Table 4.
Themes and subthemes in YouTube comments with example quotes (2020–2022).
| Theme or Subtheme | Description | Example Quotation |
|---|---|---|
| Anecdote | A comment containing a story about a commenter’s personal experience. | “The main problem with being autistic in today’s society is that the world just isn’t built for us”. This destroys me every day. |
| Social and Behavioural Manifestations | A comment that shares the ASD-related social and behavioural manifestations of the writer or the writer’s significant other. | “The inner conflict is maddening. All the things that make me feel most alive quickly burn me out…” |
| Public Perception | A comment that gives an account of how the writer or their significant other might have been viewed or treated by others. | “I’ve been hurt so many times by people I thought would never hurt me. Now that I’m 37 and have been crushed over and over with another one coming soon, I would just assume never get involved with another person”. |
| Self-Concept | A comment that gives an account of the writer’s feelings about themselves, including their self-image and issues with self-esteem. | “Nope, I’ve learnt through bad experiences that having friends is too much hassle. They always seem to turn on me after a while. Having friends is appealing in principle, but it just doesn’t work out. I am very lonely, but that’s preferable”. |
| Expression of Personal Feelings | A comment in which the writer expresses their personal feelings, emotional response, or opinions/perspectives. | “As someone with autism, I can honestly say I don’t care much about having friends. That wasn’t always the case, as I’ve gotten older, I seem to care less about having friends, but I think that’s normal for a lot of people”. |
| Positive Sentiments | A comment that expresses the writer’s positive beliefs and attitudes towards ASD. | “My 14 year old niece has both. She was diagnosed with ASD last year, but was diagnosed with ADHD when she was much younger... and we’ve always been incredibly close”. |
| Negative Sentiments | A comment that expresses the writer’s negative beliefs and attitudes towards ASD. | “I have Asperger syndrome, but you wouldn’t really notice unless I told you or if you study my behavior closely…and love being social” |
| View on Stereotypes or Misconceptions | Comments that express a writer’s view on stereotypes or misconceptions held by society and perpetuated by the media or other information channels. | “I’m 54 and I have lifetime adhd and asperger’s and it was hell trying to function most of my life as I had never even heard of either one until my late 30’s... as a child back in the 70’s I was diagnosed as hyperactive but that only scratched the surface of my issues”. |
| View on ASD Characteristics | Comments that express a writer’s view on the epidemiology of ASD, associated behaviours, interventions, etc. | “I’ve heard people complaining about schooling and working from home, via internet, while I’m like “Are you kidding? This is heaven!” |
| Reaction to Video Content | Comments expressing a writer’s immediate reaction and feelings toward the information in a video or the way the creator presents it. | “As an autistic person I want to say this for all others out there. We are built different, not incorrectly”. |
| Agreeing with or Approving of Creator Content | A comment that expresses agreement, satisfaction, or gratitude towards the video content. | “Our son just got diagnosed this week which has been such an amazing moment for our family. Really thankful for your content. Had a bit of a cry listening to your Podcast afterwards. Tears of relief and hope. Cheers?” |
| Disagreeing with or Disapproving of Creator Content | A comment that expresses disagreement or condemnation of video content. | “I have a autistic little brother and he’s 7 he can’t speak but tries to communicate he also has repetitive behaviour but Ty for saying this vid means a lot”. |
| Miscellaneous Exclamations | Comments with weak or no correlation to ASD-related content. This category also includes summarizing or directly quoting something in the video, making video requests, and random off-topic jokes, statements, or questions. | “This guy created Task manager, what a legend. All love from programmers around the world! thanks dave”. |