scholarly journals Underage JUUL Use Patterns: Content Analysis of Reddit Messages

10.2196/13038 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. e13038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcheng Zhan ◽  
Zhu Zhang ◽  
Janet M Okamoto ◽  
Daniel D Zeng ◽  
Scott J Leischow
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Cigarette Brand ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Significant Health

Background The popularity of JUUL (an e-cigarette brand) among youth has recently been reported in news media and academic papers, which has raised great public health concerns. Little research has been conducted on the age distribution, geographic distribution, approaches to buying JUUL, and flavor preferences pertaining to underage JUUL users. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze social media data related to demographics, methods of access, product characteristics, and use patterns of underage JUUL use. Methods We collected publicly available JUUL-related data from Reddit. We extracted and summarized the age, location, and flavor preference of subreddit UnderageJuul users. We also compared common and unique users between subreddit UnderageJuul and subreddit JUUL. The methods of purchasing JUULs were analyzed by manually examining the content of the Reddit threads. Results A total of 716 threads and 2935 comments were collected from the subreddit UnderageJuul before it was shut down. Most threads did not mention a specific age, but ages ranged from 13 years to greater than 21 years in those that did. Mango, mint, and cucumber were the most popular among the 7 flavors listed on JUUL’s official website, and 336 subreddit UnderageJuul threads mentioned 7 discreet approaches to circumvent relevant legal regulations to get JUUL products, the most common of which was purchasing JUUL from other Reddit users (n=181). Almost half of the UnderageJuul users (389/844, 46.1%) also participated in discussions on the main JUUL subreddit and sought information across multiple Reddit forums. Most (64/74, 86%) posters were from large metropolitan areas. Conclusions The subreddit UnderageJuul functioned as a forum to explore methods of obtaining JUUL and to discuss and recommend specific flavors before it was shut down. About half of those using UnderageJuul also used the more general JUUL subreddit, so a forum still exists where youths can attempt to share information on how to obtain JUUL and other products. Exploration of such social media data in real time for rapid public health surveillance could provide early warning for significant health risks before they become major public health threats.

scholarly journals Underage JUUL Use Patterns: Content Analysis of Reddit Messages (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcheng Zhan ◽  
Zhu Zhang ◽  
Janet M Okamoto ◽  
Daniel D Zeng ◽  
Scott J Leischow
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Cigarette Brand ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Significant Health

BACKGROUND The popularity of JUUL (an e-cigarette brand) among youth has recently been reported in news media and academic papers, which has raised great public health concerns. Little research has been conducted on the age distribution, geographic distribution, approaches to buying JUUL, and flavor preferences pertaining to underage JUUL users. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze social media data related to demographics, methods of access, product characteristics, and use patterns of underage JUUL use. METHODS We collected publicly available JUUL-related data from Reddit. We extracted and summarized the age, location, and flavor preference of subreddit UnderageJuul users. We also compared common and unique users between subreddit UnderageJuul and subreddit JUUL. The methods of purchasing JUULs were analyzed by manually examining the content of the Reddit threads. RESULTS A total of 716 threads and 2935 comments were collected from the subreddit UnderageJuul before it was shut down. Most threads did not mention a specific age, but ages ranged from 13 years to greater than 21 years in those that did. Mango, mint, and cucumber were the most popular among the 7 flavors listed on JUUL’s official website, and 336 subreddit UnderageJuul threads mentioned 7 discreet approaches to circumvent relevant legal regulations to get JUUL products, the most common of which was purchasing JUUL from other Reddit users (n=181). Almost half of the UnderageJuul users (389/844, 46.1%) also participated in discussions on the main JUUL subreddit and sought information across multiple Reddit forums. Most (64/74, 86%) posters were from large metropolitan areas. CONCLUSIONS The subreddit UnderageJuul functioned as a forum to explore methods of obtaining JUUL and to discuss and recommend specific flavors before it was shut down. About half of those using UnderageJuul also used the more general JUUL subreddit, so a forum still exists where youths can attempt to share information on how to obtain JUUL and other products. Exploration of such social media data in real time for rapid public health surveillance could provide early warning for significant health risks before they become major public health threats.

scholarly journals Electronic cigarette usage patterns: a case study combining survey and social media data

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcheng Zhan ◽  
Jean-François Etter ◽  
Scott Leischow ◽  
Daniel Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Cigarette Use ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Media Data

Abstract Objective To identify who were social media active e-cigarette users, to compare the use patterns from both survey and social media data for data triangulation, and to jointly use both datasets to conduct a comprehensive analysis on e-cigarette future use intentions. Materials and Methods We jointly used an e-cigarette use online survey (n = 5132) and a social media dataset. We conducted analysis from 3 different perspectives. We analyzed online forum participation patterns using survey data. We compared e-cigarette use patterns, including brand and flavor types, ratings, and purchase approaches, between the 2 datasets. We used logistic regression to study intentions to use e-cigarettes using both datasets. Results Male and younger e-cigarette users were the most likely to participate in e-cigarette-related discussion forums. Forum active survey participants were hardcore vapers. The e-cigarette use patterns were similar in the online survey data and the social media data. Intention to use e-cigarettes was positively related to e-liquid ratings and flavor ratings. Social media provided a valuable source of information on users’ ratings of e-cigarette refill liquids. Discussion For hardcore vapers, social media data were consistent with online survey data, which suggests that social media may be useful to study e-cigarette use behaviors and can serve as a useful complement to online survey research. We proposed an innovative framework for social media data triangulation in public health studies. Conclusion We illustrated how social media data, combined with online survey data, can serve as a new and rich information source for public health research.

scholarly journals A Multi-platform Approach to Monitoring Negative Dominance for COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Information Online

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Paola Pascual-Ferrá ◽  
Neil Alperstein ◽  
Daniel J. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Adverse Events ◽  
News Media ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Negative Dominance ◽  
Media Data

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in COVID-19 vaccine-related information and activity online. We hypothesized that if negative dominance appeared, it would be a reflection of peaks in adverse events related to the vaccine, that negative content would attract more engagement on social media than other vaccine-related posts, and posts referencing adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination would have a higher average toxicity score. Methods We collected data using Google Trends for search behavior, CrowdTangle for social media data, and Media Cloud for media stories, and compared them against the dates of key adverse events related to COVID-19. We used Communalytic to analyze the toxicity of social media posts by platform and topic. Results While our first hypothesis was partially supported, with peaks in search behavior for image and YouTube videos driven by adverse events, we did not find negative dominance in other types of searches or patterns of attention by news media or on social media. Conclusion We did not find evidence in our data to prove the negative dominance of adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination on social media. Future studies should corroborate these findings and, if consistent, focus on explaining why this may be the case.

scholarly journals Comprehensive scoping review of health research using social media data

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e022931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Taylor ◽  
Claudia Pagliari
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Google Search ◽  
Media Data

IntroductionThe rising popularity of social media, since their inception around 20 years ago, has been echoed in the growth of health-related research using data derived from them. This has created a demand for literature reviews to synthesise this emerging evidence base and inform future activities. Existing reviews tend to be narrow in scope, with limited consideration of the different types of data, analytical methods and ethical issues involved. There has also been a tendency for research to be siloed within different academic communities (eg, computer science, public health), hindering knowledge translation. To address these limitations, we will undertake a comprehensive scoping review, to systematically capture the broad corpus of published, health-related research based on social media data. Here, we present the review protocol and the pilot analyses used to inform it.MethodsA version of Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage scoping review framework will be followed: (1) identifying the research question; (2) identifying the relevant literature; (3) selecting the studies; (4) charting the data and (5) collating, summarising and reporting the results. To inform the search strategy, we developed an inclusive list of keyword combinations related to social media, health and relevant methodologies. The frequency and variability of terms were charted over time and cross referenced with significant events, such as the advent of Twitter. Five leading health, informatics, business and cross-disciplinary databases will be searched: PubMed, Scopus, Association of Computer Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, alongside the Google search engine. There will be no restriction by date.Ethics and disseminationThe review focuses on published research in the public domain therefore no ethics approval is required. The completed review will be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary open access journal, and conferences on public health and digital research.

scholarly journals Corrigendum

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-136
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Patient Data ◽  
Online Version ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Medical Network ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Prior Permission

Ji X, Chun SA, Cappellari P, et al. Linking and using social media data for enhancing public health analytics. Journal of Information Science 2016; 43: 221–245. DOI: 10.1177/0165551515625029 The authors regret that non-anonymised patient data was used from a social medical network without prior permission. With permission from the social medical network, the authors have anonymised the data and corrected the article. The online version of the article has been corrected.

scholarly journals Suicide Risk and Protective Factors in Online Support Forum Posts: Annotation Scheme Development and Validation Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stevie Chancellor ◽  
Steven A Sumner ◽  
Corinne David-Ferdon ◽  
Tahirah Ahmad ◽  
Munmun De Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Risk And Protective Factors ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Annotation Scheme ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Media Data

BACKGROUND Online communities provide support for individuals looking for help with suicidal ideation and crisis. As community data are increasingly used to devise machine learning models to infer who might be at risk, there have been limited efforts to identify both risk and protective factors in web-based posts. These annotations can enrich and augment computational assessment approaches to identify appropriate intervention points, which are useful to public health professionals and suicide prevention researchers. OBJECTIVE This qualitative study aims to develop a valid and reliable annotation scheme for evaluating risk and protective factors for suicidal ideation in posts in suicide crisis forums. METHODS We designed a valid, reliable, and clinically grounded process for identifying risk and protective markers in social media data. This scheme draws on prior work on construct validity and the social sciences of measurement. We then applied the scheme to annotate 200 posts from r/SuicideWatch—a Reddit community focused on suicide crisis. RESULTS We documented our results on producing an annotation scheme that is consistent with leading public health information coding schemes for suicide and advances attention to protective factors. Our study showed high internal validity, and we have presented results that indicate that our approach is consistent with findings from prior work. CONCLUSIONS Our work formalizes a framework that incorporates construct validity into the development of annotation schemes for suicide risk on social media. This study furthers the understanding of risk and protective factors expressed in social media data. This may help public health programming to prevent suicide and computational social science research and investigations that rely on the quality of labels for downstream machine learning tasks.

scholarly journals Suicide Risk and Protective Factors in Online Support Forum Posts: Annotation Scheme Development and Validation Study

10.2196/24471 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. e24471
Author(s):  
Stevie Chancellor ◽  
Steven A Sumner ◽  
Corinne David-Ferdon ◽  
Tahirah Ahmad ◽  
Munmun De Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Risk And Protective Factors ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Annotation Scheme ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Media Data

Background Online communities provide support for individuals looking for help with suicidal ideation and crisis. As community data are increasingly used to devise machine learning models to infer who might be at risk, there have been limited efforts to identify both risk and protective factors in web-based posts. These annotations can enrich and augment computational assessment approaches to identify appropriate intervention points, which are useful to public health professionals and suicide prevention researchers. Objective This qualitative study aims to develop a valid and reliable annotation scheme for evaluating risk and protective factors for suicidal ideation in posts in suicide crisis forums. Methods We designed a valid, reliable, and clinically grounded process for identifying risk and protective markers in social media data. This scheme draws on prior work on construct validity and the social sciences of measurement. We then applied the scheme to annotate 200 posts from r/SuicideWatch—a Reddit community focused on suicide crisis. Results We documented our results on producing an annotation scheme that is consistent with leading public health information coding schemes for suicide and advances attention to protective factors. Our study showed high internal validity, and we have presented results that indicate that our approach is consistent with findings from prior work. Conclusions Our work formalizes a framework that incorporates construct validity into the development of annotation schemes for suicide risk on social media. This study furthers the understanding of risk and protective factors expressed in social media data. This may help public health programming to prevent suicide and computational social science research and investigations that rely on the quality of labels for downstream machine learning tasks.

scholarly journals Predicting Opioid Overdose Crude Rates with Text-Based Twitter Features (Student Abstract)

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 13787-13788
Author(s):  
Nupoor Gandhi ◽  
Alex Morales ◽  
Sally Man-Pui Chan ◽  
Dolores Albarracin ◽  
ChengXiang Zhai
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Time Signal ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
County Level ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Public Health Monitoring ◽  
Health Monitoring Systems ◽  
Media Data

Drug use reporting is often a bottleneck for modern public health surveillance; social media data provides a real-time signal which allows for tracking and monitoring opioid overdoses. In this work we focus on text-based feature construction for the prediction task of opioid overdose rates at the county level. More specifically, using a Twitter dataset with over 3.4 billion tweets, we explore semantic features, such as topic features, to show that social media could be a good indicator for forecasting opioid overdose crude rates in public health monitoring systems. Specifically, combining topic and TF-IDF features in conjunction with demographic features can predict opioid overdose rates at the county level.

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