Social Media &
Health Promotion
In an age of globalization and the rapid growth of
technology, developing countries are increasing their use of social media and
have gained access to technologies including cell phones and internet. As a
result, many health interventions have utilized social media as a communication
tool in order to change health behaviors due to its ability to increase information
access as well the ability for such programs to be customizable to a population
(Levac & O’Sullivan,
2016).
However, as a relatively new medium, I have questioned the
unintended consequences of such an outlet on a variety of factors. For
instance, what impact does this have on social skills and potential it has on
limiting physical activity among a given population. Also, with the reliance of
such interventions on the internet and technologies, are they effective and
reliable in global health initiatives? How may we as health professionals
experience the benefit of social media as an effective tool and at the same
time, have little negative impacts on the population we are targeting. Also,
researchers such as Levac and Sullivan (2016) question the long-term
effectiveness of such strategies as the nature of technologies is one that is
in constant change and fluctuation. Social media sites also are sensitive to
the nature of information and the ability for unreliable information to be
published and referred to in at-risk communities. This lack of control increased
the need to educate the public on ways to effectively utilize such social media
tools for it to be effective.
As I read this article, I was interested in your thoughts as
public health professionals from various fields and how you think social media
may or may not have unintended consequences in utilizing it as a strategy in
global health initiatives? Should we continue to use this as a reliable
communication tool?
Reference
Levac, J. J., & O’Sullivan, T. (2016). Social Media and its Use in
Health Promotion. Revue Interdisciplinaire Des Sciences de La Santé -
Interdisciplinary Journal of Health Sciences, 1(1), 47–53.
https://doi.org/10.18192/riss-ijhs.v1i1.1534
Social media is certainly a hot topic right now, and I agree with you that our use of this method must be calculated and meaningful -- the opposite of how social media tends to work in our personal lives! From a public health perspective, I think social media is great for exposure to a topic or issue, but difficult to impart meaningful change. Reading an article or seeing a captioned photo means little when it swims among a sea of other -- at times conflicting -- ideas and lifestyles and recommendations. What an individual sees on social media is also very tailored, so if they are interested in healthy eating or exercise opportunities or mental health/mindfulness strategies, these things will show up on their feeds, but for those not interested, social media may just show a string of photos of friends partying and links to recipes for various forms of fried cheese. In my personal opinion, social media can get the conversation started, but must be followed up with a more personal type of interaction, one that leads to trust, accountability, and meaningful change. Looking at this globally, we also have to consider how social media platforms are used and accessed worldwide.
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