Exploring Public Engagement Trends of Health Information on AIDS in Social Media Platforms: A Case Study of Twitter

Abstract

This study conducts a robust examination of AIDS-related health communication on Twitter, encompassing content classification, public engagement analysis, sentiment analysis, and an evaluation of public understanding and perceptions. A corpus of 154 tweets was dissected to reveal four key categories of communication: prevention advice, research updates, personal experiences, and miscellaneous communications. Prevention advice, presented mostly in a factual tone, dominated the content, emphasizing social media's role in disease prevention. Personal experiences, laden with emotional tones, achieved the highest public engagement, affirming the significance of relatability and emotional resonance in health communication. Sentiment analysis delineated positive, negative, and neutral sentiments, signalling varied public responses. Positive sentiments, particularly towards prevention advice and information from healthcare organizations, denoted approval and engagement. Negative sentiments mostly critiqued societal stigma and administrative challenges. Neutral sentiments reflected an informational stance towards trial updates, epidemiological data, and official reports. The evaluation of public understanding and perceptions confirmed that Twitter's perceived credibility varies with the source, indicating a higher prevalent perception in healthcare organizations and government bodies. However, we also detected significant engagement with emotionally resonant and relatable narratives from less traditionally 'credible' sources. The study concludes with recommendations for optimizing AIDS-related health communication, emphasizing the need for sharing personal experiences, adopting emotional and advisory tones, enhancing institutional communication appeal, tackling negative sentiments and misinformation, and encouraging anti-stigma campaigns. In so doing, this research underscores Twitter's potential as a powerful tool for effective AIDS-related health communication, providing valuable insights for health communicators, social media platforms, and policy-makers.