I work in a county health department and am looking for information and advice about incorporating social media (SM)(Facebook and Twitter, for now) as ways to reach certain groups with messages that promote health behaviores, notices and reminders of events and campaigns, etc. I have several questions and concerns, and I'm not convinced about the usefulness of SM. This may be related to my own values and my older demographic. First, do we know enough about these newer ways of communicating to be confident that they do more than impart information? Can SM lead to behavior change and if so, are there examples of campaigns or programs that have used it effectively in this way?
Information overload: do tweets simply add to the constant chatter with which we're bombarded? After a while, are messages communicated via Twitter and piled onto a Facebook page tuned out or lost?
If others have examples of the strategic use of social media in health promotion settings, I would like to learn more.
Thank you.
Theresa Cross
MS RD CD
Clark County Public Health
United States
Using Social Media in Health Promotion
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Hi Theresa
I can't speak for the field of healthcare - but I recently completed a personal challenge whereby for the month of March I used no more than 25 litres of water per day to meet all my daily needs. While I used a lot of traditional media to promote the idea of water conservation, a lot of my contact with people came through social media.
I think the use of social media depends upon the situation. I didn't use Twitter, though I think it may have been helpful. I did however, start a facebook group which attracted some 450 members. Through this I was able to send updates to all members on my progress and I recieved a lot of comments, both via messages and on the wall about how I havd got people thinking about their own individual water consumption - wall posts I think are particularly useful, as they show to others that it is not just one isolated wingnut who is changing beahviour, but that there is support from 'other people like them'. You can view my group page here:
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=501453855104
Its hard to tell whether these comments came from the use of social media in itself or the fact that I was doing something quite different that people couldn't imagine doing themselves. But fair to say Facebook definately helped to get the message out there.
Alina
Alina Siegfried
Water Issues Coordinator
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Canada
www.environmentalsociety.ca
Hi Theresa,
I'm part of the 1 Million Women campaign which aims to empower 1 Million Australian women to take practical action on climate change. We've run several print as well as online communications, and the results speak clearly that digital communications are the way to go... we think this is the case because when people are online, it's so easy to follow a hyperlink to get more information. This may be useful in your campaign in that you can promote a single catchy tag line (something that appeals to the people in your target group - a line they want to be associated with), and provide a link to more information.
SM works because we are so influenced by our peers and many people use SM to keep in touch with their peers. Facebook and Twitter provide different benefits from your perspective - Twitter will bring new content to your members as soon as it becomes available, whilst Facebook groups/fan pages are more static. However, Facebook can become a useful part of your strategy by getting people to create interest about your campaign through their status updates.
Good luck with it all!
Kind regards,
Belinda
Hi Theresa, take a look at this link regarding social media;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=fvst
Michelle Gairdner
Marketing Coordinator
City of Grande Prairie
Canada