Current Social Media Conversations about Genetics and Genomics in Health: A Twitter-Based Analysis

The growing availability of genomic information to the public may spur discussion about genetics and genomics on social media. Sites, including Twitter, provide a unique space for the public to access and discuss health information. The objective of this study was to better understand how social media users are sharing information about genetics and genomics in health and healthcare and what information is most commonly discussed among Twitter users.

We obtained tweets with specific genetics- and genomics-related keywords from Crimson Hexagon. We used Boolean logic to collect tweets containing chosen keywords within the timeframe of October 1, 2016, to October 1, 2017. Features of the software were used to identify salient themes in conversation, conduct an emergent content analysis, and gather key demographic information.

We obtained 347,196 tweets from our search. There was a monthly average volume of 28,432 tweets. The five categories of tweets included: genetic disorders/disease (45.3%), health (15.6%), genomics (8%), and genetic testing (7.3%). Top influencers in the conversation included news outlets and universities.

This content analysis provides insight about the types of conversation related to genomics and health. Conversations about genomics are occurring on Twitter, and they frequently emphasize rare genetic diseases and genetic disorders. These discussions tend to be driven by key influencers who primarily include news media outlets. Further understanding of the discussions related to genomics and health in social media may offer insight about topics of importance to the public.