Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jun 26;14(3):e66.
doi: 10.2196/jmir.1854.

Superusers in social networks for smoking cessation: analysis of demographic characteristics and posting behavior from the Canadian Cancer Society's smokers' helpline online and StopSmokingCenter.net

Trevor van Mierlo  1 , Sabrina Voci, Sharon Lee, Rachel Fournier, Peter Selby
Affiliations

Superusers in social networks for smoking cessation: analysis of demographic characteristics and posting behavior from the Canadian Cancer Society's smokers' helpline online and StopSmokingCenter.net

Trevor van Mierlo et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Online social networks are popular components of behavior-change websites. Research has identified the participation of certain network members who assume leadership roles by providing support, advice, and direction to other members. In the literature, these individuals have been variously defined as key players, posters, active users, or caretakers. Despite their identification, very little research has been conducted on the contributions or demographic characteristics of this population. For this study, we collectively categorized key players, posters, active users, and caretakers as superusers.

Objectives: To analyze data from two large but distinct Web-assisted tobacco interventions (WATI) to help gain insight into superuser demographic characteristics and how they use social networks.

Methods: We extracted cross-sectional data sets containing posting behaviors and demographic characteristics from a free, publicly funded program (the Canadian Cancer Society's Smokers' Helpline Online: SHO), and a free, privately run program (StopSmokingCenter.net: SSC).

Results: Within the reporting period (SHO: June 26, 2008 to October 12, 2010; SSC: May 17, 2007 to October 12, 2010), 21,128 individuals registered for the SHO and 11,418 registered for the SSC. Within the same period, 1670 (7.90%) registrants made at least one post in the SHO social network, and 1627 (14.25%) registrants made at least one post in the SSC social network. SHO and SSC superusers accounted for 0.4% (n = 95) and 1.1% (n = 124) of all registrants, and 5.7% (95/1670) and 7.62% (124/1627) of all social network participants, and contributed to 34.78% (29,422/84,599) and 46.22% (61,820/133,753) of social network content, respectively. Despite vast differences in promotion and group management rules, and contrary to the beliefs of group moderators, there were no statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between the two superuser groups.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that compared demographic characteristics and posting behavior from two separate eHealth social networks. Despite vast differences in promotional efforts and management styles, both WATI attracted superusers with similar characteristics. As superusers drive network traffic, organizations promoting or supporting WATI should dedicate resources to encourage superuser participation. Further research regarding member dynamics and optimization of social networks for health care purposes is required.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Trevor van Mierlo is the CEO of Evolution Health Systems Inc. and the owner of StopSmokingCenter.net and other eHealth software platforms. Peter Selby received funds from Schering Canada to provide buprenorphine training, and received honoraria for consultant work, grant funding, advisory board, and/or lectureships from Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Care Canada; Pfizer Inc, Canada; Sanofi-Synthelabo, Canada; GSK, Canada; Genpharm and Prempharm, Canada; CTI; Evolution Health Systems Inc., Canada; Health Canada; Smoke-Free Ontario; and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Funding was in compliance with the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Psychiatric Association guidelines and recommendations for interaction with the pharmaceutical industry. Sharon Lee is employed by the Canadian Cancer Society. Rachel Fournier is employed by Evolution Health Systems Inc. Sabrina Voci has no interests to declare. None of the authors received any tobacco industry funds.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SmokersHelpline.ca version 6.0 home page.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SmokersHelpline.ca version 6.0 support group home page.
Figure 3
Figure 3
StopSmokingCenter.net version 7.1 home page.
Figure 4
Figure 4
StopSmokingCenter.net version 7.1 support group home page.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Posting trends in smokershelpline.ca.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Posting trends in StopSmokingCenter.net.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital signs: current cigarette smoking among adults aged ≥ 18 years --- United States, 2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2010 Sep 10;59(35):1135–40. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5935a3.htmmm5935a3 - PubMed
    1. Health Canada. 2010. Sep 27, [2011-05-25]. Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) 2009. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/tobac-tabac/research-recherche/stat/ctums-e....
    1. World Health Organization. 1999. [2011-09-27]. The World Health Report 1999: Making a Difference http://www.who.int/whr/1999/en/whr99_en.pdf.
    1. Fiore MD, Jaen CR, Baker TB, Baily WC, Benowitz NL, Currey SJ, Dorfman SF, Froelicher ES, Goldstein MG, Healton CG, Henderson PN, Heyman RB, Koh HK, Kottke TE, Lando HA, Mecklenburg RE, Mermelstein RJ, Mullen PD, Orleans CT, Robinson L, Stitzer ML, Tommasello AC, Villejo L, Wewers ME. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services. 2008. May, [2011-05-25]. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/treating_tobacco_use08.pdf.
    1. Lemmens V, Oenema A, Knut IK, Brug J. Effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions among adults: a systematic review of reviews. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2008 Nov;17(6):535–44. - PubMed

Publication types