Using social media and online search to better track individual alcohol use and corroborate state-level data

Screen shot of a Google search field with the search term "liquore"

Elissa Weitzman, ScD, is principal investigator of a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that demonstrates how personally generated data — captured and tracked using such online tools as Google searches and social media outlets — mirrored more formal public health surveillance data.

“Our results give confidence in our public health tools and in using novel data approaches to measure health behaviors and policy effects — a real win,” Weitzman stated.

Learn more in this release by Boston Children’s Hospital.