#WhyWeTweetMH: Understanding Why People Use Twitter to Discuss Mental Health Problems.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Use of the social media website Twitter is highly prevalent and has led to a plethora of Web-based social and health-related data available for use by researchers. As such, researchers are increasingly using data from social media to retrieve and analyze mental health-related content. However, there is limited evidence regarding why people use this emerging platform to discuss mental health problems in the first place.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to explore the reasons why individuals discuss mental health on the social media website Twitter. The study was the first of its kind to implement a study-specific hashtag for research; therefore, we also examined how feasible it was to circulate and analyze a study-specific hashtag for mental health research.

SUBMITTER: Berry N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5399219 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature