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Vaping Draws Strong Support - From Bots
From https://universe.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=77313
Vaping Draws Strong Support – From Bots
An SDSU team’s study of Twitter posts found both robots and real human underplay the health risks associated with e-cigarettes.
By La Monica Everett-Haynes
Wednesday, August 01, 2018
“This raises the question: To what extent is the public health discourse online being driven by robot accounts?”
Social media accounts run by internet robots may be driving much of the discussion around the health threats posed by e-cigarettes, according to a study led by San Diego State University researchers, who also found most of the automated messages were positive toward vaping.
More than 70 percent of the tweets analyzed in the study appeared to have been put out by robots, also known as bots, whose use to influence public opinion and sell products while posing as real people is coming under increased scrutiny.
The discovery of the apparent bot promotion of vaping was unexpected. The team originally set out to use Twitter data to study the use and perceptions of e-cigarettes in the United States and to understand characteristics of users discussing e-cigarettes.
...
An SDSU team’s study of Twitter posts found both robots and real human underplay the health risks associated with e-cigarettes.
By La Monica Everett-Haynes
Wednesday, August 01, 2018
“This raises the question: To what extent is the public health discourse online being driven by robot accounts?”
Social media accounts run by internet robots may be driving much of the discussion around the health threats posed by e-cigarettes, according to a study led by San Diego State University researchers, who also found most of the automated messages were positive toward vaping.
More than 70 percent of the tweets analyzed in the study appeared to have been put out by robots, also known as bots, whose use to influence public opinion and sell products while posing as real people is coming under increased scrutiny.
The discovery of the apparent bot promotion of vaping was unexpected. The team originally set out to use Twitter data to study the use and perceptions of e-cigarettes in the United States and to understand characteristics of users discussing e-cigarettes.
...
More at link.
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From https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10810730.2018.1493057
“Okay, We Get It. You Vape”: An Analysis of Geocoded Content, Context, and Sentiment regarding E-Cigarettes on Twitter
Lourdes S. Martinez, Sharon Hughes, Eric R. Walsh-Buhi & Ming-Hsiang Tsou
Published online: 06 Jul 2018
Abstract
The current study examined conversations on Twitter related to use and perceptions of e-cigarettes in the United States. We employed the Social Media Analytic and Research Testbed (SMART) dashboard, which was used to identify and download (via a public API) e-cigarette-related geocoded tweets. E-cigarette-related tweets were collected continuously using customized geo-targeted Twitter APIs. A total of 193,051 tweets were collected between October 2015 and February 2016. Of these tweets, a random sample of 973 geocoded tweets were selected and manually coded for information regarding source, context, and message characteristics. Our findings reveal that although over half of tweets were positive, a sizeable portion was negative or neutral. We also found that, among those tweets mentioning a stigma of e-cigarettes, most confirmed that a stigma does exist. Conversely, among tweets mentioning the harmfulness of e-cigarettes, most denied that e-cigarettes were a health hazard. These results suggest that current efforts have left the public with ambiguity regarding the potential dangers of e-cigarettes. Consequently, it is critical to communicate the public health stance on this issue to inform the public and provide counterarguments to the positive sentiments presently dominating conversations about e-cigarettes on social media. The lack of awareness and need to voice a public health position on e-cigarettes represents a vital opportunity to continue winning gains for tobacco control and prevention efforts through health communication interventions targeting e-cigarettes.
...
Lourdes S. Martinez, Sharon Hughes, Eric R. Walsh-Buhi & Ming-Hsiang Tsou
Published online: 06 Jul 2018
Abstract
The current study examined conversations on Twitter related to use and perceptions of e-cigarettes in the United States. We employed the Social Media Analytic and Research Testbed (SMART) dashboard, which was used to identify and download (via a public API) e-cigarette-related geocoded tweets. E-cigarette-related tweets were collected continuously using customized geo-targeted Twitter APIs. A total of 193,051 tweets were collected between October 2015 and February 2016. Of these tweets, a random sample of 973 geocoded tweets were selected and manually coded for information regarding source, context, and message characteristics. Our findings reveal that although over half of tweets were positive, a sizeable portion was negative or neutral. We also found that, among those tweets mentioning a stigma of e-cigarettes, most confirmed that a stigma does exist. Conversely, among tweets mentioning the harmfulness of e-cigarettes, most denied that e-cigarettes were a health hazard. These results suggest that current efforts have left the public with ambiguity regarding the potential dangers of e-cigarettes. Consequently, it is critical to communicate the public health stance on this issue to inform the public and provide counterarguments to the positive sentiments presently dominating conversations about e-cigarettes on social media. The lack of awareness and need to voice a public health position on e-cigarettes represents a vital opportunity to continue winning gains for tobacco control and prevention efforts through health communication interventions targeting e-cigarettes.
...
More at link.
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