School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States.
School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Jun 30;25:e46342. doi: 10.2196/46342.
Contraceptive choice is central to reproductive autonomy. The internet, including social networking sites like Reddit, is an important resource for people seeking contraceptive information and support. A subreddit dedicated to contraception, r/birthcontrol, provides a platform for people to post about contraception.
This study explored the use of r/birthcontrol, from the inception of the subreddit through the end of 2020. We describe the web-based community, identify distinctive interests and themes based upon the textual content of posts, and explore the content of posts with the most user engagement (ie, "popular" posts).
Data were obtained from the PushShift Reddit application programming interface from the establishment of r/birthcontrol to the start date of analysis (July 21, 2011, to December 31, 2020). User interactions within the subreddit were analyzed to describe community use over time, specifically the commonality of use based on the volume of posts, the length of posts (character count), and the proportion of posts with any and each flair applied. "Popular" posts on r/birthcontrol were determined based on the number of comments and "scores," or upvotes minus downvotes; popular posts had 9 comments and a score of ≥3. Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) analyses were run on all posts with flairs applied, posts within each flair group, and popular posts within each flair group to characterize and compare the distinctive language used in each group.
There were 105,485 posts to r/birthcontrol during the study period, with the volume of posts increasing over time. Within the time frame for which flairs were available on r/birthcontrol (after February 4, 2016), users applied flairs to 78% (n=73,426) of posts. Most posts contained exclusively textual content (n=66,071, 96%), had comments (n=59,189, 86%), and had a score (n=66,071, 96%). Posts averaged 731 characters in length (median 555). "SideEffects!?" was the most frequently used flair overall (n=27,530, 40%), while "Experience" (n=719, 31%) and "SideEffects!?" (n=672, 29%) were most common among popular posts. TF-IDF analyses of all posts showed interest in contraceptive methods, menstrual experiences, timing, feelings, and unprotected sex. While TF-IDF results for posts with each flair varied, the contraceptive pill, menstrual experiences, and timing were discussed across flair groups. Among popular posts, intrauterine devices and contraceptive use experiences were often discussed.
People commonly wrote about contraceptive side effects and experiences using methods, highlighting the value of r/birthcontrol as a space to post about aspects of contraceptive use that are not well addressed by clinical contraceptive counseling. The value of real-time, open-access data on contraceptive users' interests is especially high given the shifting landscape of and increasing constraints on reproductive health care in the United States.
避孕选择是生殖自主权的核心。互联网，包括像 Reddit 这样的社交网站，是人们寻找避孕信息和支持的重要资源。一个专门讨论避孕的 Reddit 子版块 r/birthcontrol 为人们提供了一个发布避孕信息的平台。
本研究探索了 r/birthcontrol 的使用情况，从子版块成立到 2020 年底。我们描述了这个基于网络的社区，根据帖子的文本内容确定了独特的兴趣和主题，并探讨了用户参与度最高的帖子（即“热门”帖子）的内容。
数据是从 PushShift Reddit 应用程序接口中获取的，时间范围从 r/birthcontrol 的建立到分析开始日期（2011 年 7 月 21 日至 2020 年 12 月 31 日）。通过分析子版块内的用户互动，我们描述了社区随时间的使用情况，具体来说是基于帖子数量、帖子长度（字符数）以及带有任何和每种标记的帖子比例的共同使用情况。r/birthcontrol 上的“热门”帖子是根据评论数量和“分数”（即点赞数减去点赞数）来确定的；热门帖子有 9 条评论和≥3 的分数。对所有带有标记的帖子、每个标记组内的帖子以及每个标记组内的热门帖子进行了术语频率-逆文档频率（TF-IDF）分析，以描述和比较每个组中使用的独特语言。
在研究期间，r/birthcontrol 上共有 105485 个帖子，帖子数量随时间增加。在 r/birthcontrol 上可用标记的时间范围内（2016 年 2 月 4 日之后），用户在 78%（n=73426）的帖子上应用了标记。大多数帖子仅包含文本内容（n=66071，96%），有评论（n=59189，86%），并且有分数（n=66071，96%）。帖子平均长度为 731 个字符（中位数 555 个字符）。“SideEffects!?”是总体上使用最频繁的标记（n=27530，40%），而“Experience”（n=719，31%）和“SideEffects!?”（n=672，29%）在热门帖子中最常见。所有帖子的 TF-IDF 分析都显示了对避孕方法、月经经历、时间、感觉和无保护性行为的兴趣。虽然每个标记的帖子的 TF-IDF 分析结果有所不同，但避孕药、月经经历和时间在标记组中都有讨论。在热门帖子中，宫内节育器和避孕使用经验经常被讨论。
人们经常会写到避孕的副作用和使用方法的体验，这突出了 r/birthcontrol 作为一个发布避孕使用方面内容的空间的价值，这些内容在临床避孕咨询中没有得到很好的涵盖。鉴于美国生殖健康护理的格局不断变化和日益受到限制，实时、开放获取的避孕用户兴趣数据的价值尤其高。
