What Do I Say? How Do I Say it? Twitter as a Knowledge Dissemination Tool for Mental Health Research

This study aims to generate evidence-based guidelines for researchers regarding how to effectively disseminate mental health research via Twitter. Three hundred mental health research Tweets posted from September 2018 to September 2019 were sampled from two large Australian organizations. Twenty-seven predictor variables were coded for each Tweet across five thematic categories: messaging; research area; mental health area; external networks; and media features. Regression analyses were conducted to determine associations with engagement outcomes of Favourites, Retweets, and Comments. Less than half (n = 10) of predictor variables passed validity tests. Notably, conclusions could not reliably be drawn on whether a Tweet featured evidence-based information. Tweets were significantly more likely to be Retweeted if they contained a hyperlink or multimedia. Tweets were significantly more likely to receive comments if they focused on a specific population group. These associations remain significant when controlling for organization. These findings indicate that researchers may be able to maximize engagement on Twitter by highlighting the population groups that the research applies to and enriching Tweets with multimedia content. In addition, care should be taken to ensure users can infer which messages are evidence-based. Guidelines and an accompanying resource are proposed.

Automated summary

This study aims to provide evidence-based guidelines for researchers on effectively disseminating mental health research through Twitter. The findings suggest that Tweets are more likely to be Retweeted if they contain hyperlinks or multimedia, and more likely to receive comments if they focus on specific population groups. Researchers can maximize engagement on Twitter by highlighting the relevant population groups and enriching Tweets with multimedia content.