Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017

We build on recent examinations questioning the quality of online information about probiotic products by studying the themes of content, detecting virtual communities and identifying key influencers in social media using data science techniques. We conducted topic modelling (n = 36,715 tweets) and...

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Main Authors: Vijaykumar, Santosh, Raamkumar, Aravind Sesagiri, McCarty, Kristofor, Mutumbwa, Cuthbert, Mustafa, Jawwad, AU, Cyndy
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7162
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8161/viewcontent/journal.pone.0258098.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-81612023-04-12T04:47:19Z Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017 Vijaykumar, Santosh Raamkumar, Aravind Sesagiri McCarty, Kristofor Mutumbwa, Cuthbert Mustafa, Jawwad AU, Cyndy We build on recent examinations questioning the quality of online information about probiotic products by studying the themes of content, detecting virtual communities and identifying key influencers in social media using data science techniques. We conducted topic modelling (n = 36,715 tweets) and longitudinal social network analysis (n = 17,834 tweets) of probiotic chatter on Twitter from 2009–17. We used Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to build the topic models and network analysis tool Gephi for building yearly graphs. We identified the top 10 topics of probiotics-related communication on Twitter and a constant rise in communication activity. However the number of communities grew consistently to peak in 2014 before dipping and levelling off by 2017. While several probiotics industry actors appeared and disappeared during this period, the influence of one specific actor rose from a hub initially to an authority in the latter years. With multi-brand advertising and probiotics promotions mostly occupying the Twitter chatter, scientists, journalists, or policymakers exerted minimal influence in these communities. Consistent with previous research, we find that probiotics-related content on social media veers towards promotions and benefits. Probiotic industry actors maintain consistent presence on Twitter while transitioning from hubs to authorities over time; scientific entities assume an authoritative role without much engagement. The involvement of scientific, journalistic or regulatory stakeholders will help create a balanced informational environment surrounding probiotic products. 2021-10-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7162 info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0258098 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8161/viewcontent/journal.pone.0258098.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Probiotics online communities social media influencers Health Information Technology Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing Social Media
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Probiotics
online communities
social media
influencers
Health Information Technology
Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Social Media
spellingShingle Probiotics
online communities
social media
influencers
Health Information Technology
Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Social Media
Vijaykumar, Santosh
Raamkumar, Aravind Sesagiri
McCarty, Kristofor
Mutumbwa, Cuthbert
Mustafa, Jawwad
AU, Cyndy
Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
description We build on recent examinations questioning the quality of online information about probiotic products by studying the themes of content, detecting virtual communities and identifying key influencers in social media using data science techniques. We conducted topic modelling (n = 36,715 tweets) and longitudinal social network analysis (n = 17,834 tweets) of probiotic chatter on Twitter from 2009–17. We used Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to build the topic models and network analysis tool Gephi for building yearly graphs. We identified the top 10 topics of probiotics-related communication on Twitter and a constant rise in communication activity. However the number of communities grew consistently to peak in 2014 before dipping and levelling off by 2017. While several probiotics industry actors appeared and disappeared during this period, the influence of one specific actor rose from a hub initially to an authority in the latter years. With multi-brand advertising and probiotics promotions mostly occupying the Twitter chatter, scientists, journalists, or policymakers exerted minimal influence in these communities. Consistent with previous research, we find that probiotics-related content on social media veers towards promotions and benefits. Probiotic industry actors maintain consistent presence on Twitter while transitioning from hubs to authorities over time; scientific entities assume an authoritative role without much engagement. The involvement of scientific, journalistic or regulatory stakeholders will help create a balanced informational environment surrounding probiotic products.
format text
author Vijaykumar, Santosh
Raamkumar, Aravind Sesagiri
McCarty, Kristofor
Mutumbwa, Cuthbert
Mustafa, Jawwad
AU, Cyndy
author_facet Vijaykumar, Santosh
Raamkumar, Aravind Sesagiri
McCarty, Kristofor
Mutumbwa, Cuthbert
Mustafa, Jawwad
AU, Cyndy
author_sort Vijaykumar, Santosh
title Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
title_short Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
title_full Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
title_fullStr Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
title_full_unstemmed Themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: A retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
title_sort themes, communities and influencers of online probiotics chatter: a retrospective analysis from 2009-2017
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2021
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7162
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8161/viewcontent/journal.pone.0258098.pdf
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