Diffusing science through social networks: The case of breastfeeding communication on Twitter.

ABSTRACT: Breastfeeding is one of many health practices known to support the survival and health of mother and infant, yet low breastfeeding rates persist globally. These rates may be influenced by limited diffusion of evidence-based research and guidelines from the scientific community (SC). As recently highlighted by the National Academy of Sciences, there is a need for the SC to diffuse its findings to the public more effectively online, as means to counteract the spread of misinformation. In response to this call, we gathered data from Twitter for one month from major breastfeeding hashtags resulting in an interconnected social network (n = 3,798 users). We then identified 59 influencers who disproportionately influenced information flow using social network analysis. These influencers were from

SUBMITTER: Moukarzel S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7425887 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature