scholarly journals Social Media Usage in Health Communication and Its Implications on Public Health Security: A Case Study of COVID-19 in Zanzibar

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e202101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqun Geng ◽  
Rashid Maalim Khamis
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Lanting Wu

Abstract Background In the light of “Internet plus”, hospitals are following the trend of using mobile internet and adopting a strategy of spreading public health knowledge through mobile terminals. WeChat is a social media with the largest number of users in China. Its public account has become the most popular service among the public. Methods We examine the health communication of medical institutions on social media platforms. The WeChat public accounts of Zhejiang Provincial Chinese Traditional Medicine Hospital and Jiangxi Provincial Chinese Traditional Medicine Hospital were taken as cases to measure the communication effect from the following dimensions: update interval, content positioning and design, numbers of clicks and likes as well as topic types. Results The update interval of WeChat public account of Jiangxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was regular, compared with that of the other hospital. The accounts of the two hospitals both set up special sections to facilitate patients to obtain medical services online. There is an extremely significant difference between the two hospitals’ mean numbers of clicks (p < 0. 001), compared with no significant difference between their mean numbers of likes. One-way analysis of variance suggests the type of topic on posts is significantly correlated with the number of clicks. Moreover, there is an extremely significant difference between public health knowledge and news propaganda. Conclusion The development of hospitals’ WeChat public accounts can promote people’s health and equity in accessing medical information and service, and also boost “Internet plus health care” service. The topic type of hospital’s news publicity is paid a relatively lower attention by users. Therefore, hospitals’ WeChat public accounts need to adjust their strategy from propaganda-oriented to users-centered, with topic planning and posts designed to fulfill users’ needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-108
Author(s):  
Tony Johnston

During the COVID-19 pandemic the international outbound travel market from Ireland collapsed, declining at one point by 94%. This case study paper explores the environment which framed the collapse in travel, positioning it as one of conflict and chaos. The main objective is to document and analyse the legal, industry and societal factors which may have contributed to the collapse, identifying the key regulations, decisions, metrics, and societal responses, and exploring their intersection with outbound tourism. Three areas of inquiry are explored, namely: 1) the legal instruments used by government to restrict travel, 2) operational decisions made by industry, and 3) societal and media response to the pandemic. Three findings are presented from the desk research. First, it is suggested that the conflicting agendas of government and public health, the mainstream media and the travel industry would be more effectively dealt with in private as opposed to via news articles, social media arguments, and openly published letters. Second, clarity of communication from all three bodies needs improvement due to its impact on consumer confidence. Finally, the article proposes lessons for government in relation to future crisis management situations regarding outbound travel.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-309
Author(s):  
Joyce Cheah Lynn-Sze ◽  
◽  
Azlina Kamaruddin ◽  

Health opinion leaders have widely embraced social media for health promotion and public health communication which can make a strong influence on the public decision making. However, despite the growing relevance of public health threats such as infectious diseases, pandemic influenza and natural disasters, research has paid little attention to the qualities of opinion leaders. Moreover, there is limited evidence that public health organisations use social media appropriately to engage in meaningful conversations with audiences. Thus, the aims of the study are to describe principles of communication practised by online opinion leaders to promote health issues, to discuss the strategies of social media used, to explain the opinion leaders’ influence attributes in health decision making and finally to develop a model of online opinion leader in the contemporary health promotion era. Content analysis was conducted on Facebook postings of five selected health opinion leaders. In addition, semi-structured interviews with 10 followers were conducted. The findings of the study revealed that there are three principles of communication practised by online opinion leaders, which are language, interaction and themes. There are three strategies opinion leaders use to influence the public: social connectivity, social support and social consultation. Furthermore, there are five opinion leaders’ attributes that influence the public’s decision making, namely personality, authenticity, trust/credibility, professional knowledge and social position. The model would be beneficial in educating and guiding the current public health opinion leaders in order to establish health and social well-being. Keywords: Online opinion leader, online health communication, public health, two-step flow theory, decision making.


Author(s):  
Vladlena Benson ◽  
Stephanie Morgan

Effective social media usage has particular challenges for HE institutions. The many opportunities afforded by social media, increasingly demanded by students, have negative potential. Social technology requires substantial investment to do well, and in particular, it can be very hard to measure its performance. In this chapter, the authors focus on how aligning with strategic objectives can reduce the risk and enhance the effectiveness of social media use throughout the student lifecycle. They also consider the risks which social media investment entails in HE. Using a case study of a UK university, the authors identify common themes for social media adoption in educational settings. They offer practical recommendations and key areas to consider before launching or enhancing a social media strategy in the field of HE.


2019 ◽  
pp. 207-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansi Zhang ◽  
Christopher Wheldon ◽  
Cui Tao ◽  
Adam G. Dunn ◽  
Yi Guo ◽  
...  

2022 ◽  
pp. 753-773
Author(s):  
Ozlen Ozgen ◽  
Veysel Karani Sukuroglu ◽  
Basak Akar

The main purpose of the study is to reveal the relations between the internet and social media usage and the basic motives behind the actions and engagements of political consumers departing from the thoughts and individual experiences of scholars. Therefore, the study first draws a framework of the political consumer, political consumerism, and the effects of political consumerism. Then it investigates the link between the internet and social media use and the aforementioned concepts. In other words, the purpose of the study is to analyze the extent to which internet and social media use and increase the likelihood of engaging in political consumerism through the method of a case study. As a method of sampling, quota sampling method was chosen. The in-depth interviews were performed in a semi-structured form to maintain the coherence and details. The results of this study and similar studies are thought to be beneficial for improving the quality of life for consumers, corporations, and governments related to agenda setting and policy making.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000276422091024
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lovari ◽  
Valentina Martino ◽  
Nicola Righetti

This article aims at exploring a case of information crisis in Italy through the lens of vaccination-related topics. Such a controversial issue, dividing public opinion and political agendas, has received diverse information coverage and public policies over time in the Italian context, whose situation appears quite unique compared with other countries because of a strong media spectacularization and politicization of the topic. In particular, approval of the “Lorenzin Decree,” increasing the number of mandatory vaccinations from 4 to 10, generated a nationwide debate that divided public opinion and political parties, triggering a complex informative crisis and fostering the perception of a social emergency on social media. This resulted in negative stress on lay publics and on the public health system. The study adopted an interdisciplinary framework, including political science, public relations, and health communication studies, as well as a mixed-method approach, combining data mining techniques related to news media coverage and social media engagement, with in-depth interviews to key experts, selected among researchers, journalists, and communication managers. The article investigates reasons for the information crisis and identifies possible solutions and interventions to improve the effectiveness of public health communication and mitigate the social consequences of misinformation around vaccination.


Author(s):  
Murray Lee

Australia, along with nation-states internationally, has entered a new phase of environmentally focused activism, with globalised, coordinated and social media–enabled environmental social movements seeking to address human-induced climate change and related issues such as the mass extinction of species and land clearing. Some environmental protest groups such as Extinction Rebellion (XR) have attracted significant political, media and popular commentary for their sometimes theatrical and disruptive forms of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience. Drawing on green and cultural criminology, this article constitutes an autoethnographic account of environmental protest during the final stages of the initial COVID-19 lockdown in NSW, Australia. It takes as a case study a small protest by an XR subgroup called the Pedal Rebels. The article explores the policing of environmental protest from an activist standpoint, highlighting the extraordinary police resources and powers mobilised to regulate a small peaceful group of ‘socially distanced’ protesters operating within the existing public health orders. It places an autoethnographic description of this protest in the context of policing practice and green and cultural criminology. Additionally, it outlines the way in which such policing is emboldened by changes to laws affecting environmental protest, making activism an increasingly risky activity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Muneo Kaigo ◽  
Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki

This main focus of this article is a case study that analyzes social media usage by a local municipality in Japan, and on the possibilities and problems of complementary communication channels such as social networking services for promoting civil society activities and linking civil society organizations. We examine how in the past, Japanese municipalities have been using social media and social networking services for enhancing civil society and how social networking services are a potential tool that can provide vital information and connect citizens, municipal governments and civil society. This article focuses on the first phase of the Tsukuba Civic Activities Cyber-Square [Tsukuba Shimin Katsudō no Hiroba] on Facebook Experiment in 2012 and how it functioned during and after the May 6, 2012 Tsukuba city tornado disaster for the subsequent relief and support activities during May 2012.


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