(via How Twitter Tracks the Spread of Disease in Real Time) “Unlike basic Internet search … Twitter seems to have introduced too much noise into the process: As opposed to search requests, which are generally motivated only by a desire to learn more about a given subject, too many Twitter conversations about swine flu seem to be motivated by desires to fit in, do what one’s friends do (i.e. tweet about it) or simply gain more popularity,” explained one NPR article. In a paper about the study published in April, the research team describes its results as “promising” for assessing not just disease activity, but also ancillary issues like treatment side effects or potential medication shortages. At the same time, they’re also realistic about Twitter’s limitations for tracking disease. Not everybody uses Twitter, and there are some places where the social media tool has very few users. Twitter activity is also not constant throughout the week, and the demographic of Twitter users is not representative of the general population.

(via How Twitter Tracks the Spread of Disease in Real Time)

“Unlike basic Internet search … Twitter seems to have introduced too much noise into the process: As opposed to search requests, which are generally motivated only by a desire to learn more about a given subject, too many Twitter conversations about swine flu seem to be motivated by desires to fit in, do what one’s friends do (i.e. tweet about it) or simply gain more popularity,” explained one NPR article.

In a paper about the study published in April, the research team describes its results as “promising” for assessing not just disease activity, but also ancillary issues like treatment side effects or potential medication shortages. At the same time, they’re also realistic about Twitter’s limitations for tracking disease. Not everybody uses Twitter, and there are some places where the social media tool has very few users. Twitter activity is also not constant throughout the week, and the demographic of Twitter users is not representative of the general population.