An Analysis of Mpox Communication on Reddit vs Twitter During the 2022 Mpox Outbreak

Abstract

Introduction: During the summer of 2022, monkeypox (mpox) became a public health emergency primarily affecting members of sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities. Understanding how SGM social media users perceived mpox could inform community-based public health prevention strategies for future disease outbreaks. However, social media platform selection could substantially affect the insights drawn about mpox. Methods: The present study used topic modeling and tested differences in psycholinguistic attributes using 8,605 mpox-related Reddit posts and 1,819 mpox-related tweets collected from 01 May 2022 to 13 October 2022. Results: Results showed substantial differences in mpox communication themes between the two groups. The SGM-specific Reddit sample primarily discussed concerns with how mpox predominately affects gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, desires to find and share information about mpox vaccination, and motives to understand how mpox spreads among the community. The non-SGM-specific Twitter sample primarily discussed news reports about mpox cases provided by U.S. agencies, mpox from an international perspective, and concerns about mpox in the context of COVID-19. Group differences in psycholinguistic attributes were also evident. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the importance of community-centered public health surveillance because mpox communication differed significantly between SGM-specific Reddit communities vs. non-SGM-specific Twitter users. Public health surveillance using social media must account for these communication differences, as conclusions about a population’s reaction to disease can differ substantially based on the platform surveyed. Policy Implications: Public health officials can use these findings to design community- and platform-tailored prevention messaging for future outbreaks of mpox and other infectious diseases.