Analysis of the Purpose of State Health Departments' Tweets: Information Sharing, Engagement, and Action

Abstract

BackgroundPublic health agencies are actively using social media, including Twitter. In the public health and nonprofit sectors, Twitter has been limited to one-way communication. Two-way, interactive communication on Twitter has the potential to enhance organizational relationships with followers and help organizations achieve their goals by increasing communication and dialog between the organization and its followers. Research shows that nonprofit organizations use Twitter for three main functions: information sharing, community building, and action.ObjectiveIt is not known whether state health departments are using Twitter primarily for one-way information sharing or if they are trying to engage followers to build relationships and promote action. The purpose of this research was to discover what the primary function of Twitter use is among state health departments in the United States and whether this is similar to or different from nonprofit organizations.MethodsA complete list of “tweets” made by each state health department account was obtained using the Twitter application programming interface. We randomly sampled 10% of each state health department’s tweets. Four research assistants hand-coded the tweets’ primary focus (organization centric or personal health information centric) and then the subcategories of information dissemination, engagement, or action. Research assistants coded each tweet for interactivity, sophistication, and redirects to another website. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.ResultsThere were 4221 tweets from 39 state health departments. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of tweets made by a state health department and the state population density (P=.25). The majority of tweets focused on personal health topics (69.37%, 2928/4221) while one-third were tweets about the organization (29.14% , 1230/4221). The main function of organization-based tweets was engagement through conversations to build community (65.77%, 809/1236). These engagement-related tweets were primarily recognition of other organizations’ events (43.6%, 353/809) and giving thanks and recognition (21.4%, 173/809). Nearly all of the personal health information-centric tweets involved general public health information (92.10%, 1399/1519) and 79.03% (3336/4221) of tweets directed followers to another link for more information.ConclusionsThis is the first study to assess the purpose of public health tweets among state health departments. State health departments are using Twitter as a one-way communication tool, with tweets focused primarily on personal health. A state health department Twitter account may not be the primary health information source for individuals. Therefore, state health departments should reconsider their focus on personal health tweets and envision how they can use Twitter to develop relationships with community agencies and partners. In order to realize the potential of Twitter to establish relationships and develop connections, more two-way communication and in...

Risk communication and social media during food safety crises: a study of stakeholders’ opinions in Ireland

“…Features of social media may be particularly appealing to risk communicators in a crisis: messages can be delivered instantly to broad audiences Rutsaert, Pieniak, Regan, McConnon, Kuttschreuter, et al 2013), the prevalent writing style is conversational and personal in tone which allows for expressions of empathy and reassurance (Sweetser and Metzgar 2007), and there is the invaluable opportunity for interaction and engagement with the public (Panagiotopoulos, Barnett, and Brooks 2013;Shan et al forthcoming;Thackeray et al 2012Thackeray et al , 2013. Whilst this suggests a promising role for social media in a food safety crisis, there is less understanding on the willingness of stakeholders within the food sector to adopt and embrace social media.…”

Hidratos de carbono y práctica deportiva: una etnografía virtual en Twitter

“…A la vista de los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación, parece interesante promover acciones encaminadas a fomentar hábitos saludables a través de redes sociales que sean pública-mente accesibles y que ayuden a evitar la adquisición, sobre todo en jóvenes deportistas, de hábitos no saludables. En este sentido la capacidad de esta red social de promover la interacción bidireccional con los usuarios contribuirá al éxito de estas acciones (46). El diseño eficaz de planes y programas que fomenten hábitos alimentarios saludables requiere de un conocimiento y comprensión de los motivos que llevan a la población a adherirse a ciertas prácticas alimentarias emergentes desligadas de las recomendaciones oficiales, pero percibidas por sus seguidores como saludables.…”

Processos de comunicação das operadoras de saúde: apontamentos para utilização da internet para promoção da saúde no Brasil

“…Se por um lado as mídias sociais podem facilitar a comunicação entre os clientes e entre os clientes e a organização (MARCELINO et al, 2016), por outro o valor dos sites de rede social é a sua capacidade de criar, bidireccio-nalmente, a comunicação interativa, contribuindo para o alcance dos objetivos por parte das organizações, se admitida certa renúncia do controle sobre o conteúdo e de uma abordagem mais participativa (RAMANADHAN et al, 2013;THACKERAY et al, 2013).…”