Digital Aids for Social Media in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury: Longitudinal Evaluation Study

Digital social media aids are features that enhance accessibility to social media for users with disabilities. One group of adults with disabilities who have reported barriers to social media access is adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Results of previous studies showed that adults with TBI want to engage in social media but encounter significant barriers to doing so, due in large part to TBI-related cognitive and communication challenges. We previously collaborated with adults with TBI to develop 5 aids to increase social media access. Aids were implemented as Chrome extensions that modified user interface functions and visuals on Facebook. The present study was the next step: testing the use of the 5 aids by a novel group of adults with TBI longitudinally and in naturalistic settings.

This study aimed to determine (1) how participants perceived each aid (ie, in terms of satisfaction, usability, likes, and dislikes), (2) how aids influenced participants' well-being, and (3) which aid features participants rated as most and least useful.

We recruited 39 adult Facebook users with TBI to take part in an approximately 1-month-long within-subject evaluation study of Facebook browser aids. Each aid was used for 3 days, followed by an evaluation and a subsequent 2-day no-aid use period. Participants evaluated each of the 5 unique browser aids in a randomized order.

Users reported the aids to be beneficial, especially aids that reduced visual clutter and information overload. Users also reported increased life satisfaction after using the aids (P=.02).

These results provide proof of concept for the types of digital aids that could improve access to social media for users with TBI. We advocate including aids like these across all social media platforms so users with TBI can access the benefits of engagement in social media with fewer barriers.