Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform and social networking website that was launched in 2007. As of August 1, 2015, Tumblr hosts over 420 million users, 248 million blogs, 117 billion total posts, and 74 million daily posts on average. This study aimed to determine the presence of food allergy-focused journals, organizations, groups and popular individual accounts on Tumblr.
Methods
The top 10 most popular allergy/immunology journals were identified from SCImago online service, www.scimagojr.com. The popularity of professional and and patient centered food allergy organizations, groups and individuals was ranked according to Tumblr algorithm and Google search engine. “Food allergy Tumblr” was searched on Google to determine the first five distinct results that were active within the last six months.
Results
None of the top 10 allergy/immunology journals maintained a Tumblr blog. Only Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) organization maintained an active blog on Tumblr that targeted teenager readers, called “Food Allergy Teens”. Four of the first five Tumblr blogs on Google were maintained by layman individuals, not by professionals..
Conclusion
Despite its widespread popularity, Tumblr remains a social media domain that lacks a strong presence from allergy/immunology journals, food allergy organizations and allergists/immunologists. This represents an untapped resource for information dissemination and interaction with the public. It could provide an avenue to reach different demographic populations with the potential for dynamic education and possible life/disease-changing impact.
Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform and social networking website that was launched in 2007. As of August 1, 2015, Tumblr hosts over 420 million users, 248 million blogs, 117 billion total posts, and 74 million daily posts on average. This study aimed to determine the presence of food allergy-focused journals, organizations, groups and popular individual accounts on Tumblr.