Monitoring Physical Activity Levels Using Twitter Data: Infodemiology Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social media technology such as Twitter allows users to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions online. The growing body of social media data is becoming a central part of infodemiology research as these data can be combined with other public health datasets (eg, physical activity levels) to provide real-time monitoring of psychological and behavior outcomes that inform health behaviors. Currently, it is unclear whether Twitter data can be used to monitor physical activity levels.

Objective

The aim of this study was to establish the feasibility of using Twitter data to monitor physical activity levels by assessing whether the frequency and sentiment of physical activity-related tweets were associated with physical activity levels across the United States.

SUBMITTER: Liu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6682305 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature