JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital dementia is a term that describes a possible decline in cognitive abilities, especially memory, attributed to the excessive use of digital technology such as smartphones, computers, and tablets. This concept has gained popularity in public discourse and media lately. With the increasing use of social media platforms such as Twitter, discussions about digital dementia have become more widespread, which offers a rich source of information to understand public perceptions, concerns, and sentiments regarding this phenomenon.

Objective:

The aim of this research was to delve into a comprehensive analysis of Twitter discussions to analyze the content and sentiment surrounding the hashtag #digitaldementia.

Methods:

Retrospectively, publicly available English tweets with hashtag combinations related to the topic of digital dementia were extracted from Twitter. The tweets were collected over a period of 15 years, from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2022. Content analysis was used to identify major themes within the tweets, and sentiment analysis was conducted to understand the positive and negative emotions associated with these themes in order to gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding digital dementia.

Results:

This study was conducted on 26,290 tweets over 15 years by 5123 Twitter users, mostly females in the United States. The influencers had followers ranging from 20,000 to 1,195,000 and an average of 214,878 subscribers. The study identified four themes regarding digital dementia after analyzing tweet content: (1) cognitive decline, (2) digital dependency, (3) technology overload, and (4) coping strategies. According to Glaser and Strauss's classifications, the majority of tweets fell under the categories of wretched (purely negative) or bad (mostly negative), accounting for a total of 14,492 tweets (55.1%). However, only a small proportion of tweets were classified as great (purely positive) or swell sentiment (mostly positive), with only 3,122 tweets (11.9%).

Conclusions:

Various tweets have raised concerns about the relationship between excessive digital device usage and cognitive decline, often referred to as digital dementia. Of particular concern is the rapid increase in digital device usage. Users mentioned reducing digital device usage and exploring alternative activities, such as physical exercise, which could help with cognitive decline.