Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Twitter hashtags for health: applying network and content analyses to understand the health knowledge sharing in a Twitter-based community of practice

  • Published:
Quality & Quantity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We utilize network and content analyses to examine the health-related conversations via Twitter hashtags. The study is an extension of the Leveraging Internet for Knowledge Sharing model to the new Twitter context. The findings show that the conversations involve the themes of knowledge sharing, nurturing relationship (community), and activism/advocacy/promotion (action). The conversation networks are decentralized, with advocates, healthcare providers, and average individuals being the central participants. Conversations flow most frequently between participants of the same healthcare roles, yet there is a considerable amount of conversations from healthcare providers to average consumers, and from average consumers to media. It is also noted that most conversations are not continuous or reciprocal. The findings and their implications are discussed in relation to the characteristics of communities of practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abidi, S.: Healthcare knowledge sharing: purpose, practices, and prospects. In: Bali, R., Dwivedi, A. (eds.) Healthcare Knowledge Management, pp. 67–86. Springer, New York (2007)

  • Achrekar, H., Gandhe, A., Lazarus, R., Yu, S.-H., Liu, B.: Predicting flu trends using twitter data. In: Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Cyber-Physical Networking Systems, pp. 702–707 (2011)

  • Ahn, Y.Y., Han, S., Kwak, H., Moon, S., Jeong, H.: Analysis of topological characteristics of huge online social networking services. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on World Wide Web, pp. 835–844 (2007)

  • Anger, I., Kittl, C.: Measuring influence on Twitter. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies, p. 31 (2011)

  • Barnett, G.A., Sung, E.: Culture and the structure of the international hyperlink network. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 11(1), 217–238 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaaka, G., Cathrine, F.: A social and cultural approach to newcomers’ workplace learning. Int. J. Learn. 12(12), 63–70 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, S.P., Everett, M.G.: Models of core/periphery structures. Soc. Netw. 21(4), 375–395 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulos, M., Maramba, I., Wheeler, S.: Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Med. Educ. 6(1), 41 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, D., Golder, S., Lotan, G.: Tweet, tweet, retweet: conversational aspects of retweeting on Twitter. In: 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), 2010 (pp. 1–10) (2010)

  • Briones, R., Nan, X., Madden, K., Waks, L.: When vaccines go viral: an analysis of HPV vaccine coverage on YouTube. Health Commun. 27(5), 478–485 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruns, A., Burgess, J.: The use of twitter hashtags in the formation of ad hoc publics. Paper presented at the 6th European consortium for political research general conference, Reykjavik, Iceland (2011)

  • Burton, S.H., Tanner, K.W., Giraud-Carrier, C.G., West, J.H., Barnes, M.D.: “Right time, right place” health communication on twitter: value and accuracy of location information. J. Med. Internet Res. 14(6), e156 (2012)

  • Chin, A., Keelan, J., Tomlinson, G., Pavri-Garcia, V., Wilson, K., Chignell, M.: Automated delineation of subgroups in web video: a medical activism case study. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 15(3), 447–464 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi, S., Park, J.Y., Park, H.W.: Using social media data to explore communication processes within South Korean online innovation communities. Scientometrics 90(1), 43–56 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, C.J., Barnett, G.A., 48(2) Park, H.W.: Inferring international dotcom web communities by link and content analysis. Qual. Quant. 1–17 (2014)

  • Ebner, M., Reinhardt, W.: Social networking in scientific conferences-twitter as tool for strengthen a scientific community. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Science, vol. 2, pp. 1–8 (2009)

  • Eysenbach, G., Powell, J., Englesakis, M., Rizo, C., Stern, A.: Health related virtual communities and electronic support groups: systematic review of the effects of online peer to peer interactions. BMJ. British Med. J. 328(7449), 1166 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fadul, J.A.: Big data and knowledge generation in tertiary education in the Philippines. J. Contemp. East. Asia, 13(1), 5–18

  • Freeman, L.C.: Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification. Soc. Netw. 1(3), 215–239 (1979)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruzd, A., Wellman, B., Takhteyev, Y.: Imagining Twitter as an imagined community. Am. Behav. Sci. 55(10), 1294–1318 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, Y., Sundar, S.S.: Effects of online health sources on credibility and behavioral intentions. Commun. Res. 37(1), 105–132 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, K., No, W., Kim, J.W.: Who leads nonprofit advocacy through social media? Some evidence from the Australian marine conservation society’s Twitter networks. J. Contemp. East. Asia, 13(1), 69–81

  • Jung, K., Park, H.W.: Interaction among networks in the age of “big data”: social, knowledge, innovation, and triple-helix networks. J. Contemp. East. Asia 13(1), 1–14 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keelan, J., Pavri-Garcia, V., Tomlinson, G., Wilson, K.: YouTube as a source of information on immunization: a content analysis. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 298(21), 2482–2484 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmerle, J., Thiel, A., Gerbing, K.K., Bientzle, M., Halatchliyski, I., Cress, U.: Knowledge construction in an outsider community: extending the communities of practice concept. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29(3), 1078–1090 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwak, H., Lee, C., Park, H., Moon, S.: What is Twitter, a social network or a news media?. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on World Wide Web, pp. 591–600. ACM (2010)

  • Lave, J., Wenger, E.: Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1991)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, B., Rush, D.: Experience of developing twitter-based communities of practice in higher education. Res. Learn. Technol. 21, 1–35 (2013) doi:10.3402/rlt.v21i0.18598

  • Liang, B.A., Mackey, T.K.: Prevalence and global health implications of social media in direct-to-consumer drug advertising. J. Med. Internet Res. 13(3), e64 (2011)

  • Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., Bracken, C.C.: Content analysis in mass communication: assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Hum. Commun. Res. 28(4), 587–604 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorentzen, D.G.: Webometrics benefitting from web mining? An investigation of methods and applications of two research fields. Scientometrics 99(2), 409–445 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Love, B., Himelboim, I., Holton, A., Stewart, K.: Twitter as a source of vaccination information: content drivers and what they are saying. Am. J. Infect. Control 41(6), 568–570 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovejoy, K., Saxton, G.D.: Information, community, and action: how nonprofit organizations use social media. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 17(3), 337–353 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neiger, B.L., Thackeray, R., Burton, S.H., Thackeray, C.R., Reese, J.H.: Use of twitter among local health departments: an analysis of information sharing, engagement, and action. J. Med. Internet Res. 15(8) e177 (2013)

  • Park, H.W., Thelwall, M.: Hyperlink analyses of the World Wide Web: a review. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 8(4) http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol8/issue4/park.html(2003)

  • Park, H., Rodgers, S., Stemmle, J.: Analyzing health organizations’ use of twitter for promoting health literacy. J. Health Commun. 18(4), 410–425 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, E.M.: Diffusion of Innovations, 5th edn. Free Press, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, K., Ernst, E.: Assessing websites on complementary and alternative medicine for cancer. Ann. Oncol. 15(5), 733–742 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidman, S.B.: Network structure and minimum degree. Soc. Netw. 5(3), 269–287 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, S.A.: Combining social network and semantic content analysis to improve knowledge translation in online communities of practice (Doctoral dissertation, Dalhousie University) (2013)

  • Stewart, S.A., Abidi, S.S.R.: Applying social network analysis to understand the knowledge sharing behaviour of practitioners in a clinical online discussion forum. J. Med. Internet Res. 14(6), e170 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugawara, Y., Narimatsu, H., Hozawa, A., Shao, L., Otani, K., Fukao, A.: Cancer patients on Twitter: a novel patient community on social media. BMC Res. Notes 5(1), 699 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Syed-Abdul, S., Fernandez-Luque, L., Jian, W.S., Li, Y.C., Crain, S., Hsu, M.H., Liou, D.M.: Misleading health-related information promoted through video-based social media: anorexia on YouTube. J. Med. Internet Res. 15(2), e30 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thackeray, R., Neiger, B.L., Smith, A.K., Van Wagenen, S.B.: Adoption and use of social media among public health departments. BMC Public Health 12(1), 242 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warmbrodt, J., Sheng, H., Hall, R.: Social network analysis of video bloggers’ community. In: Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 291–291). IEEE (2008)

  • Wenger, E.C., White, N., Smith, J.D.: Digital habitats: stewarding technology for communities. CPsquare, Portland, OR (2009)

  • Wenger, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W.: Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, K.: Perceptions of on-line support providers: an examination of perceived homophily, source credibility, communication and social support within on-line support groups. Commun. Q. 48(1), 44–59 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, W.W., Sang, Y., Blasiola, S., Park, H.W.: Predicting opinion leaders in twitter activism networks the case of the wisconsin recall election. Am. Behav. Sci. (2014). doi:10.1177/0002764214527091

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research team would like to thank Dr.Gregory Saxton for providing guidance in Twitter data-collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Weiai Wayne Xu, I-Hsuan Chiu, Yixin Chen & Tanuka Mukherjee

Authors
  1. Weiai Wayne Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. I-Hsuan Chiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yixin Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tanuka Mukherjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weiai Wayne Xu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xu, W.W., Chiu, IH., Chen, Y. et al. Twitter hashtags for health: applying network and content analyses to understand the health knowledge sharing in a Twitter-based community of practice. Qual Quant 49, 1361–1380 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0051-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0051-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation