Mapping the Conversation: A Network Analysis of World Continence Week on Twitter/X

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Social Media Analytics

Background:

• Female urinary incontinence impacts over 60% of women globally, yet social stigma hinders open discussion.
• World Continence Week (WCW) is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and promoting continence care.
• Social media platforms offer a powerful channel to disseminate information and foster public engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of official World Continence Week (WCW) hashtags and campaigns on public engagement on Twitter/X.
• To analyze user interactions, geographic distribution, hashtag usage, and key influencers during WCW 2024.
• To assess the effectiveness of digital campaigns in increasing awareness of incontinence.

Main Methods:

• Utilized NodeXL Pro for social network analysis of Twitter/X posts from June 10-30, 2024.
• Collected posts using official WCW hashtags (#CommitmentToCollaborationIncontinenceCare, #WCW2024, #ContinenceMatters, #SupportIncontinence) and relevant keywords (#incontinence, #femaleincontinence, #UrinaryIncontinence).
• Applied Clauset-Newman-Moore clustering and betweenness centrality algorithms to identify network structures and influential users.

Main Results:

• Analyzed 20,000 posts with over 861,591 interactions, involving 317 users.
• Identified medical organizations, healthcare professionals, and patient groups as key participants in the online conversation.
• Official WCW accounts demonstrated significant influence, with news outlets amplifying campaign reach and reputable institutions sharing content.

Conclusions:

• The WCW 2024 social media strategy effectively enhanced public awareness regarding incontinence.
• Coordinated digital campaigns are crucial for destigmatizing sensitive women's health issues.
• Social media engagement analysis provides valuable insights into the impact of public health initiatives.