Themes identified by content analysis
| Theme | Description | Example tweets (paraphrased) | Percentage (number) of tweets expressing theme | Percentage (number) of accounts expressing theme | Mean (SD) retweets | Mean (SD) favourites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadly supportive | ||||||
| 1. Sharing | Shares recommendations or health information from the guidelines; initiates discussion; provides tips to cut down or stop drinking; links to relevant services or resources | Read the new alcohol guidelines from Department of Health Drink slowly, consume with food, alternate alcohol with water | 30.0% (721) | 29.2% (541) | 2.96 (12.74) | 1.96 (8.11) |
| 2. Agreement | Supports the guidelines; agrees or accepts the need for guidelines; criticises those who are hostile to guidelines | Guidelines warn about risk of drinking during pregnancy—right to know Complaining about #alcoholguidelines? They’re for our own health benefits, so you can make an informed choice | 11.0% (264) | 12.9% (239) | 1.84 (10.15) | 1.53 (5.97) |
| 3. Will heed | Intend to cut down alcohol consumption; no change needed as consumption already within guidelines | I must limit my intake this weekend. You only get one shot at life! 14 units a week? PHEW! Should be ok with my bottle of beer on a Saturday night | 2.7% (65) | 3.4% (63) | 1.00 (5.17) | 1.77 (5.00) |
| Broadly unsupportive | ||||||
| 4. You should drink | Encourages others to drink or promotes drinking generally | If you’re asking is one more drink too much, you’re not drunk enough There's “no safe level of drinking” so everybody is getting smashed | 11.9% (285) | 14.3% (266) | 0.75 (2.16) | 1.96 (4.15) |
| 5. Disagreement | General or specific disagreement with the guidelines that does not fall into any other theme | I don’t trust government advice. How has the research been done? There are so many factors. Outrageous to suggest that effects of alcohol on men and women are equal. Absurd! | 11.2% (270) | 12.7% (236) | 0.82 (3.38) | 1.34 (3.07) |
| 6. Will ignore | Will personally ignore the guidelines, consume over the guideline amount or intend to drink alcohol in response | More noise I’ll ignore, because alcohol is nice Tonight I’m going to smash back a bottle of red. Fuck you | 9.5% (228) | 11.8% (219) | 0.94 (6.89) | 2.00 (6.48) |
| 7. Libertarianism | Governments and public bodies should not interfere in private behaviours; advice is untrustworthy; government has ulterior motives for policy decisions | Sick of being told what to eat and drink The nanny state rears its ugly head once again. Why can’t they let people make their own decisions? | 6.2% (149) | 7.4% (138) | 1.54 (6.30) | 1.66 (4.51) |
| 8. Confusion | Confused by the guidelines generally or a specific aspect of them; guidelines will be confusing to others; government advice on alcohol or health is inconsistent | Red wine is good for you, then it's bad for you, make your mind up! They won’t engage the public by referring to “units” rather than commonly understood measures | 4.3% (103) | 5.3% (99) | 1.80 (12.40) | 1.56 (6.42) |
| 9. Fatalism | Death/disease is inevitable no matter what health measures we adopt; alcohol is needed to relieve life's suffering | You know what? Living puts you in danger of dying Enjoy life, ignore the constant health warnings, you are going to die whatever | 3.4% (81) | 4.3% (79) | 5.00 (30.56) | 6.68 (33.53) |
| 10. Won't work | Guidelines will be ineffectual because: people already understand and accept the risk; alcohol use is socially/culturally ingrained; health information does not change behaviour | People have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years. They won’t stop now “I didn’t know alcohol was bad for me! These new guidelines will make me stop immediately!” said nobody | 2.7% (64) | 3.3% (62) | 0.20 (1.07) | 0.92 (2.12) |
| Neutral | ||||||
| 11. Humour | Jokes, sarcasm, wit, but no commentary or opinion on alcohol guidelines | Can we save up units like people at WeightWatchers save points? Drink responsibly—don’t spill your drink! | 9.2% (221) | 10.7% (198) | 0.74 (1.77) | 1.86 (3.59) |