Title

Weight loss support seeking on twitter: the impact of weight on follow back rates and interactions

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Medicine, Division of Preventative and Behavioral Medicine; Department of Quantitative Health Sciences; Department of Psychiatry; Department of Emergency Medicine

Publication Date

2017-3

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Health Communication | Health Information Technology | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology | Social Media | Social Psychology and Interaction | Translational Medical Research

Abstract

People seek weight loss support on online social networks, but little is known about how to build a supportive community. We created four Twitter accounts portraying women interested in weight loss (two obese, two normal weight/overweight) and followed health care professional and peer accounts for 2-5 weeks. We examined follow back rates, interactions, and organic follows from professionals and peers by weight status. Follow back rates did not differ by weight status when following professionals (6.8 % normal weight/overweight vs 11.0 % for obese; p = 0.4167) or peers (6.7 % for normal weight/overweight vs 10.8 % for obese; p = 0.1548). Number of interactions and organic followers also did not differ by weight status. Peers interacted with study accounts significantly more than professionals (p = 0.0138), but interactions were infrequent. Women seeking weight loss support on Twitter may need to be present for more than 5 weeks to build an interactive weight loss community.

Keywords

UMCCTS funding, Obesity, Peer-to-peer healthcare, Social media, Twitter

DOI of Published Version

10.1007/s13142-016-0429-1

Source

Transl Behav Med. 2017 Mar;7(1):84-91. doi: 10.1007/s13142-016-0429-1. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Translational behavioral medicine

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

27443643

Link to Full Text

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