Promotion of alcohol on Twitter

To the Editor: The president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) recently expressed concern about the use of social media by alcohol companies,1 and one Facebook study found “tens of thousands of alcohol-related Pages, Applications, Events, and Groups”.2 Twitter provides another social media channel to promote alcohol, particularly to young adults, the heaviest users of Twitter. Although Australian research is limited, United States data show that 26% of people aged 18–29 years use Twitter, almost double the rate of those aged 30–49 years (14%).3 Given the strong association between alcohol advertising and consumption,4 such promotion is likely to increase the public health costs associated with excessive alcohol consumption.