Experiential Health Discourse about Ozempic on Social Web*
Session Number
1
Advisor(s)
Dr. Ashiqur R. KhudaBukhsh, Rochester Institute of Technology
Location
B115
Discipline
Computer Science
Start Date
15-4-2026 10:15 AM
End Date
15-4-2026 11:00 AM
Abstract
Semaglutide, sold under the brand name Ozempic, is a medication that is aimed for individuals with diabetes to aid in blood sugar management. However, in the last decade, Ozempic has become a popular drug for weight loss due to the influence of social media. Many users of this drug have reported negative side effects, but the general reaction to the drug in the general public has remained relatively unexplored. Our study curates a dataset of relevant YouTube comments and utilizes sophisticated natural language processing methods to understand the public health discourse on the social web around Ozempic. This analysis provides insights into the prevailing sentiments and perspectives surrounding Ozempic. We observe that a considerable fraction of social web discourse describes direct experience (first-person or vicarious) of Ozempic usage. Second, the key side effects Ozempic users complain about are digestive health issues. Finally, the largest share of vicarious accounts of Ozempic usage comes from close family members
Experiential Health Discourse about Ozempic on Social Web*
B115
Semaglutide, sold under the brand name Ozempic, is a medication that is aimed for individuals with diabetes to aid in blood sugar management. However, in the last decade, Ozempic has become a popular drug for weight loss due to the influence of social media. Many users of this drug have reported negative side effects, but the general reaction to the drug in the general public has remained relatively unexplored. Our study curates a dataset of relevant YouTube comments and utilizes sophisticated natural language processing methods to understand the public health discourse on the social web around Ozempic. This analysis provides insights into the prevailing sentiments and perspectives surrounding Ozempic. We observe that a considerable fraction of social web discourse describes direct experience (first-person or vicarious) of Ozempic usage. Second, the key side effects Ozempic users complain about are digestive health issues. Finally, the largest share of vicarious accounts of Ozempic usage comes from close family members