Posted on 12/15/2014 10:56:11 AM PST by Citizen Zed
By reviewing tweets from users who publicly mentioned their diagnosis and by looking for language cues linked to certain disorders, the researchers say, they’ve been able to quickly and inexpensively collect new data on post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder.
In research presented at three scientific conferences this year, the scholars described how their techniques of mining public data have yielded fresh numbers on cases of these illnesses, allowing for analyses that were previously difficult or expensive to obtain. The scholars emphasized, however, that their findings did not disclose the names of people who publicly tweeted about their disorders.
The researchers said their goal is to share with treatment providers and public health officials some timely additional information about the prevalence of certain mental illnesses. Using computer technology to sift through tweets, they said, can help address the slow pace and high costs associated with collecting mental health data through surveys and other traditional methods.
(Excerpt) Read more at redorbit.com ...
How about those just pretending to be nuts for lolz? You never know on the internet....
yep!
since the data is public there is no Constitutional issue. The gov’t goon squads can just haul you away.
Wow, what a wonderful world we live in.
I think anyone who uses twitter is demonstrating some mental illness. ;-)
What mental illness is diagnosed for those who don’t participate in the social media insanity?
In before the “What’s a Twitter?”
Perhaps they are unknowingly studying demonic personalities and demonic possession.
How about never “tweeting”?
Never been on the site; never intend to go.
If it wasn’t so big brotherish, it’d be hilarious.
Tourette’s and Twitter: A Winning Combination!
If you look at my tweets you would quickly realize I’m an angry Conservative. Thats about it...
Stay outta the tweetas and facebookers. They could/will be used to name you mentally ill in order to restrict your liberty. And everything you say on the internet can be used against you in court... If you use either of these government profiling tools, post like you are speaking to your great grandmother.
The same with google which tracks your emails and your internet traffic and involvement for the government, in order to profile you and maybe extort you. Think Speaker Boner.
Big Brother has arrived, aggressive, loud and proud with no boundaries.
People do create internet personalities that are different from reality. That would be schizophrenia by the government.
That’s the beautiful freedom of being a FReeper.
When it comes to privacy, there’s “nothing left to lose”
Have a look in congress and the White House.
Plenty of subjects for observation there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.