As of March 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been responsible for over 115 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in over 2.5 million deaths. As the virus spread exponentially, so did its media coverage, resulting in a proliferation of conflicting information on social media platforms—a so-called “infodemic.” In this viewpoint, we survey past literature investigating the role of automated accounts, or “bots,” in spreading such misinformation, drawing connections to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also review strategies used by bots to spread (mis)information and examine the potential origins of bots. We conclude by conducting and presenting a secondary analysis of data sets of known bots in which we find that up to 66% of bots are discussing COVID-19. The proliferation of COVID-19 (mis)information by bots, coupled with human susceptibility to believing and sharing misinformation, may well impact the course of the pandemic.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Problematic substance use in adolescence and emerging adulthood is a significant public health concern in the United States due to high recurrence of use rates and unmet treatment needs coupled with increased use. Consequently, there is a need for both improved service utilization and availability of recovery supports. Given the ubiquitous use of the Internet and social media via smartphones, a viable option is to design digital treatments and recovery support services to include Internet and social media platforms. Objective: While digital treatments delivered through social media and the Internet are a possibility, it is unclear how to tailor interventions using these tools for groups with problematic substance use. There is limited research comparing consumer trends of use of social media platforms, use of platform features, and vulnerability of exposure to drug cues online. The goal of this study was to compare digital platforms used among adolescents (Generation Zs) and emerging adults (Millennials) attending outpatient substance use treatment and to examine receptiveness to using these platforms to support substance use treatment and recovery. Methods: Generation Zs and Millennials enrolled in outpatient substance use treatment (n = 164) completed a survey examining social media use, digital intervention acceptability, frequency of substance exposure, and substance use experiences. Generation Zs (n = 77) completed the survey in July 2018. Millennials (n = 114) completed the survey in May 2016. Results: Generation Zs had an average age of 15.66 years (SD = 1.18) and primarily identified as male (50.9%). Millennials had an average age of 27.66 years (SD = 5.12) and also primarily identified as male (74.8%). Most participants owned a social media account (M: 82.0%, Z: 94.3%), and used it daily (M: 67.6%, Z: 79.2%); however, Generation Zs were more likely to use Instagram and Snapchat while Millennials were more likely to use Facebook. Further, Generation Zs were more likely to use the features within social media platforms (e.g., instant messaging M: 55.0%, Z: 79.2%, and watching videos (M: 56.8%, Z: 81.1%)). Many participants observed drug cues on social media (M: 76.4%, Z: 79.2%). However, fewer observed recovery information on social media (M: 30.6%, Z: 34.0%). Participants felt that social media (M:55.0%, Z: 48.1%), a cell phone application (M: 36.9%, Z: 45.3%), texting (M: 28.8%, Z: 45.3%), or a website (M:39.6%, Z: 32.1%) would be useful in delivering recovery support. Conclusions: Given the high rates of exposure to drug cues on social media, disseminating recovery supports within a social media platform may be the ideal just-in-time intervention necessary to decrease rates of recurrent use. However, our results suggest that cross-platform solutions capable of transcending generational preferences is necessary and one-size-fits-all digital interventions should be avoided.

Background: Public and private systems in the United States and around the World are impacted by substance use disorders (SUD). Despite recent attempts at bringing top down solutions, SUDs continue to be a leading cause of death, a leading correlate in violent crime, and a leading cause of lost productivity in the workplace. Community-based resources have been shown to positively affect SUD impact and SUD recovery, by orienting stakeholders towards the problem and creating continuity among support services. Community-based innovations, such as recovery community organizations and other recovery support services, have provided evidence of successfully scaling recovery efforts and improving the chance of sustained recovery for individuals that live within the community. Methods: A theoretical model and framework, grounded in the recovery-oriented systems of care (ROSC) theorems, is proposed to identify components and connections that support a community’s ability to support individual and group recovery from SUD. Results: The Recovery Ready Ecosystem Model (RREM) and Recovery Ready Community Framework builds upon the early work of the ROSC, highlighting recently emboldened support structures such as harm reduction, educational recovery programs, and other traditional support structures in communities. Conclusions: Enhanced community needs assessment can be informed by the RREM and Recovery Ready Community framework to identify gaps in their current community infrastructure. Further testing of the recovery readiness equation should be performed as a potential measure of efficacy of community ability to support long-term recovery from SUD. Exploration of potential application of the model and framework to international settings is also needed.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

Social networking sites and online advertising organizations provide HIV/AIDS researchers access to target populations, often reaching difficult-to-reach populations. However, this benefit to researchers raises many issues for the protections of prospective research participants. Traditional recruitment procedures have involved straightforward transactions between the researchers and prospective participants; online recruitment is a more complex and indirect form of communication involving many parties engaged in the collecting, aggregating, and storing of research participant data. Thus, increased access to online data has challenged the adequacy of current and established procedures for participants' protections, such as informed consent and privacy/confidentiality. Internet-based HIV/AIDS research recruitment and its ethical challenges are described, and research participant safeguards and best practices are outlined.