Perception differences between the depressed and non-depressed users in twitter

One’s state of mind will influence her perception of the world and people within it. In this paper, we explore at-titudes and behaviors toward online social media based on whether one is depressed or not. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 14 active Twitter users, half of whom were depressed and the other half non-depressed. Our results highlight key differences be-tween the two groups in terms of perception towards online social media and behaviors within such systems. Non-depressed individuals perceived Twitter as an in-formation consuming and sharing tool, while depressed individuals perceived it as a tool for social awareness and emotional interaction. We discuss several design implications for future social networks that could bet-ter accommodate users with depression and provide in-sights towards helping depressed users meet their needs through online social media