Exploring Sub-Saharan Africa’s Communication of COVID-19-Related Health Information on Social Media

Asubiaro, Toluwase Victor; Badmus, Oluwole Martins; Ikenyei, Uche; Popoola, Biliamin Oladele; Igwe, Ebelechukwu Gloria

doi:10.1515/libri-2020-0097

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Nimble tactics also influenced PHAs’ effectiveness. To increase their reach within their jurisdiction, PHAs adopted multilingual health messages [ 14 , 15 , 66 ]. They also utilized appropriate terminology in their messages [ 67 ] and offered advice using culturally fitting strategies [ 54 , 68 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public health agencies’ use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature

Balogun¹,

Hogden

Kemp

et al. 2023

PHRP

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Public health agencies (PHAs) have increasingly incorporated social media into their communication mix during successive pandemics in the 21st century. However, the quality, timing, and accuracy of their health messages have varied significantly, resulting in mixed outcomes for communication, audience engagement, and pandemic management. This study aimed to identify factors influencing the effectiveness of pandemic-related health messages shared by PHAs on social media and to report their impact on public engagement as documented in the literature. A scoping literature review was conducted following a predefined protocol. An electronic search of 7 relevant databases and 5 grey literature repositories yielded 9,714 papers published between January 2003 and November 2022. Seventy-three papers were deemed eligible and selected for review. The results underscored the insufficiency of social media guidance policies for PHAs. Six themes were identified: message source, message topic, message style, message timing, content credibility and reliability, and message recipient profile. These themes encompassed 20 variables that could inform PHAs’ social media public health communication during pandemics. Additionally, the findings revealed potential interconnectedness among the variables, and this study concluded by proposing a conceptual model that expands upon existing theoretical foundations for developing and evaluating pandemic-related health messaging.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PHAs have increasingly incorporated the use of social media into their communication mix with each successive pandemic [ 14 ]. Pandemics typically involve significant uncertainty and knowledge gaps, which intensify the demand for accurate and reliable health information [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health agencies’ use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature

Balogun¹,

Hogden

Kemp

et al. 2023

PHRP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The first study that specifically examined the issue of misinformation on social media appeared in 2015, which analysed reactions to non-evidence-based, speculative treatments of Ebola virus during a 2014 outbreak 74. As the use of social media by the public has increased, its use by government, health authorities and communities for the purposes of risk communication has also increased and become more complex 75 76. Most recently, elements of disease control functions have emerged, particularly in the context of the recent COVID-19 global pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 74 As the use of social media by the public has increased, its use by government, health authorities and communities for the purposes of risk communication has also increased and become more complex. 75 76 Most recently, elements of disease control functions have emerged, particularly in the context of the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. This research is currently in its infancy, and more studies are required in order to build an evidence base for social media based strategies for health authorities to effectively minimise and contain the spread of infectious disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social media in public health crises caused by infectious disease: a scoping review

Terry,

Yang,

Yao

et al. 2023

BMJ Glob Health

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ImportanceThe onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic highlighted the increasing role played by social media in the generation, dissemination and consumption of outbreak-related information.ObjectiveThe objective of the current review is to identify and summarise the role of social media in public health crises caused by infectious disease, using a five-step scoping review protocol.Evidence reviewKeyword lists for two categories were generated: social media and public health crisis. By combining these keywords, an advanced search of various relevant databases was performed to identify all articles of interest from 2000 to 2021, with an initial retrieval date of 13 December 2021. A total of six medical and health science, psychology, social science and communication databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO and CNKI. A three-stage screening process against inclusion and exclusion criteria was conducted.FindingsA total of 338 studies were identified for data extraction, with the earliest study published in 2010. Thematic analysis of the role of social media revealed three broad themes: surveillance monitoring, risk communication and disease control. Within these themes, 12 subthemes were also identified. Within surveillance monitoring, the subthemes were disease detection and prediction, public attitude and attention, public sentiment and mental health. Within risk communication, the subthemes were health advice, information-seeking behaviour, infodemics/misinformation circulation, seeking help online, online distance education and telehealth. Finally, within disease control, the subthemes were government response, public behaviour change and health education information quality. It was clear that the pace of research in this area has gradually increased over time as social media has evolved, with an explosion in attention following the outbreak of COVID-19.Conclusions and relevanceSocial media has become a hugely powerful force in public health and cannot be ignored or viewed as a minor consideration when developing public health policy. Limitations of the study are discussed, along with implications for government, health authorities and individual users. The pressing need for government and health authorities to formalise evidence-based strategies for communicating via social media is highlighted, as well as issues for individual users in assessing the quality and reliability of information consumed on social media platforms.

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“…Social media has served as a key source for diffusing time-sensitive information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows more than 86% of African countries’ national health ministries disseminated COVID-19-related information through their social media accounts ( Asubiaro et al, 2021 ). Ohme et al (2020) found during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, people in Belgium spent 74% more time than usual on social media apps to stay informed, in sync, and in touch with society.…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Humor to Promote Social Distancing on Tiktok During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022

Front. Psychol.

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BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, many humorous videos on how to practice social distancing appeared on social media. However, the effect of using humor as a crisis communication strategy to persuade people to conform to social distancing rules is not known.ObjectiveDrawing on the literature on humorous message framing and crisis communication, this research explores the effectiveness of a humorous message in communicating social distancing rules in two crisis severity phases (low vs. high severity) and also evaluates how humor affects individuals’ online and offline engagement intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA 2 (message framing: humorous vs. non-humorous) x 2 (crisis severity phase: low vs. high) between-subjects design experiment was conducted to test the research questions during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in China from January 30 to February 2, 2020.ResultsThe results showed that the severity of the phase of a health crisis can significantly affect stakeholders’ online and offline responses toward the disease. More specifically, in a low severity phase, humor led to increased source likability for the message, and more online and offline engagement intentions. However, no differences between a humorous and non-humorous message in perceived risk were observed. Whereas, in a high severity crisis phase, humor reduced individuals’ offline engagement intentions and a decrease in perceived risk, no significant difference was found between a humorous and non-humorous message on source likeability.ConclusionHumor can motivate both more online engagement and offline protective action intention when the crisis severity phase is low, while when crisis severity soars, a non-humorous message should be more desirable. More specifically, using humor in communicating information about an infectious disease can enhance the spokesperson’s likeability in a low severity phase, and also helps to spread health information to a larger audience. While, the negative side of using humor in communicating an infectious disease appears in severe crisis phases, as it then decreased the public’s perception of risk, and triggers less protective actions. Going beyond previous research, this study recognized that crisis severity changes in different phases of the spread of infectious disease, thereby providing actionable strategy selections for crisis practitioners in a dynamic communication environment.

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Exploring Sub-Saharan Africa’s Communication of COVID-19-Related Health Information on Social Media

Cited by 11 publications

References 25 publications

Public health agencies’ use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature

Public health agencies’ use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature

The role of social media in public health crises caused by infectious disease: a scoping review

Using Humor to Promote Social Distancing on Tiktok During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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