Public Sense of Water Fluoridation as Reflected on Twitter 2009-2017

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Media Analysis
• Informetrics

Background:

• Water fluoridation is a significant public health measure, despite ongoing controversy.
• Public opinion and discourse surrounding health interventions are increasingly shaped by social media platforms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze public sentiment regarding water fluoridation as expressed on Twitter between 2009 and 2017.
• To identify key themes and linguistic patterns in tweets discussing water fluoridation.

Main Methods:

• Collected and analyzed 218,748 tweets related to water fluoridation using informetric and linguistic analyses.
• Conducted sentiment, frequency, network, and issue-specific tweet analyses.
• Examined word usage and core terms to understand user focus.

Main Results:

• Negative sentiment words like "poison" and "waste" were prevalent.
• Tweets focused more on information sources and safety concerns than on efficacy.
• Negative opinions constituted at least 59.2% of mentions, while positive mentions were below 15%.

Conclusions:

• Twitter users exhibit heightened sensitivity to negative aspects of water fluoridation.
• Current online information may not adequately address public concerns about safety and reliable sources.
• There is a need to re-evaluate and enhance the accessibility of credible information on water fluoridation.