Fears, Reassurance, and Milestones: A Twitter Analysis around World Prematurity Day during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Preterm birth (birth <37 completed weeks’ gestation) is common, affecting 10.6% of live births globally (nearly 15 million babies per year). Having a new baby admitted to a neonatal unit often triggers stress and anxiety for parents. This paper seeks to explore experiences of preterm birth via Twitter. The intermingling of COVID-19 restrictions and World Prematurity Day allows for an understanding of both the additional stresses incurred as a consequence of the pandemic and the more “everyday” experiences in the NICU and beyond. The content analysis of the data included 3161 tweets. Three themes were identified: 1. COVID-19 was not the only trauma; 2. Raising awareness, especially World Prematurity Day; and, 3. Baby milestones. These themes highlight the multi-level challenges faced by parents of premature babies and the healthcare professionals involved in their care. The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions imposed on parents’ contact with their babies have resulted in immense emotional strain for families. The reported COVID-19 pandemic “baby blind spot” appears to particularly impact this group of babies. Improved understanding of the lived experiences of preterm babies and their families should inform greater awareness and improved support.

A qualitative twitter analysis of the patient experience with invisible orthodontics; lingual braces versus invisalign

Objectives: The aim of this qualitative study was to examine orthodontic patients’ thoughts and experiences about the invisible orthodontic treatment options – lingual braces and Invisalign – through the analysis of Twitter posts’ content. Materials and Methods: A software program was written for the data collection. The program consecutively collected the tweets posted over an 8-month period from Twitter’s publicly accessible database. Tweets that were written in the English language and contained any of the four keywords “Invisalign,” “lingualorthodontics,” “lingualbraces,” and “invisiblebraces” were collected. The tweets that included irrelevant or incoherent posts, professional advertisements, unclear/not applicable content, and reposts were excluded from the study. Two authors, with different experiences, independently read, and analyzed the tweets. Each applicable tweet was classified into one of the three categories: Positive, negative, and neutral for two study groups (Invisalign and lingual braces). Pearson Chi-square test was used to analyze the negative and positive tweet rates of the groups. Results: 1176 of 2407 tweets were selected as applicable and analyzed by the authors. There was a statistically significant very good agreement between the two observers (Kappa = 0.933, P < 0.001). The negative comment rate (39%) and neutral comment rate (31.1%) in the lingual group were statistically higher than the Invisalign group (27.2% and 21.7%, respectively; P < 0.001). The positive comment rate in the Invisalign group was significantly higher (51.1%) compared to the lingual group (29.9%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Orthodontic patients use social media to share their experiences and feelings about their treatment process. The applicable Tweet number and the positive Tweet rate in the Invisalign group were higher than the lingual braces group.

Gauging Opinions About the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC

Today, the advent of social media has provided a platform for expressing opinions regarding legislation and public schemes. One such burning legislation introduced in India is the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and its impact on the National Citizenship Register (NRC) and, subsequently, on the National Population Register (NPR). This study examines and determines the opinions expressed on social media regarding the act through a Twitter analysis approach that extracts nearly 18,000 tweets during 10 days of introducing the scheme. The analysis revealed that the opinion was neutral but tended to a more negative reaction. Consequently, recommendations on improving public perception about the scheme by suitable for interpreting the Act to the public are provided in the paper.

Equity crowdfunding platforms and social media: a Twitter analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the central users (hubs) in the dissemination of equity crowdfunding (EC) news on social media, with particular regard to Twitter. Specifically, the study explores some aspects related to the diffusion of news through social networks concerning EC.Design/methodology/approachThrough a social network analysis (SNA) technique the authors define an understanding of the users' network that is created on Twitter when it comes to crowdfunding. Using Twitter data, the authors identify the central actors on the social network that produce and/or disseminate information about crowdfunding tools.FindingsThe results indicate that a large number of users tweeted about EC in relation to the introduction of the most important Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) Regulation n. 20264 of 17/01/2018 on an equity model at the beginning of 2018; the growth in the use of this instrument in the first quarter of 2019 and the publication of Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) Regulation n. 21110 of 10/10/2019. Moreover, the authors find that in the case of tweets concerning EC, the operators of the sector, with particular regard to crowdfunding platforms, are central to the network, followed by traditional and specialised media.Originality/valueThe results shed new light on a still unexplored research field concerning the diffusion of news about EC from a platform's perspective. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first explorative study that jointly investigates an EC model and social media in the Italian market, considering the impacts of two different and important regulations. In particular, this study contributes to the literature on EC by clarifying some new aspects related to the diffusion of news through Twitter.