Who Influences Cancer Conversations on Twitter?: A Comparative Surveillance of Cancer Communications

In this study, we used social network analysis to compare the Twitter social networks of top five cancers in the United States (as ranked by the CDC) to determine the key influencers in cancer-related conversations. We find that organizations and groups geared toward patients that provide patient su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inStudies in health technology and informatics Vol. 290; p. 719
Main Authors Jain, Nishant, Zachary, Iris, Boren, Suzanne
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands 06.06.2022
Subjects
Colorectal Neoplasms
Communication
Humans
Male
Physicians
Social Media
Social Networking
United States
United States
Social media
Network Analysis
Cancer
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Summary:In this study, we used social network analysis to compare the Twitter social networks of top five cancers in the United States (as ranked by the CDC) to determine the key influencers in cancer-related conversations. We find that organizations and groups geared toward patients that provide patient support, promote cancer awareness, cancer prevention and cancer management comprised up to 40% of influencers. Researchers (24%) and physicians (14%) were also found to be influential participants; the extent of influence varying by each cancer, being as high as 40% research influence for colorectal cancer. Notably, scientific organizations (JAMA, CDC_cancer, AACR) played a key role in conversations about colorectal cancer whereas patient-focused organizations played a greater influencing role in conversations about prostate cancer and skin cancer. This study shows that Twitter data can be a valuable source of cancer surveillance data, and has potential to influence policies, strategies, and research directions around each cancer.
ISSN:1879-8365