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Using Twitter for Public Health Surveillance from Monitoring and Prediction to Public Response

Author

Listed:
  • Sophie E. Jordan

    (School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

  • Sierra E. Hovet

    (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

  • Isaac Chun-Hai Fung

    (Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA)

  • Hai Liang

    (School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • King-Wa Fu

    (Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Zion Tsz Ho Tse

    (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

Abstract

Twitter is a social media platform where over 500 million people worldwide publish their ideas and discuss diverse topics, including their health conditions and public health events. Twitter has proved to be an important source of health-related information on the Internet, given the amount of information that is shared by both citizens and official sources. Twitter provides researchers with a real-time source of public health information on a global scale, and can be very important in public health research. Classifying Twitter data into topics or categories is helpful to better understand how users react and communicate. A literature review is presented on the use of mining Twitter data or similar short-text datasets for public health applications. Each method is analyzed for ways to use Twitter data in public health surveillance. Papers in which Twitter content was classified according to users or tweets for better surveillance of public health were selected for review. Only papers published between 2010–2017 were considered. The reviewed publications are distinguished by the methods that were used to categorize the Twitter content in different ways. While comparing studies is difficult due to the number of different methods that have been used for applying Twitter and interpreting data, this state-of-the-art review demonstrates the vast potential of utilizing Twitter for public health surveillance purposes.

Suggested Citation

  • Sophie E. Jordan & Sierra E. Hovet & Isaac Chun-Hai Fung & Hai Liang & King-Wa Fu & Zion Tsz Ho Tse, 2018. "Using Twitter for Public Health Surveillance from Monitoring and Prediction to Public Response," Data, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jdataj:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:6-:d:193848
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary King & Patrick Lam & Margaret E. Roberts, 2017. "Computer‐Assisted Keyword and Document Set Discovery from Unstructured Text," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(4), pages 971-988, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Diane Ezeh Aruah & Yvonne Henshaw & Kim Walsh-Childers, 2023. "Tweets That Matter: Exploring the Solutions to Maternal Mortality in the United States Discussed by Advocacy Organizations on Twitter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Cano-Marin, Enrique & Mora-Cantallops, Marçal & Sanchez-Alonso, Salvador, 2023. "The power of big data analytics over fake news: A scientometric review of Twitter as a predictive system in healthcare," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    3. María José Aramburu & Rafael Berlanga & Indira Lanza, 2020. "Social Media Multidimensional Analysis for Intelligent Health Surveillance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Javier Jiménez-Cabas & Lizeth Torres & Jorge de J. Lozoya-Santos, 2023. "Twitter Data Mining for the Diagnosis of Leaks in Drinking Water Distribution Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.

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