Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37159259›Full record

ArticleJMIR infodemiology2023

Characterizing the Discourse of Popular Diets to Describe Information Dispersal and Identify Leading Voices, Interaction, and Themes of Mental Health: Social Network Analysis.

Melissa C Eaton, Yasmine C Probst, Marc A Smith

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR infodemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Melissa C EatonSchool of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2773-3939
Yasmine C ProbstSchool of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1971-173X
Marc A SmithSocial Media Research Foundation, Redwood City, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1221-2620
University of Wollongong · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial media has transformed the way health messages are communicated. This has created new challenges and ethical considerations while providing a platform to share nutrition information for communities to connect and for information to spread. However, research exploring the web-based diet communities of popular diets is limited.

objectiveThis study aims to characterize the web-based discourse of popular diets, describe information dissemination, identify influential voices, and explore interactions between community networks and themes of mental health.

methodsThis exploratory study used Twitter social media posts for an online social network analysis. Popular diet keywords were systematically developed, and data were collected and analyzed using the NodeXL metrics tool (Social Media Research Foundation) to determine the key network metrics (vertices, edges, cluster algorithms, graph visualization, centrality measures, text analysis, and time-series analytics).

resultsThe vegan and ketogenic diets had the largest networks, whereas the zone diet had the smallest network. In total, 31.2% (54/173) of the top users endorsed the corresponding diet, and 11% (19/173) claimed a health or science education, which included 1.2% (2/173) of dietitians. Complete fragmentation and hub and spoke messaging were the dominant network structures. In total, 69% (11/16) of the networks interacted, where the ketogenic diet was mentioned most, with depression and anxiety and eating disorder words most prominent in the "zone diet" network and the least prominent in the "soy-free," "vegan," "dairy-free," and "gluten-free" diet networks.

conclusionsSocial media activity reflects diet trends and provides a platform for nutrition information to spread through resharing. A longitudinal exploration of popular diet networks is needed to further understand the impact social media can have on dietary choices. Social media training is vital, and nutrition professionals must work together as a community to actively reshare evidence-based posts on the web.

Indexed as

nutritionpopular dietspublic healthsocial mediasocial network analysis

Identifiers

PMID37159259
PMCPMC10199384
OpenAlexW4372291832

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.