Tweets and quacks: network and content analyses of providers of non-science-based anti-cancer treatments and their supporters on Twitter

Abstract

Despite the consensus in the medical discipline that certain treatments lack scientific evidence and are worthless if not potentially dangerous, the promotion and selling of fake cures advertised as safe and effective has long plagued healthcare systems, praying on vulnerable patients and their loved ones. The Web and social media are now playing a fundamental role in the propagation of non-science-based treatments and fraudulent medical claims, and in the rise of false health and lifestyle experts. This study combines criminological and computer science expertise to explore and critically analyse the Twitter presence of providers of non-science-based anti-cancer treatments and their active supporters in the English-speaking online community to investigate their structural relationships and to analyse the characteristics of the most popular actors. The features of the social network observed indicate that there is not a stable community of promoters and supporters of non-science-based medical treatments in the Twittersphere, suggesting the lack of a defined subculture and the presence of transient collectives rather than identifiable groups. Nonetheless, it is possible to observe dynamic conversational networks clustering around popular actors, tweets and themes, prompting avenues for further research.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Anita Lavorgna: orcid.org/0000-0001-8484-1613

ORCID for Leslie Carr: orcid.org/0000-0002-2113-9680

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