Online Attitudes and Information-Seeking Behavior on Autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Greta Thunberg

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Internet trends data and sentiment in tweets mentioning autism, Asperger syndrome, and Greta Thunberg during 2019. We used mixed methods in analyzing sentiment and attitudes in viral tweets and collected 1074 viral tweets on autism that were published in 2019 (tweets that got more than 100 likes). The sample from Twitter was compared with search patterns on Google. In 2019, Asperger syndrome was closely connected to Greta Thunberg, as of the tweets specifically mentioning Asperger (from the total sample of viral tweets mentioning autism), 83% also mentioned Thunberg. In the sample of tweets about Thunberg, the positive sentiment expressed that Greta Thunberg was a role model, whereas the tweets that expressed the most negativity used her diagnosis against her and could be considered as cyberbullying. The Google Trends data also showed that Thunberg was closely connected to search patterns on Asperger syndrome in 2019. The study showed that being open about health information while being an active participant in controversial debates might be used against you but also help break stigmas and stereotypes.

Social media analysis of Twitter tweets related to ASD in 2019–2020, with particular attention to COVID-19: topic modelling and sentiment analysis

“…AFiNN uses a scoring system in which each word is assigned a value from −5 (very negative) to + 5 (very positive). Words with a score below − 0.05 are identified as negative, while those with a score above 0.05 are identified as positive [ 22 ].…”

Discussions of Asperger Syndrome on Social Media: Content and Sentiment Analysis on Twitter

“…Social media is ubiquitous and has become for most people a standard part of their everyday routine and habits. The ubiquitous use of social media platforms could provide an opportunity to expand the reach of trustworthy information about Asperger and autism in order to increase users’ knowledge about and awareness of the conditions and reduce the associated stigmas [ 5 , 14 , 21 ].…”

“…We used the Twitter advanced search engine to find popular tweets (>30 likes) that were posted in English and included the terms “Aspergers” or “Aspie.” The term “Aspie” was included because it is a common slang term used by the autism community to refer to Asperger [ 5 ]. We extracted tweets that were published between May 1, 2021, and May 14, 2021, (1 week before and after Musk disclosed his Asperger diagnosis on May 8, 2021).…”

“…The text-mining tool considers scores higher than 0 as positive words, and scores lower than 0 as negative words [ 26 ]. The AFINN tool has been used to analyze the sentiment included in tweets about Asperger [ 5 ], and to compare the sentiment towards different COVID-19 vaccines expressed in social media posts [ 27 ]. The AFINN tool has also been used to analyze free short text, such as answers given in surveys [ 28 , 29 ], web-based reviews [ 30 ], self-reported notes [ 31 ], or descriptions of public health campaigns [ 32 ].…”

“…Examples of highly prominent people with Asperger who have been publicly open about their diagnosis include Elon Musk (who revealed his condition on Saturday Night Live on May 8, 2021) and Greta Thunberg (who refers to her Asperger diagnosis as her “superpower”). The media attention given to such disclosures typically leads to subsequent social media discussions that can inform but also misinform public perception [ 5 ]. Asperger and autism have become a part of pop culture [ 6 , 7 ], and research indicates there are advantages and disadvantages to this from a public health perspective but also, more importantly, an impact on individuals with the diagnosis.…”