Social Media and Healthcare

Social media is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for sharing health-related messages, but not every post has what it takes to go viral. 

A new study by researchers at Drexel University and Thomas Jefferson University found healthcare professionals may see greater success with public information campaigns if they apply the narrative storytelling method that many influencers use on social media. 

“In recent years, we’re seeing a resurgence of misleading anti-vaccination messages and related misinformation spreading through social media,” said the study’s senior author Philip Massey. “By studying what makes these messages so effective online, we can improve fact-based, pro-vaccination messaging aimed at improving public health.”

The researchers are among the first to investigate narrative messages on Instagram and how they might affect a parent’s likelihood of getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for their child amid growing misinformation about vaccines online.

Massey’s team analyzed 360 randomly selected Instagram posts from a pool of over 3,000 English-language posts about HPV vaccination. Although a majority of the posts were pro-vaccine (56 percent), the anti-vaccine messages that featured a narrative structure experienced much higher engagement, averaging 62 more “likes” than pro-vaccine posts that only shared actionable information about the vaccine.

Massey says social media posts that tell personal stories, share experiences, or attempt to tap into an audience’s emotions are generally more effective than those that don’t.

“Healthcare professionals can help parents navigate through their uncertainty about vaccines, but science alone may not be the thing that the parent needs to cope with that uncertainty; they may need something more emotional to get through.”

According to Massey, not all healthcare professionals need to use social media as part of their public information campaigns, but those who don’t run the risk of missing out on a huge audience.

Read More: https://www.phillymag.com/healthcare-news/2019/12/04/health-professionals-can-learn-from-instagram-influencers/