Social Media as an Opportunity for Public Health Interventions: The #Metoo Movement as an Exemplar

Social media use has grown exponentially and is used globally, becoming a standard means of communication for many people. In the medical field, social media have been employed by professionals and researchers as an efficient way for sharing information, networking, building conversations, staying up-to-date and collaborating with peers and patients. Social media have also been used by patients mainly for social support, but also for emotional expression and social comparison, as shown in a recent systematic review. Twitter is one of the most popular free social media networks worldwide, widely used for micro-blogging. In a 280-character message (“tweet”) users can post photos and videos, mention others, add keywords using the hash symbol before a word (“hashtag”), and re-share (“retweet”) messages, thus spreading information to followers. Hashtags make it easier to find and share information related to specific topics, as they facilitate the discovery of messages, the formation of lists of interests, and the engagement of the community. Tweets are posted publicly on the users’ profiles, but the network also supports private “direct messages”. There are 100 million active users per day around the world on Twitter, making it one of the most influential social media networks for generating conversation, following the latest news updates, and receiving important communications from state actors and agencies. This is one of the reasons why Twitter has also attracted the interest of healthcare professionals and reasearchers. Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals”. Violence against women is considered a global public health problem and a violation of human rights, which seriously affects women’s health (physical, sexual, reproductive, and mental health), with a potentially large impact on morbidity and mortality. According to the WHO, “action is clearly needed”, underlining that especially the health sector has an important role to play, considering the serious health risks faced by women and their families. “Me Too” is a well-known movement against sexual harassment and assault. The phrase was first used in 2006 by the American social activist and advocate Tarana Burke, but Abstract Background: Social media have been used exponentially and globally, providing a means for billions of users to connect, interact, share opinions and criticise, becoming one of the main channels of communication for users around the world. One of the most popular free social media networks is Twitter, with more than 100 million active users per day worldwide. Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse a sample of the public conversations generated, using the hashtag #MeToo, around the topic of sexual abuse on Twitter. Methods: Using social media marketing software, the use of the #MeToo hashtag was analysed over a period of 60 days (14 September 2017 to 13 November of 2017). Results: The #MeToo conversation was mainly in English (79.3%), located in the United States (48.2% of cases), but with global repercussions. The volume of mentions of the #MeToo hashtag was far greater (97.7%), compared with other hashtags related to violence over this period of time, using mostly Twitter (96.2%). Conclusions: These results suggest that it is possible to describe different groups using the social media, and analyse their conversations to identify opportunities for successful public health interventions. If the topic is relevant for the general public, it will generate interest and conversations at the global level, supported by a universal and borderless channel such as Twitter.