An Analysis of Twitter Activity of Pharmaceutical Companies and Tweets Relating to Publication Activity
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Abstract
Background: Unlike other industries, pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from promoting prescription only medicines to the public, outside of the USA and New Zealand. Pharmaceutical companies want, and indeed should be able to use social media. However, Twitter accounts are, in our experience, publically accessible accounts and there is a variable amount of activity relating to to journal publications and congress abstract presentations.
Objective: To characterize the monthly twitter activity of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies (based on revenue) and determine whether content of tweets related to journal publications and congress abstract presentations.
Methods: At quarterly intervals (June, September and December 2013), monthly twitter feeds of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies were downloaded and characterized in terms of content, favourites/retweets, use of hashtags and links to websites. The results presented here are for @abbottnews, @Amgen, @AstellasUS, @astrazeneca, @baxter_intl, @BayerHealthCare , @bmsnews, @Boehringer, @GSK_conferences, @JNJNews, @lillypad, @merck, @millennium_US, @novartis, @novonordiskus, @pfizer, @Roche, @sanofiUS. A twitter feed could not be found for Teva and @DaiichiSankyo had posted no tweets.
Results: A total of 5,775 tweets were analysed. The average number of tweets per day ranged from 12.2 (@lillpad) to 0.1 (@AstellasUS). 416 tweets (7.8%) were considered related to journal publications and congress abstract presentations (range 162/706 [22.9%] for @novartis to 0 for @lillypad, @JNJNews, @baxter_intl, and @AstellasUS). The overall proportion of retweets and ‘favourites’ was slightly lower for tweets related to publications and congress abstract presentations (2.5 and 0.8, respectively) compared to that of non-publications tweets (2.6 and 1.1, respectively). Over half (56.9%) of publication tweets contained links and the majority linked to company websites or websites with company involved.
Conclusions: Twitter activity varies greatly across the top pharmaceutical companies. This analysis provides useful information for individual pharmaceutical companies to benchmark their own Twitter activities against those of their competitors, and adapt their own activity should they so wish.
Objective: To characterize the monthly twitter activity of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies (based on revenue) and determine whether content of tweets related to journal publications and congress abstract presentations.
Methods: At quarterly intervals (June, September and December 2013), monthly twitter feeds of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies were downloaded and characterized in terms of content, favourites/retweets, use of hashtags and links to websites. The results presented here are for @abbottnews, @Amgen, @AstellasUS, @astrazeneca, @baxter_intl, @BayerHealthCare , @bmsnews, @Boehringer, @GSK_conferences, @JNJNews, @lillypad, @merck, @millennium_US, @novartis, @novonordiskus, @pfizer, @Roche, @sanofiUS. A twitter feed could not be found for Teva and @DaiichiSankyo had posted no tweets.
Results: A total of 5,775 tweets were analysed. The average number of tweets per day ranged from 12.2 (@lillpad) to 0.1 (@AstellasUS). 416 tweets (7.8%) were considered related to journal publications and congress abstract presentations (range 162/706 [22.9%] for @novartis to 0 for @lillypad, @JNJNews, @baxter_intl, and @AstellasUS). The overall proportion of retweets and ‘favourites’ was slightly lower for tweets related to publications and congress abstract presentations (2.5 and 0.8, respectively) compared to that of non-publications tweets (2.6 and 1.1, respectively). Over half (56.9%) of publication tweets contained links and the majority linked to company websites or websites with company involved.
Conclusions: Twitter activity varies greatly across the top pharmaceutical companies. This analysis provides useful information for individual pharmaceutical companies to benchmark their own Twitter activities against those of their competitors, and adapt their own activity should they so wish.
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