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World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2022; 12(7): 897-903
Published online Jul 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i7.897
Social media and schizophrenia: An update on clinical applications
Lakshan N Fonseka, Benjamin K P Woo
Lakshan N Fonseka, Harvard South Shore–Psychiatry Residency Program, Veteran Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton, MA 02301, United States
Benjamin K P Woo, Chinese American Health Promotion Program, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Olive View-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar, CA 91104, United States
Author contributions: Fonseka LN and Woo BKP both performed the collection of data and contributed to the manuscript drafting; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Benjamin K P Woo, MD, Professor, Chinese American Health Promotion Program, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Olive View-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, 14445 Olive View Drive, Sylmar, CA 91104, United States. bkpwoo@gmail.com
Received: February 23, 2022
Peer-review started: February 23, 2022
First decision: May 11, 2022
Revised: May 18, 2022
Accepted: June 18, 2022
Article in press: June 18, 2022
Published online: July 19, 2022
Processing time: 145 Days and 11.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Recent literature demonstrates that social media data analysis guided by machine learning can differentiate users with schizophrenia from healthy controls as well as predict conversion to psychosis and symptom exacerbations. Novel platforms such as Horyzons can improve social functioning in schizophrenia patients, but long-term engagement is a challenge that may be addressed by streamlining the user experience.