Growing concern surrounds the impact of social media platforms on public discourse1–4 and their influence on social dynamics5–9, especially in the context of toxicity10–12. Here, to better understand these phenomena, we use a comparative approach to isolate human behavioural patterns across multiple social media platforms. In particular, we analyse conversations in different online communities, focusing on identifying consistent patterns of toxic content. Drawing from an extensive dataset that spans eight platforms over 34 years—from Usenet to contemporary social media—our findings show consistent conversation patterns and user behaviour, irrespective of the platform, topic or time. Notably, although long conversations consistently exhibit higher toxicity, toxic language does not invariably discourage people from participating in a conversation, and toxicity does not necessarily escalate as discussions evolve. Our analysis suggests that debates and contras
Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is a peer-reviewed electronic journal established by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. PCD provides an open exchange of information and knowledge among researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and others who strive to improve the health of the public through chronic disease prevention.
Although commercial entities can contribute positively to health and society there
is growing evidence that the products and practices of some commercial actors notably
the largest transnational corporations are responsible for escalating rates of avoidable
ill health, planetary damage, and social and health inequity; these problems are increasingly
referred to as the commercial determinants of health. The climate emergency, the non-communicable
disease epidemic, and that just four industry sectors (ie, tobacco, ultra-processed
food, fossil fuel, and alcohol) already account for at least a third of global deaths
illustrate the scale and huge economic cost of the problem.
Effects of different types of written vaccination information on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK (OCEANS-III): a single-blind, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial thelancet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thelancet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.