Abstract
ObjectivesSocial media has reshaped individual and institutional communication. The unrestricted access to spontaneous views and opinions of society can enrich the evaluation of healthcare interventions. Antimicrobial resistance has been identified as a global threat to health requiring collaboration between clinicians and healthcare users. We sought to explore events and individuals influencing the discourse about antibiotics on Twitter.MethodsA web-based tool (www.topsy.com) was used to detect daily occurrences of the word ‘antibiotic’ from 24 September 2012 to 23 September 2013 in worldwide Tweets. Activity peaks (message frequency over three times that of baseline) were analysed to identify events leading to the increase.ResultsOf 135 billion messages posted during the study period, 243 000 (0.000002%) referred to ‘antibiotic’. The greatest activity increases appeared after: (i) the UK Chief Medical Officer's (CMO's) declaration of antimicrobial resistance as a national risk (January 2013 and March 2013); (ii) the release of the US CDC's report on antimicrobial resistance (September 2013); and (iii) the US FDA announcement on azithromycin safety concerns (March 2013). The CMO report in March reached an estimated worldwide audience of 20 million users in a single day. However, the frequency of antibiotic Tweets returned to basal levels within 48 h of all four peaks in activity.ConclusionsInstitutional events can rapidly amplify antibiotic discussions on social media, but their short lifespan may hinder their public impact. Multipronged strategies may be required to prolong responses. Developing methods to refine social media monitoring to evaluate the impact and sustainability of societal engagement in the antimicrobial resistance agenda remains essential.
Highlights
The development of social media and social networks has provided unprecedented communication opportunities between individuals, companies and organizations
It is estimated that almost 60% of all Internet users engage with a social media platform.[1]
During the 1 year study period, 135 billion messages were published by Twitter users and 243 000 (0.000002%) contained the word ‘antibiotic’
Summary
The development of social media and social networks has provided unprecedented communication opportunities between individuals, companies and organizations. It is estimated that almost 60% of all Internet users engage with a social media platform.[1] The use of these tools has reduced the impact of traditional barriers to communication such as organizational hierarchy or socioeconomic status.[2] As a reflection of society at large, healthcare has benefited by the innovation and communication potential released by social media tools. Public health commissioners and practitioners have been able to find feedback that has traditionally been difficult to obtain from populations where policies or interventions have been implemented.[3,4]. The use of social media allows unrestricted access to the opinions and sentiments generated spontaneously by those same populations
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