Risky drinking social worlds in Victoria: A social media analysis

Alcohol use is at the forefront of public health policy in Australia. Not only does chronic use increase the risk of cardio-metabolic disease, cancer, liver disease and mental health disorders, intoxication in young people can lead to dangerous behaviour and increase the risk of unintentional injury and death. Developing an effective intervention requires a better and improved understanding of the social worlds of risky drinking behaviour. Hence, this project makes use of social media data to examine the social worlds of drinking behaviour in Victoria extending the current understanding of people involved in online conversation regarding risky drinking. The aim of the project is to answer the question - what are the social worlds of people engaging in risky drinking behaviours in Victoria? The current study plans to gain more detailed and nuanced data from social media to gain an increased depth of understanding of the social worlds where this risky drinking conversation and behaviour occurs. In addition, the findings of this report provide a catalyst for further in-depth and longitudinal analysis of qualitative and quantitative social media data to inform policy makers develop more effective interventions to deal with the problem of risky drinking.