Investigating Social Media Use by Young People to Self-Manage Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Large-Scale Analysis of Social Media Discussions Using Topic Modeling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social media has shown promise in supporting young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) by providing information and emotional support. Although previous qualitative studies have investigated young people's self-reported use of social media for self-management, their patterns of actual use remain underexplored. Furthermore, different platforms may serve different functions or attract different types of engagement, making it important to examine how the patterns of actual use vary across them.

Objective

This study aimed to identify and describe the topics that young people with T1DM discuss online and to identify differences in content across platforms.

Methods

We collected data from Twitter and two forums (Reddit and Diabetes.co.uk) spanning from Jan

SUBMITTER: Ma Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12583938 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature