Table 1.
Themes and subthemes derived from the #WhyWeTweetMHhashtag and the associated frequencies of retweets, “likes,” and popular words for each of the subthemes.
| Theme and subthemes | Tweet frequency |
Number of retweets |
Proportion of tweets retweeted n (%) |
Number of “likes” |
Proportion of tweets “liked” n (%) |
Commonly used words within subthemes |
Word frequency |
| Sense of community | |||||||
| To connect or socialize and reduce isolation | 47 | 55 | 25 (53) | 61 | 27 (57) | Alone Connect Others People or ppl Friends Isolation Community |
13 11 9 8 4 4 4 |
| To send and receive messages of hope and support | 35 | 44 | 20 (57) | 49 | 18 (51) | Support or supporting Hope Help or helps Hugs |
14 5 4 3 |
| To share and receive information | 21 | 20 | 9 (43) | 15 | 9 (43) | Share or sharing Information or info Resources Learn |
9 7 5 5 |
| Stigma and awareness | |||||||
| To combat stigma | 23 | 40 | 15 (65) | 29 | 14 (61) | Stigma Combat Eradicate |
19 3 2 |
| To raise awareness | 22 | 42 | 13 (59) | 27 | 13 (59) | Awareness Raise Educate Understanding |
11 7 4 3 |
| To fight and campaign | 11 | 29 | 9 (82) | 15 | 7 (64) | Services Advocate Improve |
3 3 3 |
| Safe space for expression | |||||||
| To share honest experiences without feeling judged | 32 | 23 | 15 (47) | 44 | 16 (50) | Experiences Share or sharing Honest Judge Safe |
8 8 5 4 3 |
| To vent, give people a voice, and feel heard | 21 | 25 | 12 (57) | 29 | 9 (43) | Vent Express Frustration |
6 3 2 |
| Perceived benefit over Twitter and other social media platforms | 7 | 6 | 4 (57) | 17 | 5 (71) | Facebook Networking or media |
2 2 |
| Coping and empowerment | |||||||
| To escape | 4 | 0 | 0 (0) | 2 | 2 (50) | Escape Distract Suspend |
2 1 1 |
| Empowering form of self-monitoring and management | 11 | 7 | 4 (36) | 10 | 7 (64) | Empower Resilience Monitor Manage |
1 1 1 1 |