Public Health in the Digital Era: Insights in the Lens of Bibliometric Analysis of Artificial Intelligence in Social Media for Health Monitoring

This study examines the use of social media analytics for public health surveillance through a bibliometric analysis of 112 documents from Scopus (2014–2024), visualized with VOSviewer. Findings reveal steady growth in research, with a surge during COVID-19 as social media became crucial for tracking health trends, sentiment, and misinformation. The United States and China led in research output, while smaller contributors like Kuwait and Qatar showed high citation impact. Keyword analysis highlights themes such as “social media,” “machine learning,” “public health,” and “COVID-19,” reflecting the field's multidisciplinary nature. Strong international collaborations and thematic clusters emerged, particularly in pandemic monitoring and mental health. Recommendations include leveraging advanced AI, diversifying data sources beyond major platforms, and validating social media data with surveys and health records. The study emphasizes the potential of informal data for tackling complex public health issues and calls for greater collaboration and innovation in global health surveillance.