Parenting online: analyzing information provided by parenting-focused Twitter accounts

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the content of parenting information shared on social media by identifying the range and frequency of topics shared by parenting-focused accounts on Twitter. Using the Twitter API, a universe of 675,069 tweets were gathered from 74 of the most-followed parenting-focused accounts, or “hubs,” from January 2016 to June 2018. Using a custom, semi-automated topic modeling approach, we identified the topics – and subtopics within topics – parenting hubs shared with their followers and investigated whether any meaningful differences in topical focus existed between accounts targeting mothers versus fathers. Results indicate that over one third of tweets were about Parenting Behavior and nearly one quarter about Health, with Entertainment, School and Motherhood and Fatherhood generally as less tweeted topics. Mother-focused accounts tweeted more about Health than father-focused accounts, which tweeted more than others about Entertainment. Implications for future parenting and social media research are discussed.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants to the authors from the National Science Foundation (#1934925 and #1934494) and seed grants from the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) at the University of Michigan and the Massive Data Institute (MDI) at Georgetown University. We also thank the entire S³MC collaborative for their feedback on this project throughout its development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NSF [#1934925 and #1934494].