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. 2023 Jun 4;5(3):93-104.
doi: 10.1176/appi.prcp.20230009. eCollection 2023 Fall.

Exposure to Alcohol-Related Content on Social-Media

Kathryn Janiuk  1 , Nasim Maleki  1
Affiliations

Exposure to Alcohol-Related Content on Social-Media

Kathryn Janiuk et al. Psychiatr Res Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Objective: Exposure to alcohol-related content is unavoidable on social media. In this study level of exposure to alcohol marketing content on Twitter and Instagram for those in recovery was examined, and the effectiveness of privacy settings to mitigate exposing content was assessed.

Methods: Four fictitious accounts were created on Instagram and Twitter in a case-control design in Spring 2022. All accounts followed 19 alcohol brands, with two accounts (1 male, 1 female) following only alcohol brand accounts while the other two (1 male, 1 female) additionally followed recovery resources. Four weeks of data collection were done with default privacy and advertisement settings, followed by two additional weeks of data collection with advertisement and privacy settings for blocking alcohol content.

Results: Privacy settings did not help with blocking the alcoholic brand-related photographic content on either platform, meaning that the accounts received the same amount of alcohol-related content from the accounts they were following with and without changing the privacy settings. However, Twitter algorithms were more effective in suppressing alcohol-related content for accounts following recovery resources and alcohol brands.

Conclusions: These results suggest that risks of exposure to triggering/cueing photographic alcohol content may outweigh the benefits of social media for social connection if an individual is considering seeking recovery.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Total photographic posts at the end of data collection for Twitter and I.G. Alcohol Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands only; Recovery Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands and recovery resources accounts.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Daily alcohol‐related photographic posts from all four accounts with default privacy settings on. Note that the duration of data collection in Phase 1 was double (28 days) that of Phase 2 (14 days). Alcohol Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands only; Recovery Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands and recovery resources accounts.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Comparison of the average number of posts on (A) Instagram and (B) Twitter. Alcohol Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands only; Recovery Exposure: accounts following alcohol brands and recovery resources accounts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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