Content Analysis of Tweets by People with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Implications for Rehabilitation and Social Media Goals

Abstract

In this Twitter research, 6874 tweets of six adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using content classification [1], inductive coding of content themes, socio-linguistic analysis, and computational analysis in KH Coder. The results reflected that participants used Twitter for: (i) supporting others, including people with TBI; (ii) discussing society and culture, popular issues, news, and personal interests; (iii) connecting with others; (iv) sharing their experiences of life after TBI; (v) knowledge via exchanging information; and (vii) advocacy. ‘Emotional expression’, and ‘connection’ were common threads running across themes. Attending to the expressions of people with TBI on Twitter provides important insights into their lived experiences and could inform the development of user-centered cognitive-communication and social participation goals for people with TBI.