PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Social media can reveal who needs the most help

By examining language use in social media, social scientists can figure out about the living conditions in areas the posts originate from.

2024-02-08
(Press-News.org) Language use in social media can be a useful tool for social scientists, because it reflects living conditions in areas the posts originate from.

“There is a correlation between social inequalities and language patterns in social media,” says Associate Professor Lucas M. Bietti at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Psychology.

Researchers studied 30 million X/Twitter posts from the United States. They compared the language used in the tweets to the living conditions in the counties from which the tweets were posted.

“How we use language reveals something about ourselves and the conditions in which we live,” says Bietti.

He collaborated on this study with postdoctoral fellow Eric Mayor from the University of Basel. The results have now been published in the journal Heliyon.

Ethnic minorities are more prone to depression “The language patterns reveal that, on average, people from ethnic minorities show clearer signs of depression and lower adaptability,” says Associate Professor Bietti.

Lower adaptability is a term used to describe how people react to big changes, such as losing their jobs.

The researchers also found correlations between how rich or poor an area is and the proportion of ethnic minorities that show signs of depression and poor adaptability.

“The poorer an area is, and the larger the proportion of ethnic minorities, the clearer the language signs we find of depression and low adaptability in this area,” says Bietti.

In general, many ethnic minorities in the United States have lower levels of education and lower income than the majority.

Reflecting reality Bietti and Mayor have previously investigated the language used on X/Twitter in relation to the time of the week the messages are sent. That study showed that much more positive language is used in the afternoon than in the morning, which is the busiest time of day for most people.

Our emotions generally get stronger outside of office hours, and we like ourselves the most as the weekend approaches.

Seen collectively, social media posts reflect reality.

Useful tool “Analysing language patterns in social media posts is a useful method that can help us understand trends in mental health,” says Bietti.

The method enables us to compare people’s mood in a specific area at different times and over time.

“The method is particularly useful when public health data from an area are lacking or not good enough,” says Bietti.

Among other things, the method can help us estimate the impact that significant events have on mental health.

“The indicators can show us where we should implement various health campaigns and social initiatives, especially in areas where living conditions are poorer than elsewhere,” says Bietti.

Reference:
Eric Mayor, Lucas M. Bietti. Language use on Twitter reflects social structure and social disparities. Heliyon, Vol.10, Issue 2, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23528

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Clues to cancer drug’s deadly side effects could make it safer

Clues to cancer drug’s deadly side effects could make it safer
2024-02-08
For some leukemia patients, the only potential chemotherapy option is a drug that also carries a high risk of heart failure. This means that some patients who recover from their cancer will end up dying of heart disease brought on by the cure. In a new study, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago and other universities have identified mechanisms that cause the drug, ponatinib, to harm the heart. They also identified a promising treatment that could reverse this process. The paper, with senior author Sang Ging Ong, assistant professor of pharmacology and medicine at UIC, is published in Circulation Research. The study is part of a growing field called cardio-oncology ...

Surprise discovery of tiny insect-killing worm 

Surprise discovery of tiny insect-killing worm 
2024-02-08
UC Riverside scientists have discovered a tiny worm species that infects and kills insects. These worms, called nematodes, could control crop pests in warm, humid places where other beneficial nematodes are currently unable to thrive. This new species is a member of a family of nematodes called Steinernema that have long been used in agriculture to control insect parasites without pesticides. Steinernema are not harmful to humans or other mammals and were first discovered in the 1920s.  “We spray trillions of them on crops every year, and they’re ...

Are environmental toxins putting future generations at risk?

2024-02-08
In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers from McGill University, the University of Pretoria, Université Laval, Aarhus University, and the University of Copenhagen, have concluded that fathers exposed to environmental toxins, notably DDT, may produce sperm with health consequences for their children. The decade-long research project examined the impact of DDT on the sperm epigenome of South African Vhavenda and Greenlandic ...

Protecting the protector boosts plant oil content

Protecting the protector boosts plant oil content
2024-02-08
UPTON, NY—Biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new way to boost the oil content of plant leaves and seeds. As described in the journal New Phytologist, the scientists identified and successfully altered key portions of a protein that protects newly synthesized oil droplets. The genetic alterations essentially protect the oil-protector protein so more oil can accumulate. “Implementing this strategy in bioenergy or oil crop plants could ...

Physical activity is insufficient to counter cardiovascular risk associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption

2024-02-08
Québec, February 8, 2024 - Contrary to popular belief, the benefits of physical activity do not outweigh the risks of cardiovascular disease associated with drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new study led by Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier, professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Pharmacy, was a co-author.   Sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugars in the North American diet. Their consumption is associated with ...

CARB-X funds Visby Medical to develop a portable rapid diagnostic for gonorrhea including antibiotic susceptibility

2024-02-08
(BOSTON: Thursday, February 8, 2024) – Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) will award up to US$1.8 million to biotechnology company, Visby Medical, to develop a portable rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic to detect the presence of the pathogen that causes gonorrhea, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and its susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, a former frontline oral antibiotic that can no longer treat resistant NG. A rapid result on when ciprofloxacin may be effective could enable physicians to treat gonorrhea patients with confidence, while reserving ceftriaxone, the only antibiotic that remains effective against resistant NG. Visby ...

Fusion research facility JET’s final tritium experiments yield new energy record

Fusion research facility JET’s final tritium experiments yield new energy record
2024-02-08
GARCHING and OXFORD (8 February 2024) – The Joint European Torus (JET), one of the world’s largest and most powerful fusion machines, has demonstrated the ability to reliably generate fusion energy, whilst simultaneously setting a world-record in energy output. These notable accomplishments represent a significant milestone in the field of fusion science and engineering. In JET's final deuterium-tritium experiments (DTE3), high fusion power was consistently produced for 5 seconds, resulting in a ground-breaking record of 69 megajoules using a mere 0.2 milligrams of fuel. JET is a tokamak, a design which uses powerful ...

A new “metal swap” method for creating lateral heterostructures of 2D materials

A new “metal swap” method for creating lateral heterostructures of 2D materials
2024-02-08
Electronically conducting two-dimensional (2D) materials are currently hot topics of research in both physics and chemistry owing to their unique properties that have the potential to open up new avenues in science and technology. Moreover, the combination of different 2D materials, called heterostructures, expands the diversity of their electrical, photochemical, and magnetic properties. This can lead to innovative electronic devices not achievable with a single material alone. Heterostructures can be fabricated in two ways: vertically, with materials ...

Study visually captures a hard truth: Walking home at night is not the same for women

Study visually captures a hard truth: Walking home at night is not the same for women
2024-02-08
An eye-catching new study shows just how different the experience of walking home at night is for women versus men. The study, led by Brigham Young University public health professor Robbie Chaney, provides clear visual evidence of the constant environmental scanning women conduct as they walk in the dark, a safety consideration the study shows is unique to their experience. Chaney and co-authors Alyssa Baer and Ida Tovar showed pictures of campus areas at four Utah universities — Utah Valley University, ...

Ice cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past

Ice cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past
2024-02-08
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of the Last Ice Age, around eight thousand years ago. The evidence, contained within an ice core, shows that in one location the ice sheet thinned by 450 metres — that’s more than the height of the Empire State Building — in just under 200 years. This is the first evidence anywhere in Antarctica for such a fast loss of ice. Scientists are worried that today’s rising temperatures ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Social media can reveal who needs the most help
By examining language use in social media, social scientists can figure out about the living conditions in areas the posts originate from.