The First 60 Days: American Public Health Agencies' Social Media Strategies in the Emerging COVID-19 Pandemic

Sutton, Jeannette; Renshaw, Scott Leo; Butts, Carter T.

doi:10.1089/hs.2020.0105

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…These groups are generally regarded as the particularly vulnerable in cases of a disaster or crisis (Tierney, 2014), and studies have repeatedly highlighted the importance of their preparedness for public health emergencies (Andrulis et al, 2007). This result echoes the findings by Sutton et al (2020), who analyzed Twitter communications by governmental public health agencies in the United States during the first 2 months of the pandemic noting the absence of hashtags specifically directed to at-risk groups. Tailored messages, as opposed to broad messages targeting the general public, are needed to reach different social groups, specifically in the context of health communication (Kreuter et al, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

Tagliacozzo

Albrecht

Ganapati

2021

American Behavioral Scientist

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Communicating during a crisis can be challenging for public agencies as their communication ecology becomes increasingly complex while the need for fast and reliable public communication remains high. Using the lens of communication ecology, this study examines the online communication of national public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Based on content analysis of Twitter data ( n = 856) and agency press releases ( n = 95), this article investigates two main questions: (1) How, and to what extent, did national public health agencies coordinate their online communication with other agencies and organizations? (2) How was online communication from the agencies diversified in terms of targeting specific organizations and social groups? Our findings indicate that public health agencies relied heavily on internal scientific expertise and predominately coordinated their communication efforts with national government agencies. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that agencies in each country differed in how they diversify information; however, all agencies provided tailored information to at least some organizations and social groups. Across the three countries, information tailored for several vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and homeless populations) was largely absent, which may contribute to negative consequences for these groups.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

Tagliacozzo

Albrecht

Ganapati

2021

American Behavioral Scientist

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“…Eighteen of the included studies applied a quantitative statistical analysis in terms of content analysis or infodemiology studies of diverse media types (television, social media platforms, and YouTube) or webstudies. Three of these studies examined media trends over time (one- to four-month period) [ 15 , 59 , 64 ]. Two studies applied a qualitative content/thematic analysis of media types [ 54 , 56 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Twitter, textual messages, and video. Sutton et al [ 15 ] COVID-19 To identify, and describe the patterns of longitudinal risk communication from public health communicating agencies on Twitter during the first 60 days of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative content analyses of textual content.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Risk communication is an interdisciplinary field of research and practice [ 14 ]. In the context of public health emergencies, “health communication” is an integrated part of risk communication, which is emphasised by the literature using the term “health risk communication” [ 13 , 15 – 18 ]. Health communication and risk communication in public health emergencies, including pandemics, aims to improve health outcomes by influencing, engaging and reaching out to different at-risk audiences with health-related information [ 12 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health authorities’ health risk communication with the public during pandemics: a rapid scoping review

et al. 2021

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Background Responses from the H1N1 swine flu pandemic and the recent COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic provide an opportunity for insight into the role of health authorities’ ways of communicating health risk information to the public. We aimed to synthesise the existing evidence regarding different modes of communication used by health authorities in health risk communication with the public during a pandemic. Methods We conducted a rapid scoping review. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for publications in English from January 2009 through October 2020, covering both the full H1N1 pandemic and the response phase during the COVID-19 pandemic. The search resulted in 1440 records, of which 48 studies met our eligibility criteria. Results The present review identified studies across a broad interdisciplinary field of health risk communication. The majority focused on the H1N1 pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. A content analysis of the studies identified three categories for modes of communication: i) communication channels, ii) source credibility and iii) how the message is communicated. The identified studies on social media focused mainly on content and engagement, while studies on the effect of the use of social media and self-protective behaviour were lacking. Studies on the modes of communication that take the diversity of receivers in the field into account are lacking. A limited number of studies of health authorities’ use of graphic and audio-visual means were identified, yet these did not consider/evaluate creative communication choices. Conclusion Experimental studies that investigate the effect of health authorities’ videos and messages on social media platforms and self-protective behaviour are needed. More studies are needed across the fields of health risk communication and media studies, including visual communication, web design, video and digital marketing, at a time when online digital communication is central to reaching the public.

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“…But we quickly (or not quickly enough?) saw that this is not an individual-level effort but a collective one, and thus requires sustained, community-level messages (Sutton et al, under review). As we get tired of social distancing and become eager to interact with our friends and neighbors again, the campaigns and other strategies encouraging us to keep up with safe practices will become even more important.…”

Section: Organizational and Societal Sensemakingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collective Sensemaking Around COVID-19: Experiences, Concerns, and Agendas for our Rapidly Changing Organizational Lives

Stephens

Jahn

Fox

et al. 2020

Management Communication Quarterly

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100

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Uncertainty is at the forefront of many crises, disasters, and emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different in this regard. In this forum, we, as a group of organizational communication scholars currently living in North America, engage in sensemaking and sensegiving around this pandemic to help process and share some of the academic uncertainties and opportunities relevant to organizational scholars. We begin by reflexively making sense of our own experiences with adjusting to new ways of working during the onset of the pandemic, including uncomfortable realizations around privilege, positionality, race, and ethnicity. We then discuss key concerns about how organizations and organizing practices are responding to this extreme uncertainty. Finally, we offer thoughts on the future of work and organizing informed by COVID-19, along with a list of research practice considerations and potentially generative research questions. Thus, this forum invites you to reflect on your own experiences and suggests future directions for research amidst and after a cosmology event.

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The First 60 Days: American Public Health Agencies' Social Media Strategies in the Emerging COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 26 publications

References 19 publications

International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

Health authorities’ health risk communication with the public during pandemics: a rapid scoping review

Collective Sensemaking Around COVID-19: Experiences, Concerns, and Agendas for our Rapidly Changing Organizational Lives

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