Methodologies in Social Media Research: Where We Are and Where We Still Need to Go?

Loeb, Stacy; Malik, Rena D.

doi:10.1200/op.21.00871

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Many prior studies have reported on benefits of the internet and social media for prostate cancer clinical care and research. For example, online networks have also been used for participant recruitment, as a data source and for dissemination of prostate cancer research (Loeb & Malik, 2022). Previous studies have also reported on online crowdsourcing of complex cases by health care providers and dissemination of urological clinical practice guidelines through social media (Loeb et al, 2017; Sternberg et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative Study on Internet Use and Care Impact for Black Men With Prostate Cancer

Loeb,

Sanchez Nolasco,

Byrne

et al. 2024

Health Educ Behav

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Black men have a greater risk of prostate cancer as well as worse quality of life and more decisional regret after prostate cancer treatment compared to non-Hispanic White men. Furthermore, patients with prostate cancer who primarily obtain information on the internet have significantly more decisional regret compared to other information sources. Our objective was to explore the perspectives of Black patients on the use and impact of the internet for their prostate cancer care. In 2022–2023, we conducted seven virtual focus groups with Black patients with prostate cancer ( n = 22). Transcripts were independently analyzed by two experienced researchers using a constant comparative method. Online sources were commonly used by participants throughout their cancer journey, although informational needs varied over time. Patient factors affected use (e.g., physical health and experience with the internet), and family members played an active role in online information-seeking. The internet was used before and after visits to the doctor. Key topics that participants searched for online included nutrition and lifestyle, treatment options, and prostate cancer in Black men. Men reported many downstream benefits with internet use including feeling more empowered in decision-making, reducing anxiety about treatment and providing greater accountability for research. However, they also reported negative impacts such as feeling overwhelmed or discouraged sorting through the information to identify high-quality content that is personally relevant, as well as increased anxiety or loss of sleep from overuse. In summary, online sources have the potential to positively impact the cancer journey by reinforcing or supplementing information from health care providers, but can be harmful if the information is poor quality, not representative, or the internet is overused.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative Study on Internet Use and Care Impact for Black Men With Prostate Cancer

Loeb,

Sanchez Nolasco,

Byrne

et al. 2024

Health Educ Behav

Self Cite

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“…One pressing issue that needs to be addressed is the quality and accuracy of content shared on SoMe, as misinformation and low-quality content are common and can be harmful [ 49 ]. To address it, it's important to understand how SoMe misinformation impacts decision-making and work out the best ways to mitigate it [ 50 , 51 ]. On both personal level and institute/organization level, efforts need to be made to educate the general public and urological patients about the risks of encountering low-quality information on SoMe, disseminate reliable, high-quality information, and establish regulations and even laws for a healthy SoMe environment [ 52 •, 53 •, 54 ].…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media and Apps in Urology

Wang

Malik

2023

Curr Surg Rep

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Purpose of Review In this study, we aimed to review the common social media (SoMe) apps used and how they have impacted the practice and exchange of information, as well as the challenges of using SoMe in urology. Recent Findings SoMe has become increasingly popular in the urology community. Lay users often turn to SoMe to learn about urological health and share their own experiences, while medical professionals may use it for career development, networking, education, and research purposes. Summary It is important to recognize the power of SoMe and to use it responsibly and ethically, particularly given the potential risks of encountering low-quality or misleading information.

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“…For instance, health departments or local governments might find it valuable to analyze social media data to identify local health care needs or perspectives within specific populations they serve. This is because social media analyses offer several advantages, such as providing insight into the lived experiences of people with specific health conditions [ 6 ]. Additionally, because social media allows for open and honest communication among its users, analyzing social media content has led to the identification of new themes and concerns among populations that had previously gone undiscovered [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Simple and Systematic Approach to Qualitative Data Extraction From Social Media for Novice Health Care Researchers: Tutorial

Pretorius

2024

JMIR Form Res

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Social media analyses have become increasingly popular among health care researchers. Social media continues to grow its user base and, when analyzed, offers unique insight into health problems. The process of obtaining data for social media analyses varies greatly and involves ethical considerations. Data extraction is often facilitated by software tools, some of which are open source, while others are costly and therefore not accessible to all researchers. The use of software for data extraction is accompanied by additional challenges related to the uniqueness of social media data. Thus, this paper serves as a tutorial for a simple method of extracting social media data that is accessible to novice health care researchers and public health professionals who are interested in pursuing social media research. The discussed methods were used to extract data from Facebook for a study of maternal perspectives on sudden unexpected infant death.

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Methodologies in Social Media Research: Where We Are and Where We Still Need to Go?

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

Qualitative Study on Internet Use and Care Impact for Black Men With Prostate Cancer

Qualitative Study on Internet Use and Care Impact for Black Men With Prostate Cancer

Social Media and Apps in Urology

A Simple and Systematic Approach to Qualitative Data Extraction From Social Media for Novice Health Care Researchers: Tutorial

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