#Covid4Rheum: an analytical twitter study in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Rheumatology International (2020) 40:2031–2037 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-020-04710-5
INTERNATIONAL
OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH
#Covid4Rheum: an analytical twitter study in the time of the COVID‑19 pandemic Nikolas Ruffer1 · Johannes Knitza2 · Martin Krusche3 Received: 28 August 2020 / Accepted: 18 September 2020 / Published online: 29 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Social media services, such as Twitter, offer great potential for a better understanding of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs) and improved care in the field of rheumatology. This study examined the content and stakeholders associated with the Twitter hashtag #Covid4Rheum during the COVID-19 pandemic. The content analysis shows that Twitter connects stakeholders of the rheumatology community on a global level, reaching millions of users. Specifically, the use of hashtags on Twitter assists digital crowdsourcing projects and scientific collaboration, as exemplified by the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry. Moreover, Twitter facilitates the distribution of scientific content, such as guidelines or publications. Finally, digital data mining enables the identification of hot topics within the field of rheumatology. Keywords Twitter · SARS-CoV-2 · COVID-19 · Rheumatology · Hashtag
Introduction The use and influence of social media in rheumatology have increased rapidly in recent years [1]. Via the use of hashtags (#), specific topics, individual persons or institutions, as well as projects and ideas, can be identified and linked to each other and therefore foster rapid digital exchange.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-020-04710-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Martin Krusche [email protected] Nikolas Ruffer [email protected] Johannes Knitza johannes.knitza@uk‑erlangen.de 1
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Klinikum Bad Bramstedt, Bad Bramstedt, Germany
2
Department of Internal Medicine 3‑Rheumatology and Immunology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
3
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Social media is frequently used in the scientific rheumatology community to exchange and discuss information and opinions [2], and to promote meetings [3], projects or publications [3, 4]. Social media channels can, furthermore, be useful for expanding education and research perspectives [5]. However, social media can be abused to broadcast misinformation, unethical promotion of content, and can enable unprofessional behavior. Therefore, the role of social media editing is becoming increasingly important. This includes not only filtering and promoting credible and expert-proven information, but also the activity of ethical guidance [6]. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Twitter played a prominent role in moderating
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