title: The perception of nanotechnology and nanomedicine: a worldwide social media study.
abstract: We explore at a world level the awareness of nanotechnology expressed through the most popular online social media: Facebook. We aimed at identifying future trends, the most interested countries and the public perception of ethics, funding and economic issues. We found that graphene and carbon nanotubes are the most followed nanomaterials. Our poll showed that the continents with the most interest are Asia and Africa. A total of 43% would like to have a world commission regulating nanomedicine. In addition, 43% would give priority to theranostics. Over 90% believe that nanomedicine has an economic impact. Finally, we observed that the continents of living and origin of poll contributors correlated with ethic and funding opinions. This study highlights the potential of online social media to influence scientific communities, grant committees and nanotechnology companies, spreading nanotechnology awareness in emerging countries and among new generations.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Scienze della Comunicazione & Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sechi
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bedognetti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sgarrella
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Eperen
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Marincola
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.forename: Lucia Gemma
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Delogu
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D057225:Data Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D038622:Internationality; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011639:Public Opinion; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Facebook; carbon nanotubes; graphene; nanomedicine; nanotechnology; public opinions; social network