Contraceptive content shared on social media: an analysis of Twitter

Abstract

BackgroundInformation on social media may affect peoples’ contraceptive decision making. We performed an exploratory analysis of contraceptive content on Twitter (recently renamed X), a popular social media platform.MethodsWe selected a random subset of 1% of publicly available, English-language tweets related to reversible, prescription contraceptive methods posted between January 2014 and December 2019. We oversampled tweets for the contraceptive patch to ensure at least 200 tweets per method. To create the codebook, we identified common themes specific to tweet content topics, tweet sources, and tweets soliciting information or providing advice. All posts were coded by two team members, and differences were adjudicated by a third reviewer. Descriptive analyses were reported with accompanying qualitative findings.ResultsDuring the study period, 457,369 tweets about reversible contraceptive methods were published, with a random sample of 4,434 tweets used for final analysis. Tweets most frequently discussed contraceptive method decision-making (26.7%) and side effects (20.5%), particularly for long-acting reversible contraceptive methods and the depot medroxyprogesterone acetate shot. Tweets about logistics of use or adherence were common for short-acting reversible contraceptives. Tweets were frequently posted by contraceptive consumers (50.6%). A small proportion of tweets explicitly requested information (6.2%) or provided advice (4.2%).ConclusionsClinicians should be aware that individuals are exposed to information through Twitter that may affect contraceptive perceptions and decision making, particularly regarding long-acting reversible contraceptives. Social media is a valuable source for studying contraceptive beliefs missing in traditional health research and may be used by professionals to disseminate accurate contraceptive information.