Post by Nora E. Lindner, MPH
Where do you go for information on safety? It’s no surprise that many of us would now answer that we rely, at least in part, on social media to learn about health and safety issues affecting ourselves and our families. But as we scroll through our feeds, stumbling upon or seeking out this information, whose advice are we seeing? Is it from a credible and trustworthy source? Do we understand the message being given? And, most importantly, do we know what action we are being asked to take?
Despite the prevalence of social media in our everyday lives, researchers are still learning how social media can be used to provide accurate and actionable health and safety information. In a crowded social media landscape where users quickly scan through content in a seemingly endless feed, it is important to understand how to create content that can make an impression while providing clear messages to help people stay safe and healthy.
On an image-based platform like Instagram, which in 2022 reported almost 160 million users in the U.S. alone, it’s also important to ensure messages are matched with imagery that supports or demonstrates specific actions to take. For example, imagine a post promoting child water safety and the importance of using recommended flotation devices rather than commonly used “floaties.” The post text explaining this distinction is paired with an image of children wearing the very “floaties” it looks to discourage them from using. Confusing and contradicting content like this – where an image does not match the post content – is all too common and can make it difficult to understand the true safety message being presented.
This is just one example of a missed opportunity from a recent study by Dr. Jennifer Manganello, Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at SUNY University at Albany School of Public Health, and Dr. Lara B. McKenzie, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Combining their interests in child injury prevention and health communication, they explored how child injury prevention messages are shared on social media platforms, and Instagram in particular. Injuries are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., but there are many ways to prevent them. So how do we best share this information within the current social media landscape? You can listen to what Drs. Manganello and McKenzie have learned from their research on this episode.
Read their full research findings here.
You can also learn more about injury prevention at CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Nora E. Lindner is a freelance health writer/editor and health communication specialist.
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