Abstract
Objective: Google+ is one of the most actively used Social Networking Sites in the world. The aim of our study is to characterize the Google+ communities related to diabetes and identify the factors associated with the activity level of these communities. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for diabetes-related Google+ communities. We categorized the principal objective of eligible communities into six themes: (1) awareness creation, (2) providing support and sharing experience, (3) product or service promotion, (4) diet-related topics, (5) exercise-related topics, and (6) others. The themes for the posts were: (1) asking for information, (2) providing information, (3) expressing emotion, and (4) advertisement. Results: We included 145 Google+ communities and 378 posts for analysis. Majority (80.0%) of the communities were focused on “General Diabetics”, 11.8% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 6.2% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes”, and 2.1% were focused on “Gestational diabetes”. Majority of the communities (35.2%) had the principal objective “Provide support and share experience”. Regarding the user-generated posts, 29.6% posts had at least one “+” (“+” is similar to “like” in Facebook), 17.7% posts had comments, and 89.2% posts had external links. Majority of the posts (69.6%) were focused on “General diabetes”, 16.9% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 12.4% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes” and 1.15 were focused on “gestational diabetes”. The top two themes of the posts were “Providing information” (72.8%) and “Advertisement” (31.5%). Conclusion: Our study revealed that major activity of diabetes-related Google+ communities was related to providing support and information. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of the information in the communities need to be scrutinized further from clinical perspective.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 323-327 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Diabetology International |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 1 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Diabetes
- Google+
- Health communication
- Social media
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Internal Medicine
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Cite this
Social Networking Sites for Peer-Driven Health Communication : Diabetes-Related Communities in Google+. / Mogi, Yuhei; Abedin, Tasnima; Ahmed, Salim; Gill, Gurleen; Al Mamun, Mohammad; Kanda, Hideyuki; Ishikawa, Yoshihiro; Turin, Tanvir C.
In: Diabetology International, Vol. 8, No. 3, 01.08.2017, p. 323-327.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Networking Sites for Peer-Driven Health Communication
T2 - Diabetes-Related Communities in Google+
AU - Mogi, Yuhei
AU - Abedin, Tasnima
AU - Ahmed, Salim
AU - Gill, Gurleen
AU - Al Mamun, Mohammad
AU - Kanda, Hideyuki
AU - Ishikawa, Yoshihiro
AU - Turin, Tanvir C.
PY - 2017/8/1
Y1 - 2017/8/1
N2 - Objective: Google+ is one of the most actively used Social Networking Sites in the world. The aim of our study is to characterize the Google+ communities related to diabetes and identify the factors associated with the activity level of these communities. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for diabetes-related Google+ communities. We categorized the principal objective of eligible communities into six themes: (1) awareness creation, (2) providing support and sharing experience, (3) product or service promotion, (4) diet-related topics, (5) exercise-related topics, and (6) others. The themes for the posts were: (1) asking for information, (2) providing information, (3) expressing emotion, and (4) advertisement. Results: We included 145 Google+ communities and 378 posts for analysis. Majority (80.0%) of the communities were focused on “General Diabetics”, 11.8% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 6.2% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes”, and 2.1% were focused on “Gestational diabetes”. Majority of the communities (35.2%) had the principal objective “Provide support and share experience”. Regarding the user-generated posts, 29.6% posts had at least one “+” (“+” is similar to “like” in Facebook), 17.7% posts had comments, and 89.2% posts had external links. Majority of the posts (69.6%) were focused on “General diabetes”, 16.9% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 12.4% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes” and 1.15 were focused on “gestational diabetes”. The top two themes of the posts were “Providing information” (72.8%) and “Advertisement” (31.5%). Conclusion: Our study revealed that major activity of diabetes-related Google+ communities was related to providing support and information. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of the information in the communities need to be scrutinized further from clinical perspective.
AB - Objective: Google+ is one of the most actively used Social Networking Sites in the world. The aim of our study is to characterize the Google+ communities related to diabetes and identify the factors associated with the activity level of these communities. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for diabetes-related Google+ communities. We categorized the principal objective of eligible communities into six themes: (1) awareness creation, (2) providing support and sharing experience, (3) product or service promotion, (4) diet-related topics, (5) exercise-related topics, and (6) others. The themes for the posts were: (1) asking for information, (2) providing information, (3) expressing emotion, and (4) advertisement. Results: We included 145 Google+ communities and 378 posts for analysis. Majority (80.0%) of the communities were focused on “General Diabetics”, 11.8% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 6.2% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes”, and 2.1% were focused on “Gestational diabetes”. Majority of the communities (35.2%) had the principal objective “Provide support and share experience”. Regarding the user-generated posts, 29.6% posts had at least one “+” (“+” is similar to “like” in Facebook), 17.7% posts had comments, and 89.2% posts had external links. Majority of the posts (69.6%) were focused on “General diabetes”, 16.9% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 12.4% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes” and 1.15 were focused on “gestational diabetes”. The top two themes of the posts were “Providing information” (72.8%) and “Advertisement” (31.5%). Conclusion: Our study revealed that major activity of diabetes-related Google+ communities was related to providing support and information. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of the information in the communities need to be scrutinized further from clinical perspective.
KW - Diabetes
KW - Google+
KW - Health communication
KW - Social media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027071505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027071505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s13340-017-0311-5
DO - 10.1007/s13340-017-0311-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85027071505
VL - 8
SP - 323
EP - 327
JO - Diabetology International
JF - Diabetology International
SN - 2190-1678
IS - 3
ER -