People and social media platforms for positive mental health- A paradigm shift: A case on COVID-19 impact form India

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 102460
Author(s):  
Remya Lathabhavan
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Kaji ◽  
Maggie Bushman

BACKGROUND Adolescents with depression often turn to social media to express their feelings, for support, and for educational purposes. Little is known about how Reddit, a forum-based platform, compares to Twitter, a newsfeed platform, when it comes to content surrounding depression. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to identify differences between Reddit and Twitter concerning how depression is discussed and represented online. METHODS A content analysis of Reddit posts and Twitter posts, using r/depression and #depression, identified signs of depression using the DSM-IV criteria. Other youth-related topics, including School, Family, and Social Activity, and the presence of medical or promotional content were also coded for. Relative frequency of each code was then compared between platforms as well as the average DSM-IV score for each platform. RESULTS A total of 102 posts were included in this study, with 53 Reddit posts and 49 Twitter posts. Findings suggest that Reddit has more content with signs of depression with 92% than Twitter with 24%. 28.3% of Reddit posts included medical content compared to Twitter with 18.4%. 53.1% of Twitter posts had promotional content while Reddit posts didn’t contain promotional content. CONCLUSIONS Users with depression seem more willing to discuss their mental health on the subreddit r/depression than on Twitter. Twitter users also use #depression with a wider variety of topics, not all of which actually involve a case of depression.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Martini ◽  
Leticia S. Czepielewski ◽  
Daniel Prates Baldez ◽  
Emma Gliddon ◽  
Christian Kieling ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The Internet has seen rapid growth in the number of websites focusing on mental health content. Considering the increased need for access to accurate information about mental health treatment, it is important to understand the promotion of this information online. Objective To analyze BuzzFeed’s Mental Health Week (BFMHW) interactions on its own website and in related social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) using metrics of information delivery in mental health topics. Methods We extracted social media metrics from the 20 posts with the highest number of BuzzFeed interactions on the BFMHW website and from 41 videos available on the BFMHW playlist created by the BuzzFeed Video profile on YouTube. We analyzed the format and content used in BuzzFeed’s publishing methods as well as the following social media metrics: exposure (presence online, views and time online), influence (likes) and engagement (comments, shares, replies and BuzzFeed interactions). Results Analysis of the variables revealed that audience engagement is associated with the number of medias in which the content is published: views on YouTube and shares on Facebook (0.71, p<0.001), total interactions on Facebook (0.66, p<0.001) and BuzzFeed number of total interactions (0.56, p<0.001). Conclusions Our results suggest that videos on YouTube may be an important information channel, including activity and engagement on other medias such as Facebook. Information may be more effective in reaching the audience if it is delivered in more than one media and includes personal experiences, some humor in content and detailed information about treatment.


Through case studies of incidents around the world where the social media platforms have been used and abused for ulterior purposes, Chapter 6 highlights the lessons that can be learned. For good or for ill, the author elaborates on the way social media has been used as an arbiter to inflict various forms of political influence and how we may have become desensitized due to the popularity of the social media platforms themselves. A searching view is provided that there is now a propensity by foreign states to use social media to influence the user base of sovereign countries during key political events. This type of activity now justifies a paradigm shift in relation to our perception and utilization of computerized devices for the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512094818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ysabel Gerrard

At the time of writing (mid-May 2020), mental health charities around the world have experienced an unprecedented surge in demand. At the same time, record-high numbers of people are turning to social media to maintain personal connections due to restrictions on physical movement. But organizations like the mental health charity Mind and even the UK Government have expressed concerns about the possible strain on mental health that may come from spending more time online during COVID-19. These concerns are unsurprising, as debates about the link between heavy social media use and mental illness raged long before the pandemic. But our newly heightened reliance on platforms to replace face-to-face communication has created even more pressure for social media companies to heighten their safety measures and protect their most vulnerable users. To develop and enact these changes, social media companies are reliant on their content moderation workforces, but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented them with two related conundrums: (1) recent changes to content moderation workforces means platforms are likely to be less safe than they were before the pandemic and (2) some of the policies designed to make social media platforms safer for people’s mental health are no longer possible to enforce. This Social Media + Society: 2K essay will address these two challenges in depth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudette Pretorius ◽  
David Coyle

Young adulthood represents a sensitive period for young people's mental health. The lockdown restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced young people's access to traditional sources of mental health support. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the online resources young people were using to support their mental health during the first lockdown period in Ireland. It made use of an anonymous online survey targeted at young people aged 18–25. Participants were recruited using ads on social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SnapChat. A total of 393 respondents completed the survey. Many of the respondents indicated that they were using social media (51.4%, 202/393) and mental health apps (32.6%, 128/393) as sources of support. Fewer were making use of formal online resources such as charities (26%, 102/393) or professional counseling services (13.2%, 52/393). Different social media platforms were used for different purposes; Facebook was used for support groups whilst Instagram was used to engage with influencers who focused on mental health issues. Google search, recommendations from peers and prior knowledge of services played a role in how resources were located. Findings from this survey indicate that digital technologies and online resources have an important role to play in supporting young people's mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted these digital tool's potential as well as how they can be improved to better meet young people's needs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohini Sengupta ◽  
Sareeta Mugde ◽  
Garima Sharma

Twitter is one of the world's biggest social media platforms for hosting abundant number of user-generated posts. It is considered as a gold mine of data. Majority of the tweets are public and thereby pullable unlike other social media platforms. In this paper we are analyzing the topics related to mental health that are recently (June, 2020) been discussed on Twitter. Also amidst the on-going pandemic, we are going to find out if covid-19 emerges as one of the factors impacting mental health. Further we are going to do an overall sentiment analysis to better understand the emotions of users.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Sumner ◽  
Daniel A. Bowen ◽  
Brad Bartholow

Abstract. Background: The dissemination of positive messages about mental health is a key goal of organizations and individuals. Aims: Our aim was to examine factors that predict increased dissemination of such messages. Method: We analyzed 10,998 positive messages authored on Twitter and studied factors associated with messages that are shared (re-tweeted) using logistic regression. Characteristics of the account, message, linguistic style, sentiment, and topic were examined. Results: Less than one third of positive messages (31.7%) were shared at least once. In adjusted models, accounts that posted a greater number of messages were less likely to have any single message shared. Messages about military-related topics were 60% more likely to be shared (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.6, 95% CI [1.1, 2.1]) as well as messages containing achievement-related keywords (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.3, 1.9]). Conversely, positive messages explicitly addressing eating/food, appearance, and sad affective states were less likely to be shared. Multiple other message characteristics influenced sharing. Limitations: Only messages on a single platform and over a focused period of time were analyzed. Conclusion: A knowledge of factors affecting dissemination of positive mental health messages may aid organizations and individuals seeking to promote such messages online.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 10-28
Author(s):  
Divina Frau-Meigs

This paper analyses the major modifications created by the “social turn” i.e. the emergence of social media. It presents the drastic change of ecosystem created by the three “continents” of the Internet. This sets up the context of deployment for “information disorders” such as radicalisation and disinformation. The analysis then considers the risks and opportunities for Media and Information Literacy: on the one hand, the rise of fact-checking and the increasing interference of social media platforms; on the other hand, the augmentation of the Media and Information Literacy epistemology and the Media and Information Literacy paradigm shift entailed by information disorders. It concludes on an agenda for Media and Information Literacy in 21st century.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Jiang ◽  
Longmei Jin ◽  
Xu Qian ◽  
Xu Xiong ◽  
Xuena La ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND China is the first country experienced the large scale of COVID-19 epidemic. To interrupt the transmission, social distancing strategies were required. Many routine health care services were severely disrupted, including antenatal care services. The mental health status as well as how pregnant women reacted to the situation, where and how did they obtain antenatal care information are unknown. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine mental health status by measuring perceived stress, anxiety and depression, to explore approaches of obtaining antenatal health information and to determine their associations with the mental health status among pregnant women during COVID-19 epidemic in China. METHODS We conducted an online survey to assess mental health status among pregnant women and collected information on approaches of accessing antenatal care information during the COVID-19 epidemic from February 5 to 28, 2020. RESULTS A total of 1,873 women from 22 provinces/regions of China participated in the survey. The occurrence of experiencing perceived stress, anxiety and depression among pregnant women was 89.1% (95% CI: 87.6%, 90.4%), 18.1% (95% CI: 16.4%, 19.9%) and 45.9% (95% CI: 43.6%, 48.1%), respectively. Hospitals’ official accounts in the Chinese social media platforms WeChat and Weibo were the most popular channels for pregnant women to obtain antenatal care information. Access to antenatal care information and services via the hospitals’ official social media accounts were associated with a significantly lower risk of suffering from stress (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30 to 0.73, P=0.001), anxiety (aOR=0.52, 95% CI: 0.40 to 0.68, P<0.001) and depression (aOR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.90, P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS During the COVID-19 epidemic, occurrence of experiencing perceived stress, anxiety and depression was high in Chinese pregnant women. Mental health care in the current pandemic is urgently needed to reassure and support pregnant women. Developing specific contents for pregnant women on how to cope in emergency and major disease outbreak via social media platforms could be an effective way to mitigate mental health disorders in future epidemic preparedness and response. CLINICALTRIAL NA


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document