/day on these channels was 1,192.83, while there was an average of 13,487.65 plays a day from then until 31 July 2021.
Regarding these channels’ inuence during the pandemic, plays have increased generally in this period 19.97% (in absolute
terms, 44,308,656), from 221,866,051 to 266,174,707 plays.
e polytechnic university of Valencia’s YouTube channel had the most signicant presence and inuence among the public
universities at the end of this study and has accumulated the highest number of followers during this period (55,000) and the
most plays (17,961,695). Other polytechnic universities follow suit, such as the Polytechnic University of Madrid, with 23,600
subscribers and a total of 6,922,041 plays. In contrast, the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO) did not increase its subscribers,
and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria only had 22,637 plays.
e universities’ YouTube channels published 0.43 videos/day on average until the rst state of alarm, while the intensity of the
channels’ publications increased to 0.67 videos/day during the pandemic.
Each university posted an average of 0.63 videos/day in the rst period analysed; in the second period, the frequency of
publications was 0.64 videos/day; publications increased by around 10% in the third period with an average of 0.75 videos/
day by channel. us, we can identify an upward trend regarding the intensity of publications; however, not all universities
follow this pattern; the University of Cádiz, in particular, did not post any videos on its YouTube channel from 4 March 2020 to
20 September 2021. On the contrary, the Miguel Hernández University of Elche posted 2,136 videos. It was the Spanish public
university with the most content on its YouTube channel, with over 16,000 videos.
3.2. emes by period analysed
First state of alarm
e public universities’ central theme on their YouTube channels is university outreach, as shown in Figure 1 (40.96%),
followed, in order of importance, by teaching (24.70%), institutional (16.91%), COVID-19 (7.92%), research (7.67%) and EvAU
(1.84%) content.
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Figure 1. Public universities’ YouTube channel themes during the rst state of alarm
Figure 1.
Public universities’ YouTube channel themes during the first
s
tate of
alarm.
Source:
C
reated by the authors based on YouTube.
It is essential to note that most university outreach videos are proposals for activities at
home or focused on issues such as solidarity in the pandemic, psychological support,
remote working, etc. Teaching videos are mainly tutorials on virtual teaching resources
for students and teachers.
Regarding institutional topics, apart from promotional videos
for
undergraduate and post
-
graduate degre
es
, videos of top university leaders inform the public or convey a particular
message concerning the situation caused by COVID
-
19. Similarly, scientific
disse
mination contents are often linked to the research on COVID
-
19. Regarding the
EvAU, the videos refer to the security measures and protocols for holding the exams.
The Second
st
ate of alarm
University outreach is still the Spanish public universities’ YouTube channels
’
central
theme, although this percentage increased by 29
-
31% in this period, from 41.04% to
70.35% (Figure 2).
Therefore the prominence of other topics decrea
s
ed, although teaching decline
d
the most
(6.44%), which mainly
featured
videos on teaching resources for specific subjects. On
the other hand, the institutional theme (15.01%) focused on disseminating courses,
congresses,
and conferences, not included during the first
state
of
alarm.
24.70%
7.67%
16.91%
40.96%
7.92
1.84%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100