Twitter Stories

I read the Public Health Researchers twitter story the future of public health. Michael Paul and Mark Dredze wanted to know what information you could obtain from twitter about public health. In order for them to do this they had to figure out a way to search for illnesses. One example from the video was that they could not just search fever, as there were many people who had Bieber Fever. With the results they wanted to see if they could predict how illnesses would spread. Their hopes where to further the research on twitter and tracking illnesses and predicting the spread of it.

The theory behind this is that most people do not go to the doctor when they have a cold or even the flu which you can read more about in the Wall Street Journal article Health Care Is Next Frontier for Big Data. So with searching on twitter you can locate all the people who are sick and may not be in the CDC’s data, it can also add to the map of where the illness is located and could give surrounding communities a heads up about the potential for the disease-spreading.

Michael and Mark created a program to scan through the Tweets and to locate those that has illnesses in them. If you visits Michael’s website you can view the different research projects that he has been a part of. On his twitter page he lists his interests as data, language, social media and healthcare. From what I have read and understand is that he wanting to find a way to map out how illnesses spread and how to track it efficiently.

I tweeted two questions to @twitterstories @mjp39 in regard to the article. As of right now I have not got any responses. As I was searching the internet for some images I came across one that I think really shows how far Social Media has taken us, and our government. Below are tweets from the Marketplace, with links to learn more about health benefits.

I am apart of the Northland College weather club, and we could use twitter to relay the message of global warming and the impacts that it is having on us now. It could also be used to educate the community on ways that they could help the environment. People are on social media all the time. They would share the story with their friends who would then share it with their friends. It is a fast efficient way of getting the information out there and having it reach people outside of your own network.

The problem we would be addressing is letting people know that Global warming is a real thing. That the impacts of it are happening now and could lead to greater issues down the road. An article that I read and presented in my Oceanography class Climate Change Could Trigger Collapse of Major Ocean Current outlines the outcome of the ocean current, which is a major driver for the climates around the globe. Below is a picture of a future scenario if the AMOC would collapse.

 

 

The types of tweets I would create would be:

Global warming is real, ocean current in danger of collapse! @NOAAClimate

If we all do our part, we can help save Earth! @NOAA

 

10 Questions for Social Media for Social Change

1. What is Social Change?  Social change is the changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organizations, or value systems. To read more into the meaning of social change visit Encyclopedia Britannica.

2. How has social change affected social media? The rules of behavior has change in such a way that now we communicate with one another. Social media has been a big part of that. Instead of picking up the phone to call people we can now message them thru Facebook or video call them no matter where we are. With the communication changing to messaging it has allowed for the social media creators to improve that communication. We also now follow people on Twitter to get instant updates on their lives without actually talking to them.

3. What are the positives of being more connected with people throughout the world using social media? The biggest thing associated with being connected with people around the world is you find out instantly about natural disasters or domestic terrorist acts. You hear from the people that were there the videos you see when the event took place are pure and unedited. To view more on this read 6 Ways Social Media Change The World.

4. How has social media changed the discussion of social issues? Social media opens up the way that people are able to interact with one another about social issues. When there is a post made on social media, everyone can see those posts and then they can voice their opinions on them in the comment sections. Sometimes it leads to great discussion other times it leads to people just fighting over what they believe in. Since these things are not said face to face the comments end up being very hostile.

5. How had social media impacted social change? It has opened up the door for people to communicate with people that before would have been unable to. It also makes out lives more public and lead to people relating to others without actually knowing them in person, just from following them. To see some personal stories read How has Social Media Changed us.

6. What are the potential problems for the government in regards to social media?  Social media can be a great asset to the government, but it also opens up the potential for threats against those in the government who are there to protect us. Anyone can make a social media page, you can be whoever you want to be. So problems could arise that way if someone is impersonating an official of the government. It can also lead to the friends and family of those who have high ranking or who may not be very popular with the public in danger. Read more in the article from the FBI.

7. How would Twitter be a better source of the news than FOX or CNN? With twitter the new would not be politically swayed where as on the news sources they are. It would also give you the step by step of how a story is unfolding. It will also open up the amount of information you are introduce to. Some topics may not be picked up by the big news companies as where some Joe from some small town may have a very interesting story unfolding and he is updating his followers on Twitter second by second. You would get information as the source updated it.

8. How does social status influence how we see social change? The higher you are in the social status the more followers you have and the more influence you have with the information you relay and the amount of information that gets around. It would also open up the amount of information that the high status person would receive and relay. See more on Social Status.

9. How has social media brought more youth into the discussion of social issues and social change? As we know the youth are very tech savvy. The grew up in the age of technology and social media. They are able to join in on the big conversations even though they may not have the full knowledge of the situation. It is giving the youth an opportunity to engage in adult information that before would not be available to the youth. It is allowing the youth to interact with others outside of their community that before social media was very rare to do unless you had a pen-pal in school. It is exposing the youth to issues that they should not have to be a part of or that could cause problems in their life. For more on the impact of social media on the youth see The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.

10. How has social media influence college campus life? Social media has allowed college students to communicate and to be up to date on campus events. It has also opened up the doors for college students to come together in a time of need. See more on Social media and You College Experience.