Social Media and Health Education

Photo by Fancycrave.com from Pexels

Social Media and Health Education

Most health organizations have a robust social media presence- because as a digital media tool, social is where they can find and interact with readers. Using videos and images, infographics, and quotes the company can grab the visual attention of the reader. They also send event reminders, scientific articles, fundraising campaigns, and links back to their sites and blogs.

While they can do most of this all on one site, each social media platform has its own niche which means health organizations have to take different approaches based on the tool they use.

3 Social Media Platform Examples

1. Twitter

As a popular micro-blogging tool, Twitter is a perfect source to share campaigns, updates, and have conversations with the audience.

The Twitter account @NPHW is focused solely on National Public Health Week each year and is run by the American Public Health Association. The description makes their purpose and affiliations clear and even includes the hashtag for the campaign. Pretty smart.
Join the American Public Health Association (@publichealth) for National Public Health Week April 1-7, 2019. The #NPHW theme is Creating the Healthiest Nation.
Check out the tweet they pinned on top of their feed to share an activity challenge:

2. Instagram

Is a visual candy store that can cause inordinate of time to pass while you mindlessly scroll through your feed. Health organizations are tapping into that by adding fundraising accomplishments, personal stories, calls for action, and inspirational quotes.

Below is a recent post by the Alzheimer's Association. Their description is simple- Our vision: A world without Alzheimer's disease. #ENDALZ alz.org

They include their website and hashtag, which already has 270,000 tagged images and videos on Instagram alone!

3. Facebook

Regardless of the troubles, Facebook has been experiencing, it continues to be a social media powerhouse and health organizations don't discount it.

The World Health Organization has 3.9 million followers on Facebook and an active feed spanning vaccine facts, breastfeeding and stroke awareness.

These are very popular social media platforms but, that doesn't mean they are the only ones being used to spread health awareness. In order to reach the most people, the health organizations will follow where the crowds congregate online so they are often watching social media trends.

Do you follow any health organizations on social media and do you find that useful? 

If you’ve been following along the series 4 Ways Health Organizations Use Digital Media click on Podcasts Increase Health Awareness for the next section.

Comments

Post a Comment