Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2017
Early Online Version
8-22-2017
JOURNAL
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
VOLUME NUMBER
38
ISSUE NUMBER
11
PAGE NUMBERS
1271-1276
ISSN
1559-6834
Embargo Period
9-4-2018
ANZSRC / FoR Code
100599 Communications Technologies not elsewhere classified| 111002 Clinical Nursing: Primary (Preventative)| 111711 Health Information Systems (incl. Surveillance)| 111716 Preventive Medicine
Avondale Research Centre
Lifestyle Research Centre
Reportable Items (HERDC/ERA)
C1
Abstract
Objective: To examine tweeting activity, networks, and common topics mentioned on Twitter at four international infection control and infectious disease conferences.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Methods: An independent company was commissioned to undertake a Twitter ‘trawl’ each month between July 1, 2016, and November 31, 2016. The trawl identified any tweets that contained the official hashtags of the conferences for (1) the UK Infection Prevention Society, (2) IDWeek 2016, (3) the Federation of Infectious Society/Hospital Infection Society, and (4) the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control. Topics from each tweet were identified, and an examination of the frequency and timing of tweets was performed. A social network analysis was performed to illustrate connections between users. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was developed to explore the predictors of ‘retweets.’
Results: In total, 23,718 tweets were identified as using 1 of the 2 hashtags of interest. The results demonstrated that the most tweets were posted during the conferences. Network analysis demonstrated a diversity of twitter networks. A link to a web address was a significant predictor of whether a tweet would be retweeted (odds ratio [OR], 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9–2.1). Other significant factors predicting a retweet included tweeting on topics such as Clostridium difficile (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.7–2.4) and the media (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.6–2.0). Tweets that contained a picture were significantly less likely to be retweeted (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.05–0.08).
Conclusion: Twitter is a useful tool for information sharing and networking at infection control conferences.
Link to publisher version (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2017.170
Peer Review
Before publication
Recommended Citation
Mitchell, B. G., Russo, P. L., Otter, J. A., Kiernan, M. A., & Aveling, L. (2017). What makes a tweet fly? Analysis of twitter messaging at four infection control conferences. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 38(11), 1271-1276. doi:10.1017/ice.2017.170
Associated Research Project
https://research.avondale.edu.au/research_documentation/58/
Comments
Used by permission: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
The article available for download is the pre-publication version. The final published version may be accessed from the publisher here.
© 2017 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). All rights reserved.
At the time of writing Philip Russo was affiliated with Deakin University and Griffith University.