title: Tweet for health: using an online social network to examine temporal trends in weight loss-related posts.
abstract: Few studies have used social networking sites to track temporal trends in health-related posts, particularly around weight loss. To examine the temporal relationship of Twitter messages about weight loss over 1 year (2012). Temporal trends in #weightloss mentions and #fitness, #diet, and #health tweets which also had the word "weight" in them were examined using three a priori time periods: (1) holidays: pre-winter holidays, holidays, and post-holidays; (2) Season: winter and summer; and (3) New Year's: pre-New Year's and post-New Year's. Regarding #weightloss, there were 145 (95 % CI 79, 211) more posts/day during holidays and 143 (95 % CI 76, 209) more posts/day after holidays as compared to 480 pre-holiday posts/day; 232 (95 % CI 178, 286) more posts/day during the winter versus summer (441 posts/day); there was no difference in posts around New Year's. Examining social networks for trends in health-related posts may aid in timing interventions when individuals are more likely to be discussing weight loss.
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene St, Room 529, Columbia, SC 29208 USA.
authors.forename: Gabrielle M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Turner-McGrievy
authors.affiliation: Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly St., Room 131, Columbia, SC 29208 USA.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beets
keywords: Exercise; Informatics; Social networks; Social support; Weight loss