Reddit Weight Loss Communities: Do They Have What It Takes for Effective Health Interventions?

Enes, Karen Braga; Brum, Pedro Paulo Valadares; Cunha, Tiago Oliveira; Murai, Fabrício; Silva, Ana Paula Couto da; Pappa, Gisele L.

doi:10.1109/wi.2018.00-45

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Practically, this indicates that influencers were getting retweeted by users without connecting through mutual conversation. To our knowledge, there are currently no network analyses of popular diet networks on Twitter; however, a SNA of the social media platform—Reddit found that users formed close relationships with dense interactions in 3 weight loss–focused networks [ 78 ]. Comparisons should be made with caution; however, owing to the presumed connectedness of social media [ 79 ], a similar observation was expected from our results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the Discourse of Popular Diets to Describe Information Dispersal and Identify Leading Voices, Interaction, and Themes of Mental Health: Social Network Analysis

Eaton¹,

Probst²,

Smith³

2023

JMIR Infodemiology

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Background Social media has transformed the way health messages are communicated. This has created new challenges and ethical considerations while providing a platform to share nutrition information for communities to connect and for information to spread. However, research exploring the web-based diet communities of popular diets is limited. Objective This study aims to characterize the web-based discourse of popular diets, describe information dissemination, identify influential voices, and explore interactions between community networks and themes of mental health. Methods This exploratory study used Twitter social media posts for an online social network analysis. Popular diet keywords were systematically developed, and data were collected and analyzed using the NodeXL metrics tool (Social Media Research Foundation) to determine the key network metrics (vertices, edges, cluster algorithms, graph visualization, centrality measures, text analysis, and time-series analytics). Results The vegan and ketogenic diets had the largest networks, whereas the zone diet had the smallest network. In total, 31.2% (54/173) of the top users endorsed the corresponding diet, and 11% (19/173) claimed a health or science education, which included 1.2% (2/173) of dietitians. Complete fragmentation and hub and spoke messaging were the dominant network structures. In total, 69% (11/16) of the networks interacted, where the ketogenic diet was mentioned most, with depression and anxiety and eating disorder words most prominent in the “zone diet” network and the least prominent in the “soy-free,” “vegan,” “dairy-free,” and “gluten-free” diet networks. Conclusions Social media activity reflects diet trends and provides a platform for nutrition information to spread through resharing. A longitudinal exploration of popular diet networks is needed to further understand the impact social media can have on dietary choices. Social media training is vital, and nutrition professionals must work together as a community to actively reshare evidence-based posts on the web.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the Discourse of Popular Diets to Describe Information Dispersal and Identify Leading Voices, Interaction, and Themes of Mental Health: Social Network Analysis

Eaton¹,

Probst²,

Smith³

2023

JMIR Infodemiology

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show abstract

“…Individuals suffering from OUD and other socially stigmatized conditions (Betton et al 2015) such as mental health issues (De Choudhury and De 2014), sex-or gender-related issues (Nobles et al 2018;Saha et al 2019), and physical health issues (Enes et al 2018) have now the alternative to engage with online communities spontaneously. People in need of peer support are increasingly finding a safe place to share their experiences in online social media platforms that provide pseudonymity, such as Reddit (Bunting et al 2021;Andalibi et al 2016;Sowles et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pursuit of Peer Support for Opioid Use Recovery on Reddit

Balsamo

Bajardi

Morales

et al. 2023

ICWSM

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Individuals suffering from Opioid Use Disorder and other socially stigmatized conditions often rely on peer support groups to find comfort and motivation while treating their condition. Many may face barriers in accessing peer support treatment, such as shame and social stigma, seclusion, or mobility restrictions. In this study, we quantitatively characterize the potential of the Reddit community in offering these individuals an online alternative to receiving peer support. By analyzing the social interactions of thousands of users during the start of opioid use recovery, we uncover that a particular Reddit community exhibits many characteristics similar to in-person peer support groups, featuring the exchange of support, trust, status, and similar experiences. We find that the supportive behavior of this community nudges users to change their personal behavior, and promotes abandoning opioid-related communities in favor of recovery-oriented relationships. Finally, we find that recognition, acknowledgment, and knowledge exchange are the most relevant factors in sustained engagement with the recovery community. Given this evidence, we suggest that this online community may constitute a complement or a surrogate to peer support groups when in-person meetings are not desirable or possible. Our work might inspire harm reduction policies and interventions to favor successful rehabilitation and is fundamental for future research about the use of digital media for recovery support.

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Measuring social support for depression on social media: A multifaceted study on user interaction and emotional spread

Wu,

Zhou,

Zhong

2024

Telematics and Informatics

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Reddit Weight Loss Communities: Do They Have What It Takes for Effective Health Interventions?

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Characterizing the Discourse of Popular Diets to Describe Information Dispersal and Identify Leading Voices, Interaction, and Themes of Mental Health: Social Network Analysis

Characterizing the Discourse of Popular Diets to Describe Information Dispersal and Identify Leading Voices, Interaction, and Themes of Mental Health: Social Network Analysis

The Pursuit of Peer Support for Opioid Use Recovery on Reddit

Measuring social support for depression on social media: A multifaceted study on user interaction and emotional spread

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