Archived articles

Mark dredze

Hydroxychloroquine tablets on white background

Misinformation

Study confirms rise in demand for unproven, unsafe COVID-19 treatments

Published April 30, 2020

Comments by President Trump, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk correlate to massive increase in searches for chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine

Illustration of tweets around the globe

COVID-19

Twitter data gives social distancing insights

Published April 9, 2020

Researchers are using Twitter's publicly available location data to determine how well the residents of each state are adhering to social distancing guidelines

Illustration of people using social media and smart phones

Q+A

Social media and COVID-19

Published March 27, 2020

Mark Dredze discusses how social media can help support messaging from public health organizations and combat the spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Multiple news tweets referencing Demi Lovato overdose

Substance abuse

Missed opportunities in overdose coverage

Published Jan 14, 2019

Only 216 of the 42,500 news reports about Demi Lovato's alleged overdose included mention of national addiction hotline, 1-800-662-HELP

Vaccine vials and a syringe

Misinformation operation

Study: Russian trolls fueled vaccine debate

Published Aug 24, 2018

Findings suggest much of the Twitter discussion about vaccines may be linked to 'malicious actors' with 'hidden agendas'

A young man wears headphones and stands in front of a line of lockers, one of which is decorated with messages and cards in a memorial

Suicide prevention

Why '13 Reasons Why' alarms experts

Published Aug 10, 2017

Release of Netflix show in March prompted spike in suicide-related web searches, fears of suicide contagion

Zika virus

Misinformation, amplified

Published May 24, 2016

Social media conspiracy theories could undermine efforts to combat Zika virus, experts caution

HIV/AIDS

The 'Charlie Sheen Effect'

Published Feb 22, 2016

Study author: Actor's announcement 'potentially the most significant domestic HIV prevention event ever'

Twitter analysis could yield insight into vaccine refusal

Published Feb 24, 2015

Computer scientist Mark Dredze part of team exploring why people refuse vaccines, how these reasons vary among communities

Mental health

You are what you tweet

Published Dec 9, 2014

Analysis of Twitter posts could provide fresh insight into mental illness trends