Recruiting for health, medical or psychosocial research using Facebook: Systematic review

Thornton, Louise; Batterham, Philip J.; Fassnacht, Daniel B.; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Calear, Alison L.; Hunt, Sally

doi:10.1016/j.invent.2016.02.001

Cited by 326Social Media in Health EducationSurvey Methodology and NonresponseEthics in Clinical Research

Recruiting for health, medical or psychosocial research using Facebook: Systematic review

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Thornton, Louise, Batterham, Philip J., Fassnacht, Daniel B., Kay-Lambkin, Frances, Calear, Alison L., Hunt, Sally·2016·Internet Interventions

DOI 10.1016/j.invent.2016.02.001PMC PMC6096238

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Abstract

Recruiting participants is a challenge for many health, medical and psychosocial research projects. One tool more frequently being used to improve recruitment is the social networking website Facebook. A systematic review was conducted to identify studies that have used Facebook to recruit participants of all ages, to any psychosocial, health or medical research. 110 unique studies that used Facebook as a recruitment source were included in the review. The majority of studies used a cross-sectional design (80%) and addressed a physical health or disease issue (57%). Half (49%) of the included studies reported specific details of the Facebook recruitment process. Researchers paid between $1.36 and $110 per completing participants (Mean = $17.48, SD = $23.06). Among studies that examined the representativeness of their sample, the majority concluded (86%) their Facebook-recruited samples were similarly representative of samples recruited via traditional methods. These results indicate that Facebook is an effective and cost-efficient recruitment method. Researchers should consider their target group, advertisement wording, offering incentives and no-cost methods of recruitment when considering Facebook as a recruitment source. It is hoped this review will assist researchers to make decisions regarding the use of Facebook as a recruitment tool in future research. • Health, medical and psychosocial research recruiting participants of all ages via Facebook is reviewed. • Results suggest Facebook is an effective and cost efficient recruitment method. • Results suggest Facebook can be used to obtain samples similarly representative to samples recruited via traditional methods.

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Samples recruited by Facebook have been found to present similar representativeness to convention methods in achieving age and gender distribution and are usually less costly.
“Samples recruited by Facebook have been found to present similar representativeness to convention methods in achieving age and gender distribution and are usually less costly [53].”
From A mobile health intervention (LifeBuoy App) to help young people manage suicidal thoughts: protocol for a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial (2020) · cites this paper as [53]
The Results (Recruitment bias; page unavailable) report that 86% of studies comparing methods found Facebook-recruited samples similarly representative to traditionally recruited samples. The Discussion (page unavailable) says Facebook recruitment tended to cost less per participant. But the Results also identify age and gender as frequently imbalanced characteristics, so the paper does not establish comparable age and gender distributions specifically. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Vial, A. C., Starks, T. J., & Parsons, J. T. (2014) · AIDS Education and Prevention · doi:10.1521/aeap.2014.26.1.56 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Extending the Negative Consequences of Media Internalization and Self-Objectification to Dissociation and Self-Harm
Erchull, M. J., Liss, M., & Lichiello, S. (2013) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0326-8 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Recruitment and retention of youth for research using social media: Experiences from the Just/Us study
Bull, S. S., Levine, D., Schmiege, S. J., & Santelli, J. S. (2012) · Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/17450128.2012.748238 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Internet versus face-to-face therapy: Emotional self-disclosure issues for young adults
Rogers, V. L., Griffin, M. Q., Wykle, M. L., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2009) · Issues in Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1080/01612840903003520 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Texting among United States young adults: An exploratory study on texting and its use within families
Crosswhite, J. M., Rice, D. C., & Asay, S. M. (2013) · The Social Science Journal · doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2013.10.002 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
The household economic burden of eating disorders and adherence to treatment in Australia
Gatt, L., Jan, S., Mondraty, N., Horsfield, S., HART, S. G. E., Russell, J. D., Laba, T., & Essue, B. M. (2014) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-014-0338-0 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Perception and management of risk in Internet-based peer-to-peer milk-sharing
Gribble, K. D. (2013) · Early Child Development and Care · doi:10.1080/03004430.2013.772994 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Using Facebook™ to Recruit College-Age Men for a Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Trial
Raviotta, J. M., Nowalk, M. P., Lin, C. J., Huang, H.-H., & Zimmerman, R. K. (2014) · American Journal of Men s Health · doi:10.1177/1557988314557563 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
A Social Media-Based HIV Prevention Intervention Using Peer Leaders
Young, S. D., Zhao, M., Tieu, K. S., Kwok, J., Gill, H. K., & Gill, N. K. (2013) · Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet · doi:10.1080/15398285.2013.833445 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Keep on brushing: a longitudinal study of motivational text messaging in young adults aged 18–24 years receiving Work and Income Support
Schlüter, P. J., Lee, M., Hamilton, G., Coe, G., Messer‐Perkins, H., & Smith, B. (2014) · Journal of Public Health Dentistry · doi:10.1111/jphd.12079 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Survey and online discussion groups to develop a patient-rated outcome measure on acceptability of treatment response in vitiligo
Tour, S. K., Thomas, K. S., Walker, D., Leighton, P. A., Yong, A. S. W., & Batchelor, J. (2014) · BMC Dermatology · doi:10.1186/1471-5945-14-10 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Using Facebook and participant information clips to recruit emergency nurses for research
Child, R. J. H., Mentes, J. C., Pavlish, C., & Phillips, L. R. (2014) · Nurse Researcher · doi:10.7748/nr.21.6.16.e1246 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
The Psychosocial Impact of Ptosis as a Symptom of Myasthenia Gravis: A Qualitative Study
Richards, H., Jenkinson, E., Rumsey, N., & Harrad, R. (2014) · Orbit · doi:10.3109/01676830.2014.904375 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Web-based Recruiting for a Survey on Knowledge and Awareness of Cervical Cancer Prevention Among Young Women Living in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Miyagi, E., Motoki, Y., Asai‐Sato, M., Taguri, M., Morita, S., Hirahara, F., Wark, J. D., & Garland, S. M. (2014) · International Journal of Gynecological Cancer · doi:10.1097/igc.0000000000000220 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Childbirth expectations: an Australian study of young childless women
D’Cruz, L., & Lee, C. (2014) · Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology · doi:10.1080/02646838.2013.875134 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Recruiting U.S. and Canadian College Students via Social Media for Participation in a Web-Based Brief Intervention Study
Fazzino, T. L., Rose, G. L., Pollack, S. M., & Helzer, J. E. (2015) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.15288/jsad.2015.76.127 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Attitudes to chlamydia screening elicited using the social networking site Facebook for subject recruitment
Ahmed, N., Jayasinghe, Y., Wark, J. D., Fenner, Y., Moore, E. E., Tabrizi, S. N., Fletcher, A., & Garland, S. M. (2013) · Sexual Health · doi:10.1071/sh12198 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Using Facebook to Recruit Young Adults for Qualitative Research Projects
Balfe, M., Doyle, F., & Conroy, R. M. (2012) · CIN Computers Informatics Nursing · doi:10.1097/nxn.0b013e31826e4fca · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Online questionnaire development: Using film to engage participants and then gather attitudes towards the sharing of genomic data
Middleton, A., Bragin, E., Morley, K. I., & Parker, M. J. (2013) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.12.004 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
The Relationship Between Online Social Network Use, Sexual Risk Behaviors, and HIV Sero-Status Among a Sample of Predominately African American and Latino Men Who have Sex with Men (MSM) Social Media Users
Chiu, C. J., & Young, S. D. (2015) · AIDS and Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10461-014-0986-6 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Living with severe allergy: an Anaphylaxis Campaign national survey of young people
Worth, A., Regent, L., Levy, M. L., Ledford, C., East, M., & Sheikh, A. (2013) · Clinical and Translational Allergy · doi:10.1186/2045-7022-3-2 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Measuring effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine in an Australian setting (the VACCINE study)
Young, E. J., Tabrizi, S. N., Brotherton, J. M. L., Wark, J. D., Pyman, J. M., Saville, M., Wrede, C. D., Jayasinghe, Y., Tan, J., Gertig, D. M., et al. (2013) · BMC Cancer · doi:10.1186/1471-2407-13-296 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
‘Unjust, inhumane and highly inaccurate’: the impact of changes to disability benefits and services – social media as a tool in research and activism
Morris, R. (2013) · Disability & Society · doi:10.1080/09687599.2013.808093 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Effects of Turner Syndrome on Women’s Self-Esteem and Body Image
Cragg, S. J., & Lafreniere, K. D. (2009) · Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities · doi:10.1007/s10882-009-9178-0 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Legal high groups on the internet – The creation of new organized deviant groups?
Norman, J., Grace, S., & Lloyd, C. (2013) · Drugs Education Prevention and Policy · doi:10.3109/09687637.2013.769500 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Share2Quit: Web-Based Peer-Driven Referrals for Smoking Cessation
Sadasivam, R. S., Volz, E., Kinney, R. L., Rao, S. R., & Houston, T. K. (2013) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/resprot.2786 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Pragmatism, persistence and patience: A user perspective on strategies for data collection using popular online social networks
Mannix, J., Wilkes, L., & Daly, J. (2014) · Collegian Journal of the Royal College of Nursing Australia · doi:10.1016/j.colegn.2014.03.001 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Recruiting young adults to child maltreatment research through Facebook: A feasibility study
Parkinson, S., & Bromfield, L. (2013) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.04.009 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The diagnosis of provoked vestibulodynia: steps and roadblocks in a long journey
Connor, J. J., Brix, C. M., & Trudeau‐Hern, S. (2013) · Sexual & Relationship Therapy · doi:10.1080/14681994.2013.842969 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Successfully recruiting, surveying, and retaining college students: A description of methods for the risk, religiosity, and Emerging Adulthood Study
Berry, D. M., & Bass, C. P. (2012) · Research in Nursing & Health · doi:10.1002/nur.21498 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The Virtual Focus Group: A Modern Methodology for Facial Attractiveness Rating
Popenko, N. A., Devcic, Z., Karimi, K., & Wong, B. J. F. (2012) · Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery · doi:10.1097/prs.0b013e31825dcb48 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Get Tested Why Not? A Novel Approach to Internet-based Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Testing in Canada
Mann, T. A., Uddin, Z., Hendriks, A., Bouchard, C., & Etches, V. (2013) · Canadian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.17269/cjph.104.3684 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
The Global Online Sexuality Survey (GOSS): Male Homosexuality among Arabic-Speaking Internet Users in the Middle East—2010
Shaeer, O. K. Z., & Shaeer, K. O. K. M. (2014) · The Journal of Sexual Medicine · doi:10.1111/jsm.12634 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Assessing patients' and caregivers' perspectives on stability of factor VIII products for haemophilia A: a web‐based study in the United States and Canada
DiBenedetti, D. B., Coles, T., Sharma, T., Pericleous, L., & Kulkarni, R. (2014) · Haemophilia · doi:10.1111/hae.12459 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Prevalence of Overactive Bladder and Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women Who Have Sex with Women: An Internet-Based Survey
Sturm, R. M., Breyer, B. N., Li, C., Subak, L. L., Brown, J. S., & Shindel, A. W. (2014) · Journal of Women s Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2014.4878 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Video žaidimų ir užklasinės veiklos reikšmė subjektyviam tėvų savo vaikų ir paauglių socialinio ir emocinio funkcionavimo vertinimui
Boyce, A., & Schanding, G. T. (2013) · International Journal of Psychology a Biopsychosocial Approach · doi:10.7220/1941-7233.12.2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 115 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Sorted by citations

Internet interventions: Past, present and future
Andersson, G. (2018) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2018.03.008 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
“Indeed, there are findings indicating that clients recruited from the general public for ICBT trials are more representative than clients seen in regular practice (Titov et al., 2010).”
Background
Sextortion of Minors: Characteristics and Dynamics
Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Walsh, W., & Treitman, L. (2018) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.08.014 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
“Facebook advertisements are an effective tool for recruiting hard to reach populations for social science research [25,26].”
Background
People’s Experiences and Satisfaction With Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
Isautier, J., Copp, T., Ayre, J., Cvejic, E., Meyerowitz‐Katz, G., Batcup, C., Bonner, C., Dodd, R. H., Nickel, B., Pickles, K. M., et al. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/24531 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
“Our sample was recruited via social media, which was likely the reason why our sample consisted of a higher proportion of females, higher level of education, and potentially higher levels of digital literacy than the general population [18].”
What’s to Like? Facebook as a Tool for Survey Data Collection
Schneider, D., & Harknett, K. (2019) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124119882477 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
“Other recent work in marketing (Nunan and Knox 2011), medical research (Ramo and Prochaska 2012; Thornton et al. 2016), and political science (Samuels and Zucco 2013; Zhang et al.”
Background
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Emergency Distance Teaching on the Psychological Status of University Teachers: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jordan
Akour, A. A., Al‐Tammemi, A. B., Barakat, M. M., Kanj, R., Fakhouri, H. N., Malkawi, A. M., & Musleh, G. (2020) · American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.4269/ajtmh.20-0877 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Online Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Brøgger‐Mikkelsen, M., Ali, Z., Zibert, J. R., Andersen, A. D., & Thomsen, S. F. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/22179 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
“Our findings are consistent with findings from previous reviews on online patient recruitment [65].”
Is It Just About Physical Health? An Online Cross-Sectional Study Exploring the Psychological Distress Among University Students in Jordan in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic
Al‐Tammemi, A. B., Akour, A. A., & Alfalah, L. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.562213 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Participant recruitment and retention in remote eHealth intervention trials: methods and lessons learned from a large randomized controlled trial of two web-based smoking interventions
Watson, N. L., Mull, K. E., Heffner, J. L., McClure, J. B., & Bricker, J. B. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/10351 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
“Although not unique to online trials [4,5], many online eHealth studies have difficulty obtaining adequate sample size [2,6-9] and recruiting a representative sample of their target population [10-12].”
BackgroundResult
Digital tools for the recruitment and retention of participants in randomised controlled trials: a systematic map
Frampton, G. K., Shepherd, J., Pickett, K., Griffiths, G., & Wyatt, J. C. (2020) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-020-04358-3 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
“Facebook [40, 51, 53] or social networking [39, 49]) or population (e.”
Background
It’s not raining men: a mixed-methods study investigating methods of improving male recruitment to health behaviour research
Ryan, J. C., Lopian, L., Le, B. H. C., Edney, S. M., van Kessel, G., Plotnikoff, R. C., Vandelanotte, C., Olds, T., & Maher, C. A. (2019) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7087-4 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Social media recruitment for mental health research: A systematic review
Sanchez, C., Grzenda, A. L., Varias, A. D., Widge, A. S., Carpenter, L. L., McDonald, W. M., Nemeroff, C. B., Kalin, N. H., Martin, G., Tohen, M. F., et al. (2020) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152197 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
“Gender, age, and education level are most likely to be imbalanced in social media-recruited cohorts [8, 9].”
Background
Using different Facebook advertisements to recruit men for an online mental health study: Engagement and selection bias
Choi, I., Milne, D., Glozier, N., Peters, D., Harvey, S. B., & Calvo, R. A. (2017) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2017.02.002 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
“Indeed, a recent systematic review reported over 100 studies have used Facebook to recruit participants for health, medical or mental health research, all within the last 8 years (Thornton et al., 2016).”
BackgroundInfluential
Minority Stress and Loneliness in a Global Sample of Sexual Minority Adults: The Roles of Social Anxiety, Social Inhibition, and Community Involvement
Elmer, E. M., van Tilburg, T. G., & Fokkema, T. (2022) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-021-02132-3 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Using Facebook Advertising to Recruit Representative Samples: Feasibility Assessment of a Cross-Sectional Survey
Shaver, L. G., Khawer, A., Yi, Y., Aubrey‐Bassler, K., Etchegary, H., Roebothan, B., Asghari, S., & Wang, P. (2019) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/14021 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
“Facebook has increasingly gained attention as a tool to recruit participants for research [5].”
Influential
Using Facebook for Large-Scale Online Randomized Clinical Trial Recruitment: Effective Advertising Strategies
Akers, L. G., & Gordon, J. S. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.9372 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Assessing Victim-Blaming Attitudes in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence against Women: Development and Validation of the VB-IPVAW Scale
Martín-Fernández, M., Gracia, E., & Lila, M. (2018) · Psychosocial Intervention · doi:10.5093/pi2018a18 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“The sampling method is another limitation, since online sampling has some tradeoffs that may limit the generalizability of this study (Thornton et al., 2016; Topolovec-Vranic & Natarajan, 2016).”
BackgroundMethod
Using Paid and Free Facebook Methods to Recruit Australian Parents to an Online Survey: An Evaluation
Bennetts, S. K., Hokke, S., Crawford, S. B., Hackworth, N. J., Leach, L., Nguyen, C. D., Nicholson, J. M., & Cooklin, A. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/11206 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“A recent systematic review highlighted mixed results from Facebook recruitment studies [17].”
Influential
Social Media Recruitment of Marginalized, Hard-to-Reach Populations: Development of Recruitment and Monitoring Guidelines
Russomanno, J., Patterson, J. G., & Jabson, J. M. (2019) · JMIR Public Health and Surveillance · doi:10.2196/14886 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
“Given the increased popularity of social media platforms, social science researchers are using social media to recruit participants into health, medical, and psychosocial research studies [4-8].”
The Willingness to Intervene in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (WI-IPVAW) Scale: Development and Validation of the Long and Short Versions
Gracia, E., Martín-Fernández, M., Marco, M., Santirso, F. A., Vargas, V., & Lila, M. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01146 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Network approach to the symptom-level association between alcohol use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder
Afzali, M. H., Sunderland, M., Batterham, P. J., Carragher, N., Calear, A. L., & Slade, T. N. (2016) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-016-1331-3 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Self-citation
Youth Study Recruitment Using Paid Advertising on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
Ford, K. L., Albritton, T., Dunn, T. A., Crawford, K., Neuwirth, J., & Bull, S. S. (2019) · JMIR Public Health and Surveillance · doi:10.2196/14080 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
“Other Web-based health-related campaigns [5,23,24,29,30] demonstrated similar success in recruiting youth and young adults through Instagram and Facebook [13,22,31], although most cross-sectional studies used Facebook for recruitment [32].”
Background
#Bias: The Opportunities and Challenges of Surveys That Recruit and Collect Data of Autistic Adults Online
Rubenstein, E., & Furnier, S. M. (2020) · Autism in Adulthood · doi:10.1089/aut.2020.0031 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“40,41 In Figure 2, we have created four different scenarios.”
Measuring Acceptability of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: Development and Validation of the A-IPVAW Scale
Martín-Fernández, M., Gracia, E., Marco, M., Vargas, V., Santirso, F. A., & Lila, M. (2018) · The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context · doi:10.5093/ejpalc2018a3 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“effective sampling method (Thornton et al., 2016), it comes with”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Facebook ads to the rescue? Recruiting a hard to reach population into an Internet-based behavioral health intervention trial
Wozney, L., Turner, K., Rose‐Davis, B., & McGrath, P. J. (2019) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2019.100246 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
“By virtue of its widespread use, relative anonymity, cost-effectiveness, and acceptability, FB is an attractive recruitment path (Thornton et al., 2016; Amon et al., 2014; Carter-Harris et al., 2016).”
Background
Evaluation of Different Recruitment Methods: Longitudinal, Web-Based, Pan-European Physical Activity Through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) Project
Gaupp-Berghausen, M., Raser, E., Anaya-Boig, E., Ávila-Palència, I., de Nazelle, A. J., Dons, E., Franzen, H., Gerike, R., Götschi, T., Iacorossi, F., et al. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/11492 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“Several studies, however, report successfully recruiting people who reflect the demographic spread of the general population using opportunistic sampling approaches [9,11,19,26].”
Background
An online survey of informal caregivers’ unmet needs and associated factors
Denham, A. M. J., Wynne, O., Baker, A., Spratt, N. J., Turner, A., Magin, P. J., Palazzi, K. L., & Bonevski, B. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243502 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“There is a growing body of support for Facebook and Twitter as recruitment tools in health research [49, 50].”
Background
Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review
Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Win, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., Zion, L., Lucke, J. C., Keyzer, P., & Crawford, S. B. (2018) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204572 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
The use of social media for health research purposes: scoping review
Bour, C., Ahne, A., Schmitz, S., Perchoux, C., Dessenne, C., & Fagherazzi, G. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/25736 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Recruitment and Ongoing Engagement in a UK Smartphone Study Examining the Association Between Weather and Pain: Cohort Study
Druce, K. L., McBeth, J., van der Veer, S. N., Selby, D., Vidgen, B., Georgatzis, K., Hellman, B., Lakshminarayana, R., Chowdhury, A., Schultz, D. M., et al. (2017) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.8162 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Although similar methods could also promote the recruitment of younger adults, other opportunities to promote participation among this group include the use of social networks, community components, and app gamification [39-41].”
Method
Immediate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient health, health-care use, and behaviours: results from an international survey of people with rheumatic diseases
Hausmann, J. S., Kennedy, K., Simard, J. F., Liew, J. W., Sparks, J. A., Moni, T. T., Harrison, C., LARCHÉ, M. J., Levine, M., Sattui, S. E., et al. (2021) · The Lancet Rheumatology · doi:10.1016/s2665-9913(21)00175-2 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
A smartphone app designed to help cancer patients stop smoking: results from a pilot randomized trial on feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness
Bricker, J. B., Watson, N. L., Heffner, J. L., Sullivan, B., Mull, K., Kwon, D., Westmaas, J. L., & Ostroff, J. (2020) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/16652 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Studying Cannabis Use Behaviors With Facebook and Web Surveys: Methods and Insights
Borodovsky, J. T., Marsch, L. A., & Budney, A. J. (2018) · JMIR Public Health and Surveillance · doi:10.2196/publichealth.9408 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“In doing so, they have developed various Web survey- and social media-based data collection methods [16-24].”
Background
Predictors of acceptability and engagement in a self-guided online program for depression and anxiety
Gulliver, A., Calear, A. L., Sunderland, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Farrer, L. M., & Batterham, P. J. (2021) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100400 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“We continued our recruitment beyond this goal to increase the lower numbers of male participants, which is common in online mental health trial research (Thornton et al., 2016), by using advertisements targeted to males.”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Cycling, and Male Sexual and Urinary Function: Results from a Large, Multinational, Cross-Sectional Study
Awad, M. A., Gaither, T. W., Murphy, G. P., Chumnarnsongkhroh, T., Metzler, I. S., Sanford, T., Sutcliffe, S. S., Eisenberg, M. L., Carroll, P. R., Osterberg, E. C., et al. (2017) · The Journal of Urology · doi:10.1016/j.juro.2017.10.017 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Perceived acceptability of wearable devices for the treatment of mental health problems
Hunkin, H., King, D. L., & Zajac, I. T. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22934 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
American Cohort to Study HIV Acquisition Among Transgender Women in High-Risk Areas (The LITE Study): Protocol for a Multisite Prospective Cohort Study in the Eastern and Southern United States
Wirtz, A. L., Poteat, T., Radix, A. E., Althoff, K. N., Cannon, C. M., Wawrzyniak, A. J., Cooney, E. E., Mayer, K. H., Beyrer, C., Rodriguez, A. E., et al. (2019) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/14704 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“Given these challenges, we have broadened recruitment to advertising campaigns via Facebook, Reddit, and Google Ads, as well as sharing information about the study through media interviews [122-125].”
Personality associations with Facebook use and tendencies towards Facebook Use Disorder
Sindermann, C., Duke, É., & Montag, C. (2020) · Addictive Behaviors Reports · doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100264 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“Therefore, if only recruiting Facebook users, such differences between users and non-users may lead to the publication of data that cannot be generalised beyond the sample of Facebook users (Brickman Bhutta, 2012; Thornton et al., 2016; Whitaker, Stevelink, & Fear, 2017).”
Background
Addressing Public Health Emergencies via Facebook Surveys: Advantages, Challenges, and Practical Considerations
Grow, A., Perrotta, D., Fava, E. D., Cimentada, J., Rampazzo, F., Gil‐Clavel, S., & Zagheni, E. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/20653 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Personality traits in musicians
Gjermunds, N., Brechan, I., Johnsen, S. Å. K., & Watten, R. G. (2020) · Current Issues in Personality Psychology · doi:10.5114/cipp.2020.97314 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“Social media have also recruitment advantages and are frequently used in empirical research in several fields (Amon, Campbell, Hawke, & Steinbeck, 2014; Thornton et al., 2016).”
Method
Perspectives on Spinraza (Nusinersen) Treatment Study: Views of Individuals and Parents of Children Diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Pacione, M., Siskind, C. E., Day, J., & Tabor, H. K. (2018) · Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases · doi:10.3233/jnd-180330 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“…documented that using social media to recruit participants for research from rare disease or hard-to-reach populations can be as, if not more, effective than traditional methods, and leverage documented ways in which patients and families currently inter-actandgatherdisease-basedinformation[26–29].”
“If you don’t send me five other pictures I am going to post the photo online”: A qualitative analysis of experiences of survivors of sextortion
Walsh, W. A., & Tener, D. (2022) · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1080/10538712.2022.2067093 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“Facebook advertisements are an effective tool for recruiting hard to reach populations for social science research (Kayrouz et al., 2016; Thornton et al., 2016) The Facebook ads featured images (e.g., people texting, the question, “Got nudes?”) and text (e.g., Sextortion, “Has it happened to you?”
Method
Stereotype Content at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation
Klysing, A., Lindqvist, A., & Björklund, F. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713839 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Recruiting Participants for Population Health Intervention Research: Effectiveness and Costs of Recruitment Methods for a Cohort Study
Wasfi, R., Stephens, Z. P., Sones, M., Laberee, K., Pugh, C., Fuller, D., Winters, M., & Kestens, Y. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/21142 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“92) for Facebook recruitment across 18 studies [10].”
Influential
Outpatient Tinnitus Clinic, Self-Help Web Platform, or Mobile Application to Recruit Tinnitus Study Samples?
Probst, T., Pryss, R. C., Langguth, B., Spiliopoulou, M., Landgrebe, M., Vesala, M., Harrison, S., Schobel, J., Reichert, M., Stach, M., et al. (2017) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00113 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
“…is traditionally difficult, online-recruitment has been shown to be promising in clinical and health science to overcome this obstacle (e.g., Morgan et al., 2013; Bevelander et al., 2014; Gioia et al., 2016; Kayrouz et al., 2016; Thornton et al., 2016; Topolovec-Vranic and Natarajan, 2016).”
Background
Comparing Social Media and In-Person Recruitment: Lessons Learned From Recruiting Substance-Using, Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents and Young Adults for a Randomized Control Trial
Parker, J. N., Hunter, A. S., Bauermeister, J. A., Bonar, E. E., Carrico, A. W., & Stephenson, R. B. (2021) · JMIR Public Health and Surveillance · doi:10.2196/31657 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“Thornton et al [30] reported that 86% of studies reported similar representativeness between online and offline samples, with no systematic gender or age differences.”
Using Twitter to recruit participants for health research: An example from a caregiving study
Wasilewski, M. B., Stinson, J., Webster, F., & Cameron, J. I. (2018) · Health Informatics Journal · doi:10.1177/1460458218775158 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Study Protocol for the COVID-19 Pandemic Adjustment Survey (CPAS): A Longitudinal Study of Australian Parents of a Child 0–18 Years
Westrupp, E. M., Karantzas, G. C., Macdonald, J. A., OLIVE, L. S., Youssef, G. J., Greenwood, C. J., Sciberras, E., Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M., Evans, S., Mikocka‐Walus, A. A., et al. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555750 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Facebook allows a stable means of communication where participants can be contacted for future time points of the study regardless of changes in contact details.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Recruitment in response to a pandemic: pivoting a community-based recruitment strategy to facebook for hard-to-reach populations during COVID-19
Archer‐Kuhn, B., Beltrano, N. R., Hughes, J., Saini, M., & Tam, D. M. Y. (2021) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645579.2021.1941647 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“KEYWORDS Recruitment; facebook; domestic violence; covid-19; shared parenting There is little available guidance in the literature to assist with the recruitment with hard-to-reach populations, vulnerable groups and hidden populations (Bender, 2017; Hellmuth & Leonard, 2013).”
BackgroundInfluential
Predictors of using social media to purchase drugs in New Zealand: Findings from a large-scale online survey
van der Sanden, R., Wilkins, C., Romeo, J. S., Rychert, M., & Barratt, M. J. (2021) · International Journal of Drug Policy · doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103430 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Ethical Considerations in Using Social Media to Engage Research Participants: Perspectives of Australian Researchers and Ethics Committee Members
Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Bennetts, S. K., Nicholson, J. M., Keyzer, P., Lucke, J. C., Zion, L., & Crawford, S. B. (2019) · Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics · doi:10.1177/1556264619854629 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“…retention, participant tracing, institutional review board, human research ethics committee, survey research For example, a recent systematic review reported an exponential increase in the use of Facebook to recruit participants in health research over a 6-year period (Thornton et al., 2016).”
Background
Use of Videos and Digital Media in Parent-implemented Interventions for Parents of Children with Primary Speech Sound And/or Language Disorders: A Scoping Review
Bellon-Harn, M. L., Morris, L. R., Manchaiah, V. K. C., & Harn, W. E. (2020) · Journal of Child and Family Studies · doi:10.1007/s10826-020-01842-x · Cited by 35 · see citing works
A Brief Intervention to Increase Uptake and Adherence of an Internet-Based Program for Depression and Anxiety (Enhancing Engagement With Psychosocial Interventions): Randomized Controlled Trial
Batterham, P. J., Calear, A. L., Sunderland, M., KAY‐LAMBKIN, F. J., Farrer, L. M., Christensen, H. M., & Gulliver, A. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/23029 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
“This was to increase male participants and address the commonly higher ratio of female to male participants in internet-based mental health trial research [43].”
Self-citation
The Importance of Behavioral and Native Factors on COVID-19 Infection and Severity: Insights from a Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study
Aouissi, H. A., Ababsa, M., Leveau, C. M., Alexandru-Ionuţ, P., Słomka, A., Kechebar, M. S. A., Yasuhara, J., Epelboin, L., & Ohmagari, N. (2022) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare10071341 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Social Media Recruitment for a Web Survey of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: An Evaluation of Methods Used and Resulting Sample Diversity
Stern, M. J., Fordyce, E., Hansen, C., Viox, M. H., Michaels, S., Schlissel, A. C., Avripas, S. A., Harper, C. R., Johns, M. M., & Dunville, R. L. (2020) · LGBT Health · doi:10.1089/lgbt.2019.0311 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
How big is your bubble? Characteristics of self-isolating household units (‘bubbles’) during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 period in New Zealand: a cross-sectional survey
Kearns, N., Shortt, N., Kearns, C., Eathorne, A., Holliday, M., Mackle, D., Martindale, J., Semprini, A. C., Weatherall, M., Beasley, R. W., et al. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042464 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
A Practical Do-It-Yourself Recruitment Framework for Concurrent eHealth Clinical Trials: Identification of Efficient and Cost-Effective Methods for Decision Making (Part 2)
Lattie, E. G., Kaiser, S. M., Alam, N., Tomasino, K. N., Sargent, E., Rubanovich, C. K., Palac, H., & Mohr, D. C. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/11050 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“While the majority of studies (80%) included in this review were cross-sectional surveys and thus those ad clicks were more likely to convert to active study participation compared to intervention studies that last several weeks to months, Thornton and colleagues [19] findings demonstrate the broad range of fees that…”
Background
Social Media for Tobacco Smoking Cessation Intervention: A Review of the Literature
Thrul, J., Tormohlen, K. N., & Meacham, M. C. (2019) · Current Addiction Reports · doi:10.1007/s40429-019-00246-2 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Recruiting fathers for parenting research using online advertising campaigns: Evidence from an Australian study
Leach, L., Bennetts, S. K., Giallo, R., & Cooklin, A. (2019) · Child Care Health and Development · doi:10.1111/cch.12698 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Effectiveness of social media (Facebook), targeted mailing, and in-person solicitation for the recruitment of young adult in a diabetes self-management clinical trial
Salvy, S., Carandang, K. M., Vigen, C. L. P., Concha-Chavez, A., Sequeira, P. A., Blanchard, J., Díaz, J., Raymond, J. K., & Pyatak, E. A. (2020) · Clinical Trials · doi:10.1177/1740774520933362 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Measuring Perceived Severity of Intimate Partner Violence against Women (IPVAW) among the General Population and IPVAW Offenders
Martín-Fernández, M., Enrique Gracia, A., & Lila, M. (2022) · Psychosocial Intervention · doi:10.5093/pi2022a8 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“A total of 2,627 participants were recruited for the present study through online sampling using social media and e-mail snowballing, an effective and cost-efficient sampling method (Thornton et al., 2016; Topolovec-Vranic & Natarajan, 2016).”
Supporting survivors of sexual violence: protocol for a mixed-methods, co-research study of the role, funding and commissioning of specialist services provided by the voluntary sector in England
Combes, G., Damery, S. L., Gunby, C., Harlock, J., Isham, L., Jones, A., Maxted, F., Parmar, P., Schaub, J., Smith, D., et al. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035739 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
New dyads? The effect of social robots’ anthropomorphization on empathy towards human beings
Spaccatini, F., Corlito, G., & Sacchi, S. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107821 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
The inaccuracy of data from online surveys: A cautionary analysis
Agans, J. P., Schade, S. A., Hanna, S. R., Chiang, S., Shirzad, K., & Bai, S. (2023) · Quality & Quantity · doi:10.1007/s11135-023-01733-5 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“…Mechanical Turk participant pool, etc.; Peer et al. 2021 ), but many researchers also recruit their participants directly online (e.g., Chung et al. 2019 ; Dermody 2022 ; Dworkin et al. 2016 ; Greenwood 2021 ; Howell 2019 ; Levi et al. 2021 ; Russomanno et al. 2019 ; Thornton et al. 2016 ).”
Impact of a Social Media Campaign on Reach, Uptake, and Engagement with a Free Web- and App-Based Physical Activity Intervention: The 10,000 Steps Australia Program
Rayward, A. T., Vandelanotte, C., Corry, K., Itallie, A. K. V., & Duncan, M. J. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16245076 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“It is di ﬃ cult to compare numbers of impressions between di ﬀ erent social media advertising campaigns since they can vary by overall recruitment timeframe, target audience, advertisement delivery scheduling, and expenditure [10,21].”
BackgroundResult
Social Media as a Platform for Recruitment to a National Survey During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Feasibility and Cost Analysis
Green, H., Fernandez, R. S., & MacPhail, C. L. (2021) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/28656 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“The success of these interventions has demonstrated the efficacy of social media as a suitable method for accessing participants [1,5,15-17].”
BackgroundMethod
Characteristics Associated With Depression, Anxiety, and Social Isolation in Adults With Spina Bifida
Showen, A., Copp, H. L., Allen, I. E., Baradaran, N., Liaw, A., & Hampson, L. A. (2020) · Urology · doi:10.1016/j.urology.2020.11.016 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Sources of COVID-19-Related Information in People with Various Levels of Risk Perception and Preventive Behaviors in Taiwan: A Latent Profile Analysis
Wang, P., Chen, Y., Chang, Y., Wu, C.-F., Lu, W.-H., & Yen, C. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18042091 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“A systematic review on the study recruiting participants via Facebook reported that there appeared to be a bias towards people with a higher educational level [56].”
Background
Perception of adults toward electronic cigarettes: a cross-sectional study from Jordan
Barakat, M. M., Assaf, A. M., Alqudah, R., Thiab, S. H., Alhamed, M., Al-Obaidi, H. J., Jirjees, F., & Basheti, I. A. (2021) · Primary Health Care Research & Development · doi:10.1017/s1463423621000062 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“However, nowadays in light of the published review (Thornton et al., 2016), the recruitment of a research sample using social media platforms is considered an efficient and cost-effective method.”
Background
Anxiety and Depression in Parents of Children Born with Esophageal Atresia: An International Online Survey Study
Wallace, V., Honkalampi, K. M., & Sheils, E. (2021) · Journal of Pediatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2021.02.016 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Ethical Issues in Social Media Recruitment for Clinical Studies: Ethical Analysis and Framework
Zimmermann, B. M., Willem, T., Bredthauer, C. J., & Buyx, A. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/31231 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Although the ability of many social media platforms to direct study advertisements toward defined target groups can be useful in addressing unknown patients, it is unclear how the underlying algorithms choose members of the target group [13,119].”
Practical Benefits, Challenges, and Recommendations on Social Media Recruitment: Multi-Stakeholder Interview Study
Goldman, N., Willem, T., Buyx, A., & Zimmermann, B. M. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/44587 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“…to distribute their web-based surveys, which is in line with other literature on the benefits of social media recruitment for nonclinical studies [9-11 , In addition, some clinicians believed that social media recruitment would not yield representative samples most likely because clinical…”
Educating children and adolescents about vaccines: a review of current literature
Maisonneuve, A. R., Witteman, H. O., Brehaut, J., Dubé, È., & Wilson, K. R. (2018) · Expert Review of Vaccines · doi:10.1080/14760584.2018.1456921 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Performance, Cost-Effectiveness, and Representativeness of Facebook Recruitment to Suicide Prevention Research: Online Survey Study
Lee, S., Torok, M. H., Shand, F., Chen, N. A., McGillivray, L., Burnett, A., Larsen, M. E., & Mok, K. (2020) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/18762 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Characteristics or populations that were most often reported to be overrepresented included younger participants [9,21,22], women [15,23], and those who were well educated [8,21,24].”
BackgroundInfluential
Is caring about the environment enough for sustainable mobility? An exploratory case study from South Tyrol (Italy)
Isetti, G., Ferraretto, V., Stawinoga, A. E., Gruber, M., & Valle, N. D. (2020) · Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives · doi:10.1016/j.trip.2020.100148 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Using Facebook to recruit to a national online survey investigating complementary medicine product use in pregnancy and lactation: A case study of method
Barnes, L. A. J., Barclay, L. M., McCaffery, K. J., Rolfe, M. I., & Aslani, P. (2020) · Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy · doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.07.011 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
A Mapping Study on the Internet and Suicide
Krysinska, K. E., Westerlund, M., Niederkrotenthaler, T., Andriessen, K., Carli, V., Hadlaczky, G., Till, B., & Wasserman, D. (2017) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000444 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Differences in residents’ social impact perception of a cycling event based on the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic
Vegara-Ferri, J. M., Pallarés, J. G., & Sánchez, S. A. (2021) · European Sport Management Quarterly · doi:10.1080/16184742.2021.1903526 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“and economy than other traditional methods (Thornton et al., 2016).”
Method
Facebook recruitment for research of children and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Skeens, M. A., Sutherland-Foggio, M. S., Damman, C., Gerhardt, C. A., & Akard, T. F. (2022) · Applied Nursing Research · doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2022.151574 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Basking in detected vice: Outgroup immorality enhances self-view
Sacchi, S., Brambilla, M., & Graupmann, V. (2020) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/1368430219895320 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“However, as noted by Thornton et al. (2016), characteristics (e.g., gender, age, education) of samples recruited via Facebook are frequently unbalanced and there is a lack of environmental control during administration.”
Background
A New Remote Guided Method for Supervised Web-Based Cognitive Testing to Ensure High-Quality Data: Development and Usability Study
Leong, V., Raheel, K., Sim, J. Y., Kacker, K., Karlaftis, V. M., Vassiliu, C., Kalaivanan, K., Chen, S. A., Robbins, T. W., Sahakian, B. J., et al. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/28368 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“Purely unsupervised web-based testing has the attendant advantages of reaching large sample sizes with a broad demographic at a relatively low cost per head [34,49,54,56-58].”
The use of Facebook for virtual asynchronous focus groups in qualitative research
Biedermann, N. (2017) · Contemporary Nurse · doi:10.1080/10376178.2017.1386072 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Indeed, a recent systematic review of studies that have used Facebook as a tool for study recruitment identified 110 unique studies (Thornton et al., 2016).”
Background
Evaluating Two Common Strategies for Research Participant Recruitment Into Autism Studies: Observational Study
Ahmed, K. L., Simon, A. R., Dempsey, J. R., Samaco, R. C., & Goin‐Kochel, R. P. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/16752 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“36 to $110 per completed participant [3].”
Background
Potential of Online Recruitment Among 15-25-Year Olds: Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial
Hoffmann, S. H., Folker, A. P., Buskbjerg, M., Folker, M. P., Jezek, A. H., Svartá, D. L., Sølvhøj, I. N., & Thygesen, L. C. (2022) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/35874 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Predictors of caregiver distress among spouses, adult children living with the person with dementia, and adult children not living with the person with dementia
Wawrziczny, É., Duprez, C., & Antoine, P. (2020) · Psychogeriatrics · doi:10.1111/psyg.12553 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“It’s not black and white”
Crawford, S. B., Hokke, S., Nicholson, J. M., Zion, L., Lucke, J. C., Keyzer, P., & Hackworth, N. J. (2018) · Internet Research · doi:10.1108/intr-07-2017-0278 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
The aetiology of non-clinical narcissism: Clarifying the role of adverse childhood experiences and parental overvaluation
Nguyen, K. T., & Shaw, L. (2019) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.109615 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Facebook Recruitment Using Zip Codes to Improve Diversity in Health Research: Longitudinal Observational Study
Pechmann, C., Phillips, C., Calder, D., & Prochaska, J. J. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/17554 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Exploring safety culture in the Finnish ambulance service with Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire
Venesoja, A., Lindström, V., Aronen, P., Castrén, M. K., & Tella, S. (2021) · Scandinavian Journal of Trauma Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine · doi:10.1186/s13049-021-00960-9 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Generalizability and representativeness: Considerations for internet-based research on substance use behaviors.
Borodovsky, J. T. (2022) · Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1037/pha0000581 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Examining the relationship between alcohol consumption, psychological distress and COVID-19 related circumstances: An Australian longitudinal study in the first year of the pandemic
Mojica‐Perez, Y., Livingston, M., Pennay, A. E., & Callinan, S. (2022) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107439 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Like, comment, tag, share: Facebook interactions in health research
Obamiro, K. O., West, S., & Lee, S. (2020) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104097 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Evaluating the effectiveness of a physical activity social media advertising campaign using Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram
Northcott, C., Curtis, R., Bogomolova, S., Olds, T., Vandelanotte, C., Plotnikoff, R. C., & Maher, C. A. (2021) · Translational Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/tbm/ibaa139 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
A mobile health intervention (LifeBuoy App) to help young people manage suicidal thoughts: protocol for a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial
Han, J., McGillivray, L., Wong, Q. J., Werner-Seidler, A., Wong, I., Calear, A., Christensen, H., & Torok, M. (2020) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/23655 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“Samples recruited by Facebook have been found to present similar representativeness to convention methods in achieving age and gender distribution and are usually less costly [53].”
MethodSelf-citation
Caregiver Burden Among Those Caring for Patients With Spina Bifida
Sadighian, M. J., Allen, I. E., Quanstrom, K., Breyer, B. N., Suskind, A. M., Baradaran, N., Copp, H. L., & Hampson, L. A. (2021) · Urology · doi:10.1016/j.urology.2021.03.020 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Mental Health and Social Support Are Key Predictors of Resilience in German Women with Endometriosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Schwab, R. M., Stewen, K., Kottmann, T., Anić, K., Schmidt, M. W., Elger, T., Theis, S., Kalb, S. R., Brenner, W., & Hasenburg, A. (2022) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm11133684 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“However, a recent systematic review confirmed that samples recruited by Facebook were as representative as samples recruited via traditional methods [77].”
Background
The link between self‐compassion and psychotic‐like experiences: A matter of distress?
Scheunemann, J., Schlier, B., Ascone, L., & Lincoln, T. M. (2018) · Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1111/papt.12193 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Affective and cognitive factors associated with hallucination proneness in the general population: the role of shame and trauma-related intrusions
Bortolon, C., & Raffard, S. (2019) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546805.2019.1670152 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“that Facebook is an effective and cost-efficient recruitment method to obtain representative samples (Thornton et al., 2016).”
Method
Online educational research with middle adolescent populations: Ethical considerations and recommendations
Mackenzie, E., Berger, N., Holmes, K., & Walker, M. (2020) · Research Ethics · doi:10.1177/1747016120963160 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“This gender imbalance has been observed as a common recruitment bias in Facebook recruitment (Thornton et al., 2016), and future studies should consider how advertisements and images engage girls and boys differently.”
Background
Sustaining a career in general practice: Embodied work, inequality regimes, and turnover intentions of women working in general practice
Mayson, S. E., & Bardoel, A. (2021) · Gender Work and Organization · doi:10.1111/gwao.12659 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Recommendations to encourage participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds in psychiatric genetic studies
MacDermod, C. M., Pettie, M. A., Carrino, E. A., Garcia, S. C., Padalecki, S., Finch, J. E., Sanzari, C. M., Kennedy, H., Pawar, P. S., Mcgough, M. M., et al. (2022) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.32906 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“More broadly, a systematic review suggested that Facebook is an effective and cost-efficient recruitment method to enroll participants of all ages, to any psychosocial, health, or medical research (Thornton et al., 2016).”
BackgroundSelf-citation

Integrative Review of Recruitment of Research Participants Through Facebook
Reagan, L., Nowlin, S. Y., Birdsall, S. B., Gabbay, J., Vorderstrasse, A. A., Johnson, C., & Melkus, G. D. (2019) · Nursing Research · doi:10.1097/nnr.0000000000000385 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The Use of Facebook in Recruiting Participants for Health Research Purposes: A Systematic Review
Whitaker, C., Stevelink, S. A. M., & Fear, N. T. (2017) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.7071 · Cited by 731 · see citing works
Evidence-Based Facebook Recruitment of Study Participants
Stuart, W. P., & Moore, B. F. (2021) · CIN Computers Informatics Nursing · doi:10.1097/cin.0000000000000709 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Challenges and Opportunities in Recruiting Research Participants Using Facebook: Lessons Learned from an Exemplar Study
Ashfield, S., Donelle, L., Smith, M. J., Dubé, È., & Tryphonopoulos, P. D. (2023) · Canadian Journal of Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/08445621231207546 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Facebook as an effective recruitment strategy for mental health research of hard to reach populations
Kayrouz, R., Dear, B. F., Karin, E., & Titov, N. (2016) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2016.01.001 · Cited by 125 · see citing works

Authors: Thornton, L., Batterham, P. J., Fassnacht, D. B., Kay-Lambkin, F., Calear, A. L., & Hunt, S.
Affiliations: UNSW Sydney (AU)
Australian National University (AU)
ORCID: Thornton, Louise
Batterham, Philip J.
Fassnacht, Daniel B.
Calear, Alison L.
Hunt, Sally
Venue: Internet Interventions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2016-05
Volume: 4
Pages: 72-81
ISSN: 2214-7829 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2016.02.001
PMC: PMC6096238
OpenAlex: W2282737262
Cited by: 326
References: 115
Citations by year: 2026: 11 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 2
FWCI: 4.28
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by-nc-nd
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (vor)
Locations: Internet Interventions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
Funders: University of New South Wales
National Health and Medical Research Council
Topics: Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics in Clinical Research
Keywords: Facebook, participant recruitment, social networking sites, online recruitment, recruitment incentives, sample representativeness, health research, medical research, psychosocial research

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Recruiting for health, medical or psychosocial research using Facebook: Systematic review

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