Neighborhood disadvantage, residents' distress, and online social communication: Harnessing Twitter data to examine neighborhood effects

Abstract

This study aims to examine the role of place‐based online social communications in buffering the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and psychological distress using geo‐located Twitter feeds. We collected 1,981,802 geo‐tagged tweets posted within the physical boundaries of 78 neighborhoods located in Pittsburgh for 16 consecutive months, beginning July 15, 2013. Psychological distress was measured using sentiments expressed in tweets, and within‐ and between‐neighborhood online social communications were assessed using users’ Twitter activity. This study reveals differential effects of within‐ and between‐neighborhood online social communications. More online social communications within a neighborhood were associated with increased psychological sadness, anxiety, and distress in high‐poverty neighborhoods; a relationship that was not found in low‐poverty neighborhoods. This study suggests the buffering effects of online social communications may follow the same patterns as off‐line social support in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Considering the interactions between online spaces and neighborhoods may be important for planning and implementing neighborhood‐level interventions.

Neighborhood sexual violence moderates women's perceived safety in urban neighborhoods

“…Previous literature had shown that outside of their home, women generally feel less safe than men, especially in high-crime urban neighborhoods (Allik & Kearns, 2016;Brunton-Smith & Sturgis, 2011;Haynie, 1998;Lane & Meeker, 2003;Lane et al, 2009;Schafer et al, 2006;Warr, 1984). Yet our study did not show this effect.…”

“…There is considerable evidence that women report higher threats to personal safety than men, and that this may be due to gender differences between women and men in the fear of crime (Allik & Kearns, 2016;Hale, 1996;Haynie, 1998;Schaefer, Huebner, & Bynum, 2006;Warr, 1984). In urban neighborhoods with high rates of crime, women also report less personal safety (Allik & Kearns, 2016;Brunton-Smith & Sturgis, 2011;Rasmussen, Aber, & Bhana, 2004). Importantly, gender differences in perceptions of neighborhood safety may not be based on victimization or exposure to crime, but simply knowledge of neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime (Drakulich, 2013;Skogan & Maxfield, 1981).…”

“…There is some evidence to support this view, although findings are inconclusive (Allik & Kearns, 2016;Haynes & Rader, 2015). A variation of this theory is that men minimize their vulnerability because admitting fear for their safety may threaten traditional conceptualizations of masculinity (Sutton & Farrall, 2005); thus, men report feeling less vulnerable to physical attack.…”

“…Neighborhood perceptions of safety can serve as a proxy for certain neighborhood conditions such as crime, exposure to violence, and concentrated poverty (Drakulich, 2013;Ross & Mirofsky, 2001;Rassmussen, Aber, & Bhana, 2004; Thomas, Caldwell, Jagers, & Flay, 2016). Neighborhood safety has also been found to be negatively associated with health and well-being (Burdette, Wadden, Wadden, & Whitaker, 2006;Duncan, Johnson, Molnar, & Azrael, 2009;Zhang, Eamon, & Zhan, 2015), and positively associated with favorable perceptions of the neighborhood walking environment (Brown, Perkins, & Brown, 2004;Foster & Giles-Corti, 2008;Mason et al, 2013), aesthetic quality (Austin, Furr, & Spine, 2002;Kuo & Sullivan, 1998;Miles, 2008), and collective efficacy (Allik & Kearns, 2016;Pearson, Breetzke, & Ivory, 2015;Thomas, Caldwell, & Jagers, 2016).…”

A quantitative exploration of repeated advice-seeking on Reddit's r/relationships

“…These characteristics corroborate with the literaturea large survey of American online support seekers found that they were more likely to be female (DeAndrea & Anthony, 2013). Younger adults typically participate more in the online sphere (Booth, Lin & Wei, 2018) and are more inclined toward interacting with online strangers versus older adults (Thayer & Ray, 2006). More active users may also simply be more comfortable seeking for advice on personal issues onlineuniversity students who spent more time online were also found to be more unreserved and disclosed more personal matters online versus their peers (Niemz, Griffiths & Banyard, 2005).…”