Twitter Sentiment Toward Autism During Autism Awareness Month
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased over the past few years and several supporters of autism have launched campaigns over social media to bring attention to their cause. Twitter has been a popular and effective social media platform for getting health-related messages across the globe. In this study we look at data collected from Twitter to evaluate the messages people communicate during Autism Awareness campaigns (2015 Autism Awareness Month). We apply several descriptive analytical techniques to decipher people’s conversations during autism campaigns and analyze sentiment (opinions) related to their messages. We conclude our study with a discussion about our findings, what areas of work is still needed, and what some of the practical implications can be for public health workers with similar needs.
