Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling
This study investigated the emergence and use of Twitter, as of July 2023 being rebranded as X, as the main forum for social media communication in parasitology. A dataset of tweets was constructed using a keyword search of Twitter with the search terms ‘malaria’, ‘Plasmodium’, ‘Leishmania’, ‘Trypan...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X23000262 |
| _version_ | 1797372009015934976 |
|---|---|
| author | John T. Ellis Michael P. Reichel |
| author_facet | John T. Ellis Michael P. Reichel |
| author_sort | John T. Ellis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigated the emergence and use of Twitter, as of July 2023 being rebranded as X, as the main forum for social media communication in parasitology. A dataset of tweets was constructed using a keyword search of Twitter with the search terms ‘malaria’, ‘Plasmodium’, ‘Leishmania’, ‘Trypanosoma’, ‘Toxoplasma’ and ‘Schistosoma’ for the period from 2011 to 2020. Exploratory data analyses of tweet content were conducted, including language, usernames and hashtags. To identify parasitology topics of discussion, keywords and phrases were extracted using KeyBert and biterm topic modelling. The sentiment of tweets was analysed using VADER. The results show that the number of tweets including the keywords increased from 2011 (for malaria) and 2013 (for the others) to 2020, with the highest number of tweets being recorded in 2020. The maximum number of yearly tweets for Plasmodium, Leishmania, Toxoplasma, Trypanosoma and Schistosoma was recorded in 2020 (2804, 2161, 1570, 680 and 360 tweets, respectively). English was the most commonly used language for tweeting, although the percentage varied across the searches. In tweets mentioning Leishmania, only ∼37% were in English, with Spanish being more common. Across all the searches, Portuguese was another common language found. Popular tweets on Toxoplasma contained keywords relating to mental health including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. The Trypanosoma tweets referenced drugs (benznidazole, nifurtimox) and vectors (bugs, triatomines, tsetse), while the Schistosoma tweets referenced areas of biology including pathology, eggs and snails. A wide variety of individuals and organisations were shown to be associated with Twitter activity. Many journals in the parasitology arena regularly tweet about publications from their journal, and professional societies promote activity and events that are important to them. These represent examples of trusted sources of information, often by experts in their fields. Social media activity of influencers, however, who have large numbers of followers, might have little or no training in science. The existence of such tweeters does raise cause for concern to parasitology, as one may start to question the quality of information being disseminated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:30:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-de802ea7900f4f2da56c318d6230c4c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-114X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:30:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-de802ea7900f4f2da56c318d6230c4c02023-12-30T04:45:17ZengElsevierCurrent Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases2667-114X2023-01-014100138Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modellingJohn T. Ellis0Michael P. Reichel1School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia; Corresponding author.Department of Population Medicine & Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USAThis study investigated the emergence and use of Twitter, as of July 2023 being rebranded as X, as the main forum for social media communication in parasitology. A dataset of tweets was constructed using a keyword search of Twitter with the search terms ‘malaria’, ‘Plasmodium’, ‘Leishmania’, ‘Trypanosoma’, ‘Toxoplasma’ and ‘Schistosoma’ for the period from 2011 to 2020. Exploratory data analyses of tweet content were conducted, including language, usernames and hashtags. To identify parasitology topics of discussion, keywords and phrases were extracted using KeyBert and biterm topic modelling. The sentiment of tweets was analysed using VADER. The results show that the number of tweets including the keywords increased from 2011 (for malaria) and 2013 (for the others) to 2020, with the highest number of tweets being recorded in 2020. The maximum number of yearly tweets for Plasmodium, Leishmania, Toxoplasma, Trypanosoma and Schistosoma was recorded in 2020 (2804, 2161, 1570, 680 and 360 tweets, respectively). English was the most commonly used language for tweeting, although the percentage varied across the searches. In tweets mentioning Leishmania, only ∼37% were in English, with Spanish being more common. Across all the searches, Portuguese was another common language found. Popular tweets on Toxoplasma contained keywords relating to mental health including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. The Trypanosoma tweets referenced drugs (benznidazole, nifurtimox) and vectors (bugs, triatomines, tsetse), while the Schistosoma tweets referenced areas of biology including pathology, eggs and snails. A wide variety of individuals and organisations were shown to be associated with Twitter activity. Many journals in the parasitology arena regularly tweet about publications from their journal, and professional societies promote activity and events that are important to them. These represent examples of trusted sources of information, often by experts in their fields. Social media activity of influencers, however, who have large numbers of followers, might have little or no training in science. The existence of such tweeters does raise cause for concern to parasitology, as one may start to question the quality of information being disseminated.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X23000262TwitterKeywordsKeyphrasesTopic modelSentimentE-Professionalism |
| spellingShingle | John T. Ellis Michael P. Reichel Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases Keywords Keyphrases Topic model Sentiment E-Professionalism |
| title | Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| title_full | Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| title_fullStr | Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| title_short | Twitter trends in #Parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| title_sort | twitter trends in parasitology determined by text mining and topic modelling |
| topic | Twitter Keywords Keyphrases Topic model Sentiment E-Professionalism |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X23000262 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johntellis twittertrendsinparasitologydeterminedbytextminingandtopicmodelling AT michaelpreichel twittertrendsinparasitologydeterminedbytextminingandtopicmodelling |