Identifying psychosocial support needs through social listening on internet discussion forums: a case study of r/COVID19_support

Abstract

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a severe mental strain on people in general, and on young people in particular, especially during periods of lockdown and movement restrictions. Online support forums offer opportunities for peer-to-peer health and social support, which can ease pressure on professional and established volunteer services when demand is high. Such forums can also be used to monitor at-risk communities to identify concerns and causes of psychosocial stress. The aim of this study was to observe an online support forum to see if such a platform can be used for health surveillance or ‘social listening’, in this case to identify issues that are causing or exacerbating psychological stress and anxiety in university-age students.

Keywords

• Information science, Social listening, Disease outbreaks, Public health, Behaviour, Communication