Twitter=quitter? An analysis of Twitter quit smoking social networks

Abstract

Objective Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service, offers potential for health promotion. Twitter may be a particularly appealing delivery channel for quit smoking programs given commonalities in the personality traits of heavy texters and smokers (e.g., high sensation seeking, impulsivity). This study examined the activity and popularity of Twitter quit smoking social network accounts. Design A cross-sectional analysis reviewed all Twitter accounts identified with the key words “quit or stop smoking” or “smoking cessation,” dating back to 2007, and examined recent account activity for the month of August 2010. Results A total of 153 activated Twitter quit smoking social network accounts were identified with a median of 155 followers and 82 total tweets per account; 49% of accounts had >100 tweets. Nearly half of the accounts (48%) linked to commercial sites for quitting smoking, 43% had tweets on e-cigarettes, and 26% posted automatic news alerts. Only 5% provided personal communications to support cessation and little content mapped onto clinical practice guidelines. In August 2010, 81 of the accounts (53%) were still active with a median of 23 tweets per account that month. Active accounts had more tweets overall and were more likely to have tweets on e-cigarettes compared to inactive accounts. Conclusions Study findings demonstrate interest in Twitter for building quit smoking social networks. However, many of the accounts are no longer active, and tweet content is largely inconsistent with clinical guidelines. Future research is needed to explore whether the popularity of Twitter can be leveraged for disseminating evidence-based tobacco treatment strategies on a national and global scale and to examine the effectiveness of this approach on smoking behavior.

Social Media Mining for Public Health Monitoring and Surveillance

“…[59][60][61] Social networks have also been analyzed to understand smoking cessation and online social support for cessation. 3,[62][63][64] Other substance abuse issues have been studied as well, including trends in alcohol use 65,66 and problem drinking. 67,68 Some researchers have focused on using social media data for monitoring prescription drug abuse.…”

Ethics of Social Media Research: Common Concerns and Practical Considerations

“…Twitter studies as of yet have gathered data regarding individual patient experiences in areas such as pain and smoking cessation, as well as population-level data regarding events such as pandemics. [2][3][4] YouTube is a video-sharing site that allows the account owners to upload videos, and allows any visitor to view videos. Videos may be user-generated or professionally made.…”

O Programa Nacional de Controle do Tabagismo (PNCT) na perspectiva social: a análise de redes, capital e apoio social

“…Além dessas, há investigações que tratam de moradores de pequenas localidades específicas [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] , enquanto outros trabalham as relações interpessoais de grupos profissionais como enfermeiras ou funcionários públicos [51][52][53][54][55][56] . As investigações feitas em serviços tiveram o intuito de avaliá-los [57][58][59][60][61][62] , assim como a utilização deles por parte de seus usuários 63 . Essa averiguação concisa a partir de bases de dados abertas já indica que o tema, apesar de não discutido intensamente no Brasil, parece estar em interessante expansão, mesmo que ainda timidamente.…”