Emotional Feedback and the Viral Spread of Social Media Messages About Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Objective. To determine whether exchanges of emotional language between health advocacy organizations and social media users predict the spread of posts about autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Methods. I created a Facebook application that tracked views of ASD advocacy organizations' posts between July 19, 2011, and December 18, 2012. I evaluated the association between exchanges of emotional language and viral views of posts, controlling for additional characteristics of posts, the organizations that produced them, the social media users who viewed them, and the broader social environment. Results. Exchanges of emotional language between advocacy organizations and social media users are strongly associated with viral views of posts. Conclusions. Social media outreach may be more successful if organizations invite emotional dialogue instead of simply conveying information about ASDs. Yet exchanges of angry language may contribute to the viral spread of misinformation, such as the rumor that vaccines cause ASDs.

Tweet for Behavior Change: Using Social Media for the Dissemination of Public Health Messages

“…With fear-based approaches too comes the possibility of unintended effects such as dissonance or desensitization, as alluded to by Cho and Salmon [47]. However, a recent work from Bail [48] found that positive emotional content increased the virility of messages used for a social media Facebook campaign. Bail [48] suggests that social media campaigns must not rely on fear-based tactics to draw attention to their cause, but that campaigns may benefit from the use of positive emotional language.…”

Vaccination communication strategies: What have we learned, and lost, in 200 years?

“…This cannot be countered merely by recitation of fact. Public health campaigns, especially on social media, need to invite emotional dialogue to be more successful, acknowledging and respecting the real fears of an audience who have doubts about the ability of the medical profession to help them [Bail, 2016]. Advocates for childhood vaccination need to employ greater pathos in their communication -simply stating 'these are the scientific facts.…”

“…Somewhere in the last 200 years it appears that feelings and emotions have been downplayed, or at worst ignored, victims of the general rationalisation and bureaucratisation of western society during that period [Weber, 1978]. To gain any traction in addressing vaccine hesitancy, government health agencies need to acknowledge the role of emotion in creating effective communication strategies [Bail, 2016].…”

“…Fear based campaigns by health authorities have been used effectively in the past to raise awareness of issues such as lung cancer and HIV [Leshner, Bolls and Thomas, 2009]. These campaigns have been effective in getting attention, however more recent studies have suggested that using positive emotional language may lead to greater sharing of health messages, as seen in the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' [Bail, 2016]. Bail [2016] concluded that public health organizations cannot control how people will respond to a message, but simply describing recent advances or scientific information will not engage their target audience.…”

“…These campaigns have been effective in getting attention, however more recent studies have suggested that using positive emotional language may lead to greater sharing of health messages, as seen in the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' [Bail, 2016]. Bail [2016] concluded that public health organizations cannot control how people will respond to a message, but simply describing recent advances or scientific information will not engage their target audience. They need to attempt to connect the emotions their audience may feel, such as fear or uncertainty about vaccine safety, to the information they provide, and genuinely attempt to address those fears without goading further negative emotional response.…”