Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fueling Hope: Stem Cells in Social Media

  • Published:
Stem Cell Reviews and Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social media is broadening opportunities to engage in discussions about biomedical advances such as stem cell research. However, little is known about how information pertaining to stem cells is disseminated on platforms such as Twitter. To fill this gap, we conducted a content analysis of tweets containing (i) a stem cell keyword, and (ii) a keyword related to either spinal cord injury (SCI) or Parkinson disease (PD). We found that the discussion about stem cells and SCI or PD revolves around different aspects of the research process. We also found that the tone of most tweets about stem cells is either positive or neutral. The findings contribute new knowledge about Twitter as a connecting platform for many voices and as a key tool for the dissemination of information about stem cells and disorders of the central nervous system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ehnert, S., Glanemann, M., Schmitt, A., Vogt, S., Shanny, N., Nussler, N. C., & Nussler, A. (2009). The possible use of stem cells in regenerative medicine: dream or reality? Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery / Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Chirurgie, 394(6), 985–997. doi:10.1007/s00423-009-0546-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. McMahill, B. G., Borjesson, D. L., Sieber-Blum, M., Nolta, J. A., & Sturges, B. K. (2014). Stem cells in canine spinal cord injury - promise for regenerative therapy in a large animal model of human disease. Stem Cell Reviews. doi:10.1007/s12015-014-9553-9.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, A. K. L. (2013). Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease: hype or hope? Bioscience Horizons, 6, hzt011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gage, F. H., & Temple, S. (2013). Neural stem cells: generating and regenerating the brain. Neuron, 80(3), 588–601. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.10.037.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Politis, M., & Lindvall, O. (2012). Clinical application of stem cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease. BMC Medicine, 10, 1. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-1.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Jensen, E. (2012). Mediating subpolitics in US and UK science news. Public Understanding of Science Bristol, England, 21(1), 68–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Reis, R. (2008). How Brazilian and North American newspapers frame the stem cell research debate. Science Communication, 29(3), 316–334. doi:10.1177/1075547007312394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bubela, T., Li, M. D., Hafez, M., Bieber, M., & Atkins, H. (2012). Is belief larger than fact: expectations, optimism and reality for translational stem cell research. BMC Medicine, 10, 133. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-133.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Scott, C. T., DeRouen, M. C., & Crawley, L. M. (2010). The language of hope: therapeutic intent in stem-cell clinical trials. AJOB Primary Research, 1(3), 4–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Caulfield, T., & McGuire, A. (2012). Athletes’ use of unproven stem cell therapies: adding to inappropriate media hype? Molecular Therapy: The Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, 20(9), 1656–1658. doi:10.1038/mt.2012.172.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Caulfield, T., & Rachul, C. (2011). Science spin: iPS cell research in the news. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 89(5), 644–646. doi:10.1038/clpt.2010.309.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kehn, M., & Kroll, T. (2011). Reporting trends of spinal cord injury research representation: a media content analysis. Disability and Health Journal, 4(2), 121–128. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2010.09.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Adams, A., Lomax, G., & Santarini, A. (2011). Social media & stem cell science: examining the discourse. Regenerative Medicine, 6(6s), 121–124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Robillard, J. M., Whiteley, L., Johnson, T. W., Lim, J., Wasserman, W. W., & Illes, J. (2013). Utilizing social media to study information-seeking and ethical issues in gene therapy. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(3), e44. doi:10.2196/jmir.2313.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Robillard, J. M., Johnson, T. W., Hennessey, C., Beattie, B. L., & Illes, J. (2013). Aging 2.0: health information about dementia on twitter. PLoS ONE, 8(7), e69861. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069861.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Thurman, N. (2008). Forums for citizen journalists? Adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media. New Media & Society, 10(1), 139–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Chou, W. S., Hunt, Y. M., Beckjord, E. B., Moser, R. P., & Hesse, B. W. (2009). Social media use in the United States: implications for health communication. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 11(4), e48. doi:10.2196/jmir.1249.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Adams, S. A. (2010). Revisiting the online health information reliability debate in the wake of “web 2.0”: an inter-disciplinary literature and website review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 79(6), 391–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Moorhead, S. A., Hazlett, D. E., Harrison, L., Carroll, J. K., Irwin, A., & Hoving, C. (2013). A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(4), e85. doi:10.2196/jmir.1933.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Petersen, A., & Seear, K. (2011). Technologies of hope: techniques of the online advertising of stem cell treatments. New Genetics and Society, 30(4), 329–346. doi:10.1080/14636778.2011.592003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Prasad, A. (2014). Ambivalent journeys of hope: embryonic stem cell therapy in a clinic in India. Health. doi:10.1177/1363459314556906.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Thackeray, R., Crookston, B. T., & West, J. H. (2013). Correlates of health-related social media use among adults. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(1), e21. doi:10.2196/jmir.2297.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hill, S., Merchant, R., & Ungar, L. (2013). Lessons learned about public health from online crowd surveillance. Big Data, 1(3), 160–167. doi:10.1089/big.2013.0020.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Laranjo, L., Arguel, A., Neves, A. L., Gallagher, A. M., Kaplan, R., Mortimer, N., & Lau, A. Y. S. (2014). The influence of social networking sites on health behavior change: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA. doi:10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002841.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Illes, J., Reimer, J. C., & Kwon, B. K. (2011). Stem cell clinical trials for spinal cord injury: readiness, reluctance, redefinition. Stem Cell Reviews, 7(4), 997–1005. doi:10.1007/s12015-011-9259-1.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Chew, C., & Eysenbach, G. (2010). Pandemics in the age of twitter: content analysis of tweets during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak. PLoS ONE, 5(11), e14118. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014118.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Scanfeld, D., Scanfeld, V., & Larson, E. L. (2010). Dissemination of health information through social networks: twitter and antibiotics. American Journal of Infection Control, 38(3), 182–188. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2009.11.004.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee, J. L., DeCamp, M., Dredze, M., Chisolm, M. S., & Berger, Z. D. (2014). What are health-related users tweeting? a qualitative content analysis of health-related users and their messages on twitter. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(10), e237. doi:10.2196/jmir.3765.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Bosslet, G. T., Torke, A. M., Hickman, S. E., Terry, C. L., & Helft, P. R. (2011). The patient-doctor relationship and online social networks: results of a national survey. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(10), 1168–1174. doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1761-2.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F., Mayer, M. A., & Torrent, J. (2009). Opportunities and challenges of Web 2.0 within the health care systems: an empirical exploration. Informatics for Health & Social Care, 34(3), 117–126. doi:10.1080/17538150903102265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. McGowan, B. S., Wasko, M., Vartabedian, B. S., Miller, R. S., Freiherr, D. D., & Abdolrasulnia, M. (2012). Understanding the factors that influence the adoption and meaningful use of social media by physicians to share medical information. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(5), e117. doi:10.2196/jmir.2138.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Keller, B., Labrique, A., Jain, K. M., Pekosz, A., & Levine, O. (2014). Mind the gap: social media engagement by public health researchers. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(1), e8. doi:10.2196/jmir.2982.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Russell, B., Canty, N., & Watkinson, A. (2011). Social media use in the research workflow. Learned Publishing, 24(3), 183–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Hodges, R. J., Bardien, N., & Wallace, E. (2012). Acceptability of stem cell therapy by pregnant women. Birth (Berkeley, California), 39(2), 91–97. doi:10.1111/j.1523-536X.2012.00527.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Purcell-Davis, A. (2013). The representations of novel neurotechnologies in social media: five case studies. The New Bioethics: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Biotechnology and the Body, 19(1), 30–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Duggan, M., Ellison, N. B., Lampe, C., Am, Lenhart, A, & Madden, M. (n.d.). Demographics of Key Social Networking Platforms. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms-2/

Download references

Funding Sources

The research was supported by a public policy impact grant from the Stem Cell Network, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence, and by the Canada Research Chairs Program (JI, Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Core for Neuroethics, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada

    Julie M. Robillard, Emanuel Cabral & Judy Illes

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC, V5G 3H2, Canada

    Craig Hennessey

  3. Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada

    Brian K. Kwon

Authors
  1. Julie M. Robillard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emanuel Cabral
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Craig Hennessey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Brian K. Kwon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Judy Illes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julie M. Robillard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Robillard, J.M., Cabral, E., Hennessey, C. et al. Fueling Hope: Stem Cells in Social Media. Stem Cell Rev and Rep 11, 540–546 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-015-9591-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-015-9591-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation