By Arohi Gadagkar
On December 3, Brad Kerr and five SMAHRT interns, Zoe, Grainne, Quin, Lekha and Amrutha, traveled to San Francisco, California for the Promoting Research in Social Media and Health Symposium (PRISM). Below are the projects they presented at PRISM, along with some takeaways from attending the conference:
Zoe:
Research topic: Adolescents’ and young adults’ social media references to Covid-19, alcohol, and mental health
Her takeaways:
1. When considering social media and ethical implications, it is recommended that a bioethicist be a part of social media research teams to offer a different perspective.
2. Social media is a tool for intervention, social media is not the intervention. This is why social media research is nuanced.
Grainne:
Research topic: Body positivity content on TikTok in relation to Covid-19 pandemic
Her takeaways:
1. Social media research is inclusive of all ages.
2. Mixed methods studies are very important. It is important to attempt to gather information beyond what is seen online in order to get a fuller picture.
Quin:
Research topic: Systematic review of studies measuring social media use and mental health in adolescents, 2018-present
Her takeaways:
1. Social media engagement is a possible point for systematic review discussion.
2. Social media and technology are just tools that can be used successfully or unsuccessfully.
3. Snapchat can be an intervention tool.
Lekha:
Research topic: Exploring the discussion of Nexplanon (Etonogestrel birth control implant) on Twitter
Her takeaways:
1. It was interesting to learn about geocoding for tweets.
2. It was also interesting to learn how researchers gathered demographic data from the social media data (age, race, gender).
Amrutha:
Research topic: Discussions of hallucinogens on TikTok
Her takeaways:
1. There are intersections of social media and race, social media and nutrition, TikTok and body positivity, among other topics.
2. With increasing privacy concerns, data collection, and the idea of a digital footprint, there are so many questions to explore under the social media realm.