Breastfeed4Ghana: Design and evaluation of an innovative social media campaign

Harding, Kassandra; Aryeetey, Richmond; Carroll, Grace; Lasisi, Opeyemi; Pérez‐Escamilla, Rafael; Young, Marissa

doi:10.1111/mcn.12909

Cited by 24 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Over the last five years, several groups have implemented Twitter awareness campaigns focused on breast cancer [ 10 ], skin cancer [ 11 ], mental health [ 12 ], cardio-oncology [ 13 ], HPV vaccination [ 14 ], and breastfeeding [ 15 , 16 ]. Independent of the varied content, audience, and duration across the studies, the methods used to assess campaigns were limited to one or several of the following approaches: content analysis of tweets; survey-based assessment of users’ knowledge; and/or quantitative analysis of Twitter Analytics metrics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-time Twitter interactions during World Breastfeeding Week: A case study and social network analysis

et al. 2021

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Using Twitter to implement public health awareness campaigns is on the rise, but campaign monitoring and evaluation are largely dependent on basic Twitter Analytics. To establish the potential of social network theory-based metrics in better understanding public health campaigns, we analyzed real-time user interactions on Twitter during the 2020 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) as an exemplar case. Social network analysis (SNA), including community and influencer identification, as well as topic modeling were used to compare the activity of n = 29,958 campaign participants and n = 10,694 reference users from the six-months pre-campaign period. Users formed more inter-connected relationships during the campaign, retweeting and mentioning each other 46,161 times compared to 10,662 times in the prior six months. Campaign participants formed identifiable communities that were not only based on their geolocation, but also based on interests and professional background. While influencers who dominated the WBW conversations were disproportionally members of the scientific community, the campaign did mobilize influencers from the general public who seemed to play a “bridging” role between the public and the scientific community. Users communicated about the campaign beyond its original themes to also discuss breastfeeding within the context of social and racial inequities. Applying SNA allowed understanding of the breastfeeding campaign’s messaging and engagement dynamics across communities and influencers. Moving forward, WBW could benefit from improving targeting to enhance geographic coverage and user interactions. As this exemplar case indicates, social network theory and analysis can be used to inform other public health campaigns with data on user interactions that go beyond traditional metrics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-time Twitter interactions during World Breastfeeding Week: A case study and social network analysis

et al. 2021

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“…From a public health standpoint, ensuring parents are well-informed and well-supported requires large-scale breastfeeding promotion efforts which strategically target members of society who can influence parents directly or indirectly through their words and actions (i.e., mother’s family and friends, providers of healthcare and childcare, employers and co-workers, policy makers) [ 8 ]. As shown in other health areas such chronic disease prevention, and more recently for breastfeeding promotion, social media may be a promising platform to execute such efforts at scale [ 9 – 11 ]. However, to adequately do so, theory-grounded analytic approaches are required to identify networks (groups of people who interact together), recognize influencers (leaders in these networks), and understand message diffusion pathways.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the breastfeeding promotion space, researchers have reported that social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook can support breastfeeding environments [ 11 – 13 ]. However, work in this area has typically only focused on content analysis of posts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusing science through social networks: The case of breastfeeding communication on Twitter

et al. 2020

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Breastfeeding is one of many health practices known to support the survival and health of mother and infant, yet low breastfeeding rates persist globally. These rates may be influenced by limited diffusion of evidence-based research and guidelines from the scientific community (SC). As recently highlighted by the National Academy of Sciences, there is a need for the SC to diffuse its findings to the public more effectively online, as means to counteract the spread of misinformation. In response to this call, we gathered data from Twitter for one month from major breastfeeding hashtags resulting in an interconnected social network (n = 3,798 users). We then identified 59 influencers who disproportionately influenced information flow using social network analysis. These influencers were from the SC (e.g. academics, researchers, health care practitioners), as well as interested citizens (IC) and companies. We then conducted an ego-network analysis of influencer networks, developed ego maps, and compared diffusion metrics across the SC, IC and company influencers. We also qualitatively analyzed their tweets (n = 711) to understand the type of information being diffused. SC influencers were the least efficient communicators. Although having the highest tweeting activity (80% of tweets), they did not reach more individuals compared to IC and companies (two-step ego size: 220± 99, 188 ± 124, 169 ± 97 respectively, P = 0.28). Content analysis of tweets suggest IC are more active than the SC in diffusing evidence-based breastfeeding knowledge, with 35% of their tweets around recent research findings compared to only 12% by the SC. Nonetheless, in terms of outreach to the general public, the two-step networks of SC influences were more heterogenous than ICs (55.7 ± 5.07, 50.9 ± 12.0, respectively, P<0.001). Collectively, these findings suggest SC influencers may possess latent potential to diffuse research and evidence-based practices. However, the research suggests specific ways to enhance diffusion.

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“…First, we used a mixed-methods design which is only recently becoming increasingly adopted as an approach to understand supports and constraints of public health communications. For example, others have described social media activity using simple metrics such as number of likes or number of followers [30][31][32][33]. However, quantitative study designs alone overlook nuanced differences in why and how people communicate to address interpersonal or ideological challenges they may be facing within their research or practice fields.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breastfeeding Communication Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities in the Twitter-Verse: Perspectives of Influencers and Social Network Analysis

Moukarzel

Caduff

Rehm

et al. 2021

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Using social media is one important strategy to communicate research and public health guidelines to the scientific community and general public. Empirical evidence about which communication strategies are effective around breastfeeding messaging is scarce. To fill this gap, we aimed to identify influencers in the largest available Twitter database using social network analysis (n = 10,694 users), inductively analyze tweets, and explore communication strategies, motivations, and challenges via semi-structured interviews. Influencers had diverse backgrounds within and beyond the scientific health community (SHC; 42.7%): 54.7% were from the general public and 3% were companies. SHC contributed to most of the tweets (n = 798 tweets), disseminating guidelines and research findings more frequently than others (p < 0.001). Influencers from the general community mostly tweeted opinions regarding the current state of breastfeeding research and advocacy. Interviewees provided practical strategies (e.g., preferred visuals, tone, and writing style) to achieve personal and societal goals including career opportunities, community support, and improved breastfeeding practices. Complex challenges that need to be addressed were identified. Ideological differences regarding infant feeding may be hampering constructive communication, including differences in influencers’ interpretation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and in perspectives regarding which social media interactions encompass conflict of interest.

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Breastfeed4Ghana: Design and evaluation of an innovative social media campaign

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Real-time Twitter interactions during World Breastfeeding Week: A case study and social network analysis

Real-time Twitter interactions during World Breastfeeding Week: A case study and social network analysis

Diffusing science through social networks: The case of breastfeeding communication on Twitter

Breastfeeding Communication Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities in the Twitter-Verse: Perspectives of Influencers and Social Network Analysis

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