Using Twitter to inform research questions

As social media sites have increasingly become platforms for people to discuss their health, scientists have also turned to these websites as a data source for research. New work finds that statins — which are used to lower cholesterol — are frequently discussed on Twitter, and that scientists could use the social media site for research on patient perceptions about the drug. Looking at nearly 12,000 tweets about statins, around 5,200 of which were health-related, scientists found that the posts most frequently shared information about the medicines, such as linking to a journal or research article. Around 1 in 5 tweets included personal beliefs about statins, while smaller proportions included personal experiences with side effects, discussions about dosage, and questions about statins. These perspectives could be used to inform future research projects, the authors suggest.