Mental health symptoms in the comment sections of climate change posts on Instagram: A content analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Tsao ◽  
Anna Jolliff
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Background: In ever increasing frequency, shocking news reports, opinion pieces and sad imagery are being posted on social media platforms that are widely used by adolescents. Such posts may have the potential to affect adolescent mental health. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis analyzing comments under positively and negatively framed climate change advocacy posts, in order to gauge symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as positive affect. METHODS A sample of 100 Instagram comments on 10 positive and 10 negatively framed climate change advocacy posts were collected and analyzed for symptoms of depression, anxiety and positive affect. Posts were found through Instagram’s hashtag section, and both the positive and negative ones were found on ‘#climatechange’, under the ‘most popular tab’. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyze the comments under each post and to understand differences in mental health-related comments below positive and negative climate change posts. RESULTS Seventeen percent of total comments referenced depression, 5% showed anxious symptoms, and 32% referenced positive affect. No statistically significant difference was found between likes, comments, and followers on negative versus positively framed climate change posts. CONCLUSIONS While depressive and anxious symptoms did exist in Instagram comment sections, they were less prevalent than positive references. Both positive and negative post accounts had around the same number of likes and followers, suggesting that neither post type significantly benefits or hurts account popularity. This suggests that Instagram is a viable platform for positive messages and climate change activism in general. Further research should look into the prevalence of mental health references in climate change content on other social media sites.

Comparing Representation of Depression on Reddit and Twitter Social Media Platforms (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Kaji ◽  
Maggie Bushman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Twitter Users

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.

COVID-19, Social Distancing, & Adolescent Mental Health on Twitter: An Online Content Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reese Haley Hyzer ◽  
Joshua J Jerisha
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Online Content ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Significant Difference

BACKGROUND In the early days of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, high engagement with pandemic-related social media was correlated with a 22.6% increase in anxiety and a 48.3% increase in depression. Before the start of the pandemic, young people were already at an elevated risk of anxiety and depression, with 20% of college students reporting at least one mental health condition. Currently, it is unclear what role COVID-19 messaging on social media has played in the adolescent mental health response to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to explore co-occurrences between mentions of social distancing and mental health on Twitter, as well as linguistic elements of these posts. METHODS Our study was an online content analysis on Twitter. Tweets with hashtag #COVID19 were sampled from March 2020 and April 2020. Social media demographics were determined for both months. These Tweets were then evaluated for individual and co-occurrence mentions of social distancing and mental health. The presence of media (images, videos, or hyperlinks) was also recorded. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program we used measured the prevalence of language under the categories of anxiety, anger, sadness, and risk, as well as the usage of 1st person singular pronouns and 1st person plural pronouns. Additionally, overall emotional tone was determined for both datasets. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze social media demographics and post content. LIWC scores between March and April were compared with independent t-tests. RESULTS A national sample of 100 Tweets with hashtag #COVID19 were collected. 50 Tweets were sampled from March 2020 and April 2020 respectively. Among March Tweets, 44% (n = 22) referenced social distancing, 48% (n = 24) referenced mental health, and 22% (n = 11) referenced both. Among April Tweets, 54% (n = 27) referenced social distancing, 22% (n = 11) referenced mental health, and 12% (n = 6) referenced both. The mean LIWC scores between March and April decreased 1.46 points for singular pronouns (p = 0.0271). There was no significant difference between March and April Tweets in the LIWC scores for anxiety, anger, sadness, risk, and plural pronouns. CONCLUSIONS Between March and April, we found that references to social distancing became more frequent, while references to mental health decreased. Likewise, singular pronoun usage decreased significantly. These findings do not imply a diminished mental health impact, but rather suggest an increased focus on collective action over individual sentiment. Future studies should utilize interviews and focus groups to further examine the relevant mental health implications among individual adolescents.

Framing the Global Youth Climate Movement: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Greta Thunberg’s Moral, Hopeful, and Motivational Framing on Instagram

2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110556
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Molder ◽  
Alexandra Lakind ◽  
Zoe E. Clemmons ◽  
Kaiping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
First Year ◽  
Unique Case ◽  
Emotional Appeal ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Climate change is a critical global problem that requires immediate action to mitigate its effects. In recent years, youth climate activists have mobilized worldwide protests to demand action, using social media platforms to communicate and broadcast their message. This study examines Greta Thunberg's rise to global prominence through an analysis of her first year and a half of Instagram posts from June 2018 to January 2020, including visual and textual elements. First, we explore how climate change is communicated on social media by youth activists, and then examine these concepts through the unique case of Thunberg’s Instagram. Then, through qualitative content analysis, this study elucidates her communication strategy by applying the concept of framing to unpack how she frames climate change as a moral and ethical issue, uses an emotional appeal of hope, and visually frames motivational collective action to mobilize her audience. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings to explore the complexities of communicating climate change through social media and how Thunberg's activism on Instagram may provide an example for future generations.

scholarly journals What College Students Post About Depression on Facebook and the Support They Perceive: Content Analysis

10.2196/13650 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. e13650
Author(s):  
Scottye Cash ◽  
Laura Marie Schwab-Reese ◽  
Erin Zipfel ◽  
Megan Wilt ◽  
Megan Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Qualitative Responses ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Do So

Background College students frequently use social media sites to connect with friends. Increasingly, research suggests college students and other young adults seek mental health-related support on social media, which may present a unique venue for intervention. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine college students’ perceptions about displaying feelings of depression on Facebook and, in turn, how their social media friends responded. Methods A primarily quantitative online survey with open response questions was distributed to students at four US universities. Qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis. Results A total of 34 students provided qualitative responses for analysis, these students were 85.3% female, mean age 20.2 (SD=1.4) and 20.6% racial/ethnic minority. Students who reported posting about depression often expressed an emotion or feeling but did not use the word “depression” in the post. Approximately 20% posted language about a bad day, and 15% posted a song or music video. Only one person reported posting a statement that directly asked for help. When friends responded to the posts, students generally perceived the responses as supportive or motivating gestures. Nearly 15% of friends contacted the individual outside of Facebook. One individual received a negative response and no responses suggested that the individual seek help. Conclusions This study found that college students who post about depression often do so without directly referencing depression and that friends were generally supportive. However, no participants reported their social network suggested they seek help, which may suggest increasing mental health literacy, for both support seekers and responders, would be an opportunity to improve online mental health-related support.

scholarly journals What College Students Post About Depression on Facebook and the Support They Perceive: Content Analysis (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scottye Cash ◽  
Laura Marie Schwab-Reese ◽  
Erin Zipfel ◽  
Megan Wilt ◽  
Megan Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Qualitative Responses ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Do So

BACKGROUND College students frequently use social media sites to connect with friends. Increasingly, research suggests college students and other young adults seek mental health-related support on social media, which may present a unique venue for intervention. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine college students’ perceptions about displaying feelings of depression on Facebook and, in turn, how their social media friends responded. METHODS A primarily quantitative online survey with open response questions was distributed to students at four US universities. Qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS A total of 34 students provided qualitative responses for analysis, these students were 85.3% female, mean age 20.2 (SD=1.4) and 20.6% racial/ethnic minority. Students who reported posting about depression often expressed an emotion or feeling but did not use the word “depression” in the post. Approximately 20% posted language about a bad day, and 15% posted a song or music video. Only one person reported posting a statement that directly asked for help. When friends responded to the posts, students generally perceived the responses as supportive or motivating gestures. Nearly 15% of friends contacted the individual outside of Facebook. One individual received a negative response and no responses suggested that the individual seek help. CONCLUSIONS This study found that college students who post about depression often do so without directly referencing depression and that friends were generally supportive. However, no participants reported their social network suggested they seek help, which may suggest increasing mental health literacy, for both support seekers and responders, would be an opportunity to improve online mental health-related support.

scholarly journals Scientific networks on Twitter: Analyzing scientists’ interactions in the climate change debate

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 696-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Walter ◽  
Ines Lörcher ◽  
Michael Brüggemann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Automated Content Analysis ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Combine Network ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Neutral Language

Scientific issues requiring urgent societal actions—such as climate change—have increased the need for communication and interaction between scientists and other societal actors. Social media platforms facilitate such exchanges. This study investigates who scientists interact with on Twitter, and whether their communication differs when engaging with actors beyond the scientific community. We focus on the climate change debate on Twitter and combine network analysis with automated content analysis. The results show that scientists interact most intensively with their peers, but also communication beyond the scientific community is important. The findings suggest that scientists adjust their communication style to their audience: They use more neutral language when communicating with other scientists, and more words expressing negative emotions when communicating with journalists, civil society, and politicians. Likewise, they stress certainty more when communicating with politicians, indicating that scientists use language strategically when communicating beyond the scientific community.

scholarly journals Promises and Pitfalls of Instagram Data Donations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Ingeborg van Driel ◽  
Anastasia Giachanou ◽  
J. Loes Pouwels ◽  
Laura Boeschoten ◽  
Ine Beyens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Automated Content Analysis ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Studies into the association of social media use with mental health are largely based on measures of time spent on social media. The small and inconsistent results in these studies may be due to a lack of explanatory power of time-based measures. Data Download Packages (DDPs), the archives of social media platforms that each user is allowed to download, provide a new and promising method to collect content-based information about social media use. In this study, we discuss the promises and pitfalls of DDPs based on an exploratory analysis of 110 Instagram DDPs gathered from 102 adolescents. DDPs provide tremendous opportunities to get insight in the frequency, range, and content of social media activities, from browsing to searching and posting. Yet, the method is also complex and laborious and demands numerous procedural and analytical choices and decisions. Moreover, due to several factors unique to social media interactions, automated content analysis may be challenging. We successively discuss the challenges and opportunities of collecting and analyzing DDPs to help future researchers in their consideration of whether and how to use DDPs.

Twitter Users’ Displays of Affect in the Global Warming Debate

2021 ◽  
pp. 004728162110078
Author(s):  
Shanna Cameron ◽  
Alexandra Russell ◽  
Luke Brake ◽  
Katherine Fredlund ◽  
Angela Morris
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Twitter Users

This article engages with recent discussions in the field of technical communication that call for climate change research that moves beyond the believer/denier dichotomy. For this study, our research team coded 900 tweets about climate change and global warming for different emotions in order to understand how Twitter users rely on affect rhetorically. Our findings use quantitative content analysis to challenge current assumptions about writing and affect on social media, and our results indicate a number of arenas for future research on affect, global warming, and rhetoric.

scholarly journals Rapid deployment of a community engagement study and educational trial via social media: implementation of the UC-COVID study

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Wisk ◽  
Russell G. Buhr
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Search Activity ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Community Values ◽  
Sample Representativeness ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Rapid Deployment

Abstract Background In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated adoption of scarce resource allocation (SRA) policies, we sought to rapidly deploy a novel survey to ascertain community values and preferences for SRA and to test the utility of a brief intervention to improve knowledge of and values alignment with a new SRA policy. Given social distancing and precipitous evolution of the pandemic, Internet-enabled recruitment was deemed the best method to engage a community-based sample. We quantify the efficiency and acceptability of this Internet-based recruitment for engaging a trial cohort and describe the approach used for implementing a health-related trial entirely online using off-the-shelf tools. Methods We recruited 1971 adult participants (≥ 18 years) via engagement with community partners and organizations and outreach through direct and social media messaging. We quantified response rate and participant characteristics of our sample, examine sample representativeness, and evaluate potential non-response bias. Results Recruitment was similarly derived from direct referral from partner organizations and broader social media based outreach, with extremely low study entry from organic (non-invited) search activity. Of social media platforms, Facebook was the highest yield recruitment source. Bot activity was present but minimal and identifiable through meta-data and engagement behavior. Recruited participants differed from broader populations in terms of sex, ethnicity, and education, but had similar prevalence of chronic conditions. Retention was satisfactory, with entrance into the first follow-up survey for 61% of those invited. Conclusions We demonstrate that rapid recruitment into a longitudinal intervention trial via social media is feasible, efficient, and acceptable. Recruitment in conjunction with community partners representing target populations, and with outreach across multiple platforms, is recommended to optimize sample size and diversity. Trial implementation, engagement tracking, and retention are feasible with off-the-shelf tools using preexisting platforms. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04373135. Registered on May 4, 2020

A shift from science to politics : a content analysis of COVID-19 Videos on YouTube (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chyun-Fung Shi ◽  
Matthew C So ◽  
Sophie Stelmach ◽  
Arielle Earn ◽  
David J D Earn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Conflicting Information ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic is the first pandemic where social media platforms relayed information on a large scale, enabling an “infodemic” of conflicting information which undermined the global response to the pandemic. Understanding how the information circulated and evolved on social media platforms is essential for planning future public health campaigns. OBJECTIVE This study investigated what types of themes about COVID-19 were most viewed on YouTube during the first 8 months of the pandemic, and how COVID-19 themes progressed over this period. METHODS We analyzed top-viewed YouTube COVID-19 related videos in English from from December 1, 2019 to August 16, 2020 with an open inductive content analysis. We coded 536 videos associated with 1.1 billion views across the study period. East Asian countries were the first to report the virus, while most of the top-viewed videos in English were from the US. Videos from straight news outlets dominated the top-viewed videos throughout the outbreak, and public health authorities contributed the fewest. Although straight news was the dominant COVID-19 video source with various types of themes, its viewership per video was similar to that for entertainment news and YouTubers after March. RESULTS We found, first, that collective public attention to the COVID-19 pandemic on YouTube peaked around March 2020, before the outbreak peaked, and flattened afterwards despite a spike in worldwide cases. Second, more videos focused on prevention early on, but videos with political themes increased through time. Third, regarding prevention and control measures, masking received much less attention than lockdown and social distancing in the study period. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that a transition of focus from science to politics on social media intensified the COVID-19 infodemic and may have weakened mitigation measures during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that authorities should consider co-operating with reputable social media influencers to promote health campaigns and improve health literacy. In addition, given high levels of globalization of social platforms and polarization of users, tailoring communication towards different digital communities is likely to be essential.

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