Who is Saying What on Twitter: An Analysis of Messages with References to HIV and HIV Risk Behavior

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the nature of social media discussions about HIV. With the goal of conducting a descriptive analysis, we collected almost 1,000 tweets posted February to September 2015. The sample of tweets included keywords related to HIV or behavioral risk factors (e.g., sex, drug use) and was coded for content (e.g., HIV), behavior change strategies, and message source. Seven percent of tweets concerned HIV/AIDS, which were often referred to as jokes or insults. The majority of tweets coded as behavior change attempts involved attitude change strategies. The majority of the tweets (80%) came from private users (vs. organizations). Different types of sources employed different types of behavior change strategies: For instance, private users, compared to experts or organizations, included more strategies to decrease detrimental attitudes (29% versus 6%, p