Twitter and Research
Damian Jacob Sendler : Back in the days, people tended to disregard Twitter as a form of accurate health data that is useful in research studies. However, in recent years we’ve learned that there’s a lot of researchers who are relying on Twitter to drive research into social sciences and health sciences.
There are a lot of different reasons for using Twitter as a source of data. One of the reasons is that there is quick general availability to information in regards to specific categories of research topics that someone might be exploring. When it comes to health research, Twitter can show particular trends, and that can, in turn, be informative in predicting possible outbreaks of influenza or other health issues like spikes of STDs in specific areas of the country.
Psychiatric Research on Twitter
Damian Jacob Sendler: Twitter is useful for potentially recording research subjects in research studies. Another application is to look up the most commonly asked questions that pertain to psychiatric care. There are a lot of issues with using Twitter as a reliable source of information for psychiatric studies, namely because the content of Twitter is very brief. People engage in conversations that are limited to the specific number of characters in messages being exchanged among themselves makes qualitative analysis unreliable.
To conduct much more thorough research using qualitative approaches, it is usually necessary to get the data from a much more richer context. Therefore Twitter is a useful tool for looking at trends and conversational directions in regards to mental health. Still, it might be more complicated when we want to study other issues like to understand how people access treatments for depression or anxiety deeply.
Read now: The research directions of 2020 and beyond suggest the usefulness of twitter in psychiatric research and health promotion.
Should Twitter Offer Health Advice
Damian Jacob Sendler: If it comes from health authorities that are propagating specific health advice, then certainly yes. It is essential to be careful about obtaining any health information from Twitter as it is a fast-paced environment that doesn’t do an excellent job of reviewing all of the content. Furthermore, anyone can create an account and start posting health information or health advice without any editing by health care professionals.
Twitter is beneficial when it comes to propagating scientific knowledge. A lot of people use those platforms and can easily access the latest health research, which has a profoundly beneficial impact on the process of educating the public about the latest innovations in medical research.
Read now: Research tools can be complicated, but they surely find applications in different research settings.
Should Doctors Have Accounts on Twitter
Damian Jacob Sendler: Absolutely, yes. Anyone’s decision to have social media accounts and to engage in health promotion is an individualized decision dependent on personal preferences, professional views, and specific expertise. There might be a problem with the conflict of interest in using Twitter and promoting health advice. And those topics are typically regulated by specific legal or governmental authorities.
Healthcare professionals have a unique understanding of medical problems, and using Twitter and might allow them to propagate scientifically sound and knowledge about topics that are especially important in modern medicine, including the need to vaccinate children.
