#drunktwitter: Examining the relations between alcohol-related Twitter content and alcohol willingness and use among underage young adults

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the importance of social networking sites on young adult alcohol use, few studies have examined Twitter as a conduit for sharing drinking behavior. However, this work generally uses random samples of tweets and thus cannot determine the extent to which Tweets correspond with self-reported drinking cognitions or behaviors. The primary aims of the present study were to (1) document basic patterns of alcohol-related Twitter activity in a subsample of young adult drinkers, and (2) examine whether willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences are associated with alcohol-related tweeting behavior. Methods: 186 young adults age 18-20 completed an online survey and provided Twitter handle information. From these participants, a random sample of 5,000 Tweets was coded by a trained team to determine whether tweets were related to alcohol use or not. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the proportion of alcohol-related Tweets is associated with self-reported alcohol use willingness, behaviors, and negative consequences. Results: Results indicated that not only are alcohol-related tweets common among young adults, but that the proportion of one’s overall tweets that are related to alcohol is significantly associated with willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences. Conclusions: The results of this study are an important step to understanding how digital behavior (e.g., posting about alcohol on Twitter) is related to an individual’s self-reported drinking cognitions, alcohol use, and negative consequences and has implications for the way Twitter data can be used for public health surveillance and interventions.

Describing the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on alcohol‐induced blackout tweets

“…Moreover, research suggests that alcohol‐induced blackouts are a potential screener for additional alcohol‐related negative consequences [3]. Additionally, posts about alcohol on Twitter are linked to self‐reported drinking behaviours [21]. Therefore, while our data cannot speak to whether alcohol problems will increase in the future, using Twitter to monitor the impact of the pandemic on alcohol‐induced blackouts informs potential immediate needs (e.g.…”

Análisis de las redes sociales en el consumo de alcohol

“…La demanda de entradas sobre el consumo de alcohol se ha visto incrementada durante las diferentes festividades y fines de semana, donde los jóvenes publican tweets o entradas de Facebook relacionadas con el alcohol expresando opiniones positivas hacia el consumo del mismo (Cavazos-Rehg, Krauss, Sowles, y Bierut, 2015;West et al, 2012). No obstante, hay múltiples usuarios de Facebook y Twitter que muestran opiniones negativas acerca del consumo de alcohol y las consecuencias que tiene, aunque en menor proporción respecto a los que se muestran a favor de la ingesta (Litt et al, 2018).…”

“…Así mismo, las redes sociales facilitan la intervención en la prevención de consumo de alcohol, ya que proporciona información imprescindible sobre el papel que juega la ingesta de alcohol en los jóvenes y ofrece diferentes medios para identificar los individuos que requieren de una intervención con respecto a su consumo elevado de alcohol (Litt et al, 2018).…”

“…Tras analizar los resultados, se aprecia como los jóvenes están a favor del consumo de alcohol debido a los comentarios positivos que muestran en las redes sociales (Cavazos-Rehg et al, 2015;West et al, 2012), mientras que el número de comentarios en contra del consumo de alcohol y de prevención es menor (Litt et al, 2018), confirmándose así la primera hipótesis del presente trabajo.…”

Репрезентация Практик Потребления Алкоголя В Виртуальных Социальных Сетях

“…Такие исследователи, как Дж. Д'Анджело, Е. С. Вестгейт, Ф. Гаусенс, Д. М. Литт, М. А. Морено, Г. К. Хуанг и др., заявляют, что анализ ссылок и постов о вреде алкоголя в социальных сетях имеет прогностическую функцию в отношении поведения, связанного со здоровьем, служит целям профилактики [D'Angelo et al, 2014;Westgate et al, 2014Westgate et al, , 2016Geusens et al, 2016;Litt et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2014 etc. ] и должен использоваться для диагностики девиантных форм потребления алкоголя [Moreno et al, 2012].…”