Intoxicated on Twitter : the role of social media in the marketing of alcohol

Excessive consumption of alcohol constitutes a global health problem. Despite efforts to promote safe drinking, spending on pro-alcohol communications far exceeds spending on safe drinking messages. Social media" like Twitter" represent a new method of organisational communication, but the role of Twitter in the promotion of alcohol, or in the promotion of safe drinking messages, have not been examined. This study compared six Twitter accounts maintained by health advocates with six maintained by alcohol companies. The results show that Twitter is heavily used for interactive pro-alcohol communication. Tweets from alcohol accounts were relatively more visible, more engaging, and more likely to be associated with positive connotations than tweets b health advocates. Implications for promotion of health messages are discussed.