Abstract
BackgroundOn May 8, 2021, Elon Musk, a well-recognized entrepreneur and business magnate, revealed on a popular television show that he has Asperger syndrome. Research has shown that people’s perceptions of a condition are modified when influential individuals in society publicly disclose their diagnoses. It was anticipated that Musk's disclosure would contribute to discussions on the internet about the syndrome, and also to a potential change in the perception of this condition.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to compare the types of information contained in popular tweets about Asperger syndrome as well as their engagement and sentiment before and after Musk’s disclosure.MethodsWe extracted tweets that were published 1 week before and after Musk's disclosure that had received >30 likes and included the terms “Aspergers” or “Aspie.” The content of each post was classified by 2 independent coders as to whether the information provided was valid, contained misinformation, or was neutral. Furthermore, we analyzed the engagement on these posts and the expressed sentiment by using the AFINN sentiment analysis tool.ResultsWe extracted a total of 227 popular tweets (34 posted the week before Musk’s announcement and 193 posted the week after). We classified 210 (92.5%) of the tweets as neutral, 13 (5.7%) tweets as informative, and 4 (1.8%) as containing misinformation. Both informative and misinformative tweets were posted after Musk’s disclosure. Popular tweets posted before Musk’s disclosure were significantly more engaging (received more comments, retweets, and likes) than the tweets posted the week after. We did not find a significant difference in the sentiment expressed in the tweets posted before and after the announcement.ConclusionsThe use of social media platforms by health authorities, autism associations, and other stakeholders has the potential to increase the awareness and acceptance of knowledge about autism and Asperger syndrome. When prominent figures disclose their diagnoses, the number of posts about their particular condition tends to increase and thus promote a potential opportunity for greater outreach to the general public about that condition.
Highlights
Asperger syndrome, which was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as a formal diagnosis, is currently merged with autism and pervasive developmental disorders that are otherwise not specified within “autism spectrum disorder”
Examples of highly prominent people with Asperger who have been publicly open about their diagnosis include Elon Musk and Greta Thunberg
We designed a cross-sectional study to analyze the type of content, engagement, and perception of popular tweets related to Asperger
Summary
BackgroundAsperger syndrome (hereafter referred to as Asperger), which was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as a formal diagnosis, is currently merged with autism and pervasive developmental disorders that are otherwise not specified within “autism spectrum disorder” (hereafter referred to as autism). Oversimplifications and misconceptions can lead to stereotype thinking [12] and can maintain stigmas [13], but this could be reduced with the increase in societal awareness and understanding of the conditions [14] This knowledge could be acquired or promoted through social media, where millions of people are exposed daily to all varieties of information, whether they explicitly seek it or find it unintentionally. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the types of information contained in popular tweets about Asperger syndrome as well as their engagement and sentiment before and after Musk’s disclosure. Methods: We extracted tweets that were published 1 week before and after Musk's disclosure that had received >30 likes and included the terms “Aspergers” or “Aspie.” The content of each post was classified by 2 independent coders as to whether the information provided was valid, contained misinformation, or was neutral. When prominent figures disclose their diagnoses, the number of posts about their particular condition tends to increase and promote a potential opportunity for greater outreach to the general public about that condition
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