social media

Posted on Patient Talk

Can we trust autism information on TikTok? Tell us what you think!

While social media can be a great resource for connecting with others, it can also quickly and easily spread misleading or inaccurate information in mass. Social media platforms, especially the popular TikTok app, have allowed information about autism to become more accessible. However, researchers and others in the autistic community have voiced concerns about the unfiltered nature of some of the content. Researchers from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute have examined the reach and accuracy of TikTok videos providing informational content about autism and found that most of the information provided does not align with current clinical knowledge.

Recently published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers examined engagement indicators – including views and “likes” – for the TikTok videos associated with the “Autism” hashtag. Two coders independently fact-checked content of the most viewed videos from the #Autism videos as of July 2022, with a focus on videos that provided information on autism as a condition, such as what causes it or how to identify it.  Videos were coded as either accurate, inaccurate or ‘overgeneralization’ based on the consistency of the information in the videos with current knowledge on autism. Videos sharing information about personal experience were not coded in this study.

“We chose to study TikTok because of its popularity – it surpassed 2 billion mobile downloads worldwide by 2020 and was ranked the most popular website of 2021,” said Giacomo Vivanti, PhD, an associate professor in the Autism Institute and co-author of the study.

In the study, videos associated with the #Autism accrued 11.5 billion views collectively. An examination of the top 133 videos providing informational content on autism, which totaled 198.7 million views and 25.2 million “likes,” showed that 27% of the videos were classified as accurate, while 41% were classified as inaccurate and 32% as overgeneralized. There were no significant differences in engagement between accurate and inaccurate/overgeneralized videos. Videos created by healthcare professionals were more likely to include accurate information.

“Given the reach of TikTok autism content, it’s important that stakeholders in autism community, including autistic individuals, family members, and clinicians interfacing with autism, are aware of the unfiltered nature of the information presented,” said Elisabeth Sheridan, PhD, director of Clinical Core, associate professor in the Autism Institute and co-author of the study.

The researchers found that similar to other social media channels, TikTok can bias understanding about autism in two ways. First, by providing blatant misinformation – for example, claiming that a certain product can “cure autism,” with the intent of selling the product. And secondly, by overgeneralizing an individual experience to the entire autism spectrum and not representing the entire spectrum of manifestations within the autistic population.

“Many autistic individuals and their families have expressed concerns related to harmful autism misinformation videos shared on TikTok (e.g., anti-vaccination myths),” said Sheridan. “Social media platforms also provide a space for individuals to shared lived experience and find community with others. Given the reach of these videos, we hope future studies will continue to explore the affect social media has for autistic individuals and their families.”

Because the research team concluded most of the information provided on TikTok appears to be misaligned with current clinical knowledge, it is important for health care providers and other professionals to be aware of the autism-related content being shared on TikTok so that they can better engage with the large community of TikTok users.

“It is important to monitor and fight misinformation that can damage those on the autism spectrum and their families. But it is also important for the scientific community to gain perspective on how autism and how current approaches to autism are perceived and experienced by the large community of TikTok users,” said Vivanti. “This would help us address the gaps that lead people to search for answers on TikTok in the first place.”

Posted on Autism

Analyzing a Facebook-fueled anti-vaccination attack: ‘It’s not all about autism’


An analysis of Facebook profiles for people who posted anti-vaccination sentiments reveals four key subgroups that are interconnected by various themes.Image appears with compliments from Elsevier

 Social media has given those espousing anti-vaccination sentiments an effective medium to spread their message. However, an analysis of a viral Facebook campaign against a Pittsburgh pediatric practice reveals that the movement isn’t “all about autism.” Instead, the research from the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health finds that anti-vaccination arguments center on four distinct themes that can appeal to diverse audiences.

The research, published today in the journal Vaccine, suggests a framework that pediatricians can use to open a conversation with parents who are hesitant to immunize their children, while also “inoculating” those parents with skills to resist anti-vaccination messages on social media.

“If we dismiss anybody who has an opposing view, we’re giving up an opportunity to understand them and come to a common ground,” said senior author Brian Primack, M.D., Ph.D., director of Pitt’s Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, and dean of the Pitt Honors College. “That’s what our research is about. We want to understand vaccine-hesitant parents in order to give clinicians the opportunity to optimally and respectfully communicate with them about the importance of immunization.”

Vaccines are hailed as one of the greatest public health achievements of modern medicine and have prevented more than 100 million cases of serious childhood contagious diseases. However, in the U.S., only 70 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receive all recommended immunizations, and, so far this year, hundreds of children in a dozen states have contracted measles, a disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. nearly two decades ago due to high vaccination rates. In Europe, tens of thousands of children have been diagnosed with the vaccine-preventable disease, and dozens have died in the past year.

In 2017, Kids Plus Pediatrics, a Pittsburgh-based pediatric practice, posted a video on its Facebook page featuring its practitioners encouraging HPV vaccination to prevent cancer. Nearly a month after the video posted, it caught the attention of multiple anti-vaccination groups and, in an eight-day period, garnered thousands of anti-vaccination comments.

Elizabeth Felter, Dr.P.H., assistant professor of community and behavioral health sciences at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, connected Kids Plus Pediatrics with graduate student Beth Hoffman, B.Sc., and scientists at the Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health. Hoffman led the team in partnering with the pediatrics practice to perform a systematic analysis to better understand the people behind the comments and how they cluster in the digitally-connected world of social media.

Hoffman’s team analyzed the profiles of a randomly selected sample of 197 commenters and determined that, although Kids Plus Pediatrics is an independent practice caring for patients in the Pittsburgh region, the commenters in the sample were spread across 36 states and eight countries.

The team also found that the majority of commenters were mothers. In those for which it could be determined, the top two political affiliations of the commenters were divergent, with 56 percent expressing support for Donald Trump, and 11 percent expressing support for Bernie Sanders.

By delving into the messages that each commenter had publicly posted in the previous two years, the team found that they clustered into four distinct subgroups:

  • “trust,” which emphasized suspicion of the scientific community and concerns about personal liberty;
  • “alternatives,” which focused on chemicals in vaccines and the use of homeopathic remedies instead of vaccination;
  • “safety,” which focused on perceived risks and concerns about vaccination being immoral; and
  • “conspiracy,” which suggested that the government and other entities hide information that this subgroup believes to be facts, including that the polio virus does not exist.

“The presence of these distinct subgroups cautions against a blanket approach to public health messages that encourage vaccination,” Hoffman said. “For example, telling someone in the ‘trust’ subgroup that vaccines don’t cause autism may alienate them because that isn’t their concern to begin with. Instead, it may be more effective to find common ground and deliver tailored messages related to trust and the perception mandatory vaccination threatens their ability to make decisions for their child.”

Todd Wolynn, M.D., chief executive officer of Kids Plus Pediatrics and a co-author of the research paper, said that although the negative comments in reaction to the practice’s video were disheartening, he’s glad it turned into a learning experience that may benefit other clinicians.

“We’re focused on keeping kids healthy and preventing disease whenever possible. In this age of social media disinformation, evidence-based recommendations from a trusted health care provider are more important than ever,” he said. “We’re thrilled to play such a key role in research that empowers pediatricians worldwide to meet parents where they are, appreciate their concerns, and communicate the incredible power and value of vaccination.”

Posted on Pain Management

People with chronic pain are coping with the help of Pinterest, new study reveals







 

This is an example of a chronic pain meme that was included in the VCU study.

A new study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University that analyzed 502 posts on Pinterest about chronic pain revealed that the social media platform is helping people with chronic pain cope by sharing self-care and pain-management tips, venting about their pain’s severity, and supporting others who are similarly suffering.

The study also suggests that Pinterest is an underutilized tool that health care and public health organizations could use to distribute high-quality, reputably sourced information about chronic pain, a condition that the National Institutes of Health estimates affects one out of every five U.S. adults.

The study, “Pinning to Cope: Using Pinterest for Chronic Pain Management,” was published in the journal Health Education & Behavior and was led by Jeanine Guidry, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, and Eric Benotsch, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences.




“We’re seeing that Pinterest is being used by patients to really support each other, to provide information for each other, and to just find an outlet for dealing with chronic pain,” said Guidry, who studies visual social media and mobile technology in health, risk, and crisis communication and message design.

Of the 502 posts, or pins, the researchers analyzed, nearly all (98.6 percent) referred in some way to the severity of chronic pain. Roughly one-third (32.9 percent) expressed a high level of perceived benefit for self-care, while 10 percent described a high level of barriers to self-care.

Tips for chronic pain management were present in 35.3 percent of posts, while tips for caregivers or friends were present in 17.9 percent.

Just under 22 percent mentioned a specific disease associated with chronic pain, and of these fibromyalgia was mentioned most frequently (13.3 percent of all posts), followed by arthritis (6.4 percent).

Almost half the sample (47.4 percent) referred in some way to problem-focused coping, while only 15.7 percent dealt with emotion-focused coping.

Nearly a quarter (22.9 percent) of all posts were primarily venting about chronic pain, while 14.9 percent were humorous and just 5 percent focused on acceptance of the condition.

“Our findings show that, first of all, people are talking about chronic pain on Pinterest,” Guidry said. “But second of all, our findings show that the vast majority of posts were by individuals.”

Relatively few of the posts originated with health care or public health organizations, but the study suggests that Pinterest could be an effective way to communicate with people with chronic pain, who statistically have a higher level of isolation in their lives and may be looking online for reliable information and effective coping strategies.

“Pinterest is used by organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization but not nearly as much as, say, Facebook and Twitter,” Guidry said. “But knowing that this conversation about chronic pain is taking place on Pinterest, health communication professionals should consider using Pinterest [more] because they can really reach out to the people who are trying to manage chronic pain.”

While Pinterest is not the biggest social media platform — it had 250 million active users at the end of 2018, more than 80 percent of which were women — it clearly could be leveraged by health organizations to communicate quality information to patients, Guidry said.

“Is it the biggest platform for these kind of topics? No, but it’s obvious it’s being used,” she said. “And it’s an outlet we should use as health communicators.”

One notable finding in the study is that Pinterest posts about chronic pain saw a higher level of engagement than other studies of health-related content on the platform by Guidry and her colleagues.

“The only other study where we found higher engagement was when we studied depression-focused posts on Pinterest,” Guidry said. “I think that may be because, like with chronic pain, [those posts] are dealing with coping as opposed to dealing with information about say, an infectious disease.”

Guidry said the study’s findings are encouraging because they suggest that people with chronic pain are frequently posting about healthy coping mechanisms and other people are engaging with those posts.

“Pinterest may actually be a source of support and a way to add to [people’s] coping mechanisms,” she said. “When you look at these Pinterest posts, you see people trying to manage pain and trying to help each other and trying to provide support to each other. That is something that could be turned into an effective tool for health care providers and for communicators.”

 

Posted on Diet

How social media influences children’s food intake

Junk Food

Junk Food

New research from the University’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, presented at the European Congress on Obesity , highlights the negative influence that social media has on children’s food intake.

Current research shows celebrity endorsement and television advertising of unhealthy foods increases children’s intake of these foods. However, children are increasingly exposed to marketing through digital avenues, such as on social media, and the impact of marketing by YouTube video bloggers (vloggers) on these outcomes has, until now, not been known.

According to a recent report by Ofcom children in the UK now have more access to social media than ever before with 21% of 3-4 year olds and 35% of 5-7-year-olds having their own tablet. In older children, 39% of 8-11-year-olds have their own smartphone and 52% have their own tablet; 83% of 12-15-year-olds have their own smartphone and 55% have their own tablet.

Vloggers’ influence

PhD student Anna Coates, from the University of Liverpool’s Appetite and Obesity research group, conducted a study to examine the effect of social media marketing of snack foods (healthy and unhealthy), via vloggers’ Instagram pages, on children’s snack intake.

During the study 176 children, aged between 9 and 10 years, were randomly split into three equal groups and were shown artificially created, but realistic, Instagram pages of popular vloggers (each has millions of followers). One group was shown images of the vlogger with unhealthy snacks, the second group was shown images of the vlogger with healthy snacks and the third group was shown images of the vlogger with non-food products. The participants’ subsequent intake of snacks (healthy and unhealthy options) were measured.

Children in the group that viewed the unhealthy snack images consumed 32% more kcals from unhealthy snacks specifically and 26% more kcals in total (from healthy and unhealthy snacks) compared with children who saw the non-food images. There was no significant difference in total kcal intake, or healthy snack kcal intake, between children who saw the Instagram profile with healthy images and those who saw the non-food images.

Impactful and exploitative

Of the study Anna Coates, said: “These findings suggest that the marketing of unhealthy foods, via vloggers’ Instagram pages, increases children’s immediate energy intake. The results are supported by celebrity endorsement data, which show unhealthy food endorsements increase children’s unhealthy food intake, but healthy food endorsements have little or no effect on healthy food intake.

“Young people trust vloggers more than celebrities so their endorsements may be even more impactful and exploitative. Tighter restrictions are needed around the digital marketing of unhealthy foods that children are exposed to, and vloggers should not be permitted to promote unhealthy foods to vulnerable young people on social media.”