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Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bail, CA
Published in: American journal of public health
July 2016

To determine whether exchanges of emotional language between health advocacy organizations and social media users predict the spread of posts about autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).I created a Facebook application that tracked views of ASD advocacy organizations' posts between July 19, 2011, and December 18, 2012. I evaluated the association between exchanges of emotional language and viral views of posts, controlling for additional characteristics of posts, the organizations that produced them, the social media users who viewed them, and the broader social environment.Exchanges of emotional language between advocacy organizations and social media users are strongly associated with viral views of posts.Social media outreach may be more successful if organizations invite emotional dialogue instead of simply conveying information about ASDs. Yet exchanges of angry language may contribute to the viral spread of misinformation, such as the rumor that vaccines cause ASDs.

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Published In

American journal of public health

DOI

EISSN

1541-0048

ISSN

0090-0036

Publication Date

July 2016

Volume

106

Issue

7

Start / End Page

1173 / 1180

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Media
  • Public Health
  • Humans
  • Health Education
  • Emotions
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
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Bail, C. A. (2016). Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders. American Journal of Public Health, 106(7), 1173–1180. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2016.303181
Bail, Christopher A. “Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders.American Journal of Public Health 106, no. 7 (July 2016): 1173–80. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2016.303181.
Bail CA. Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders. American journal of public health. 2016 Jul;106(7):1173–80.
Bail, Christopher A. “Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders.American Journal of Public Health, vol. 106, no. 7, July 2016, pp. 1173–80. Epmc, doi:10.2105/ajph.2016.303181.
Bail CA. Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders. American journal of public health. 2016 Jul;106(7):1173–1180.

Published In

American journal of public health

DOI

EISSN

1541-0048

ISSN

0090-0036

Publication Date

July 2016

Volume

106

Issue

7

Start / End Page

1173 / 1180

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Media
  • Public Health
  • Humans
  • Health Education
  • Emotions
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences