Evolving Role of Social Media in Health Communication

Dear Colleagues,

Social media platforms have become an essential channel of digital information, both in the form of social networks and video networks [1]. As in other fields such as journalism [2,3], these platforms are very important in healthcare communication between the public, patients, and professionals [4]. Among the uses of social media for health communication are reaching broader audiences, disseminating critical information, and fostering public engagement [5]. Their presence has been noted in global health crises such as Ebola [6], COVID-19 [7,8] and mpox [9]. However, beyond health literacy and crisis communication, social networking sites play a key role in a context defined by increasing misinformation and disinformation—also about health [10]—and a decreasing trust in news media and in official information sources [11,12]. The rise of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where young audiences inhabit, also justifies the need to investigate how health communication and health journalism are adapting to them since they are often used to search for health-related topics [13].

This Special Issue focuses on health communication, health journalism, and social media. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines, including health communication, health journalism, journalism, disinformation, and fact-checking studies. Submissions to this issue may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• The role of social media platforms in health communication and health literacy;
• The impact of social media in public health (e.g., mental health challenges, eating disorders, cyberbullying, misinformation and disinformation spreading, etc.);
• Health misinformation and disinformation and fact-checking in social media;
• News media initiatives specialized in health journalism;
• The analysis of health-related content in social media;
• The news media representation of health and disease, including news sources and news frames;
• The relationship between health communication and social media platforms, including (health) crisis communication management and platform policies;
• Institutional campaigns in social media for public health communication, intervention, and prevention;
• Social media management in public health institutions;
• The ethics surrounding health information spreading and social media platforms.

References

1. Newman, N.; Fletcher, R.; Robertson, C.T.; Ross Arguedas, A.; & Kleis Nielsen, R. Digital News Report 2024. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, 2024.
2. Hendrickx, J.; & Vázquez-Herrero, J. Dissecting social media journalism: A comparative study across platforms, outlets and countries. Journal. Stud.2024, 25, 1053–1075. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2024.2324318
3. Lewis, S.C.; & Molyneux, L. A decade of research on social media and journalism: Assumptions, blind spots, and a way forward.  Media Commun. 2018, 6, 11–23. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1562
4. Moorhead, S.A.; Hazlett, D.E.; Harrison, L.; Carroll, J.K.; Irwin, A.; & Hoving, C. A new dimension of health care: Systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication. J. Med Internet Res. 2013, 15, https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1933
5. Neiger, B.L.; Thackeray, R.; Van Wagenen, S.A.; Hanson, C.L.; West, J.H.; Barnes, M.D.; & Fagen, M.C. Use of social media in health promotion: Purposes, key performance indicators, and evaluation metrics. Health Promot. Pract. 2012, 13, 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839911433467
6. Guidry, J.P.D.; Jin, Y.; Orr, C.A.; Messner, M.; & Meganck, S. Ebola on Instagram and Twitter: How health organizations address the health crisis in their social media engagement. Public Relat. Rev. 2017, 43, 477–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.04.009.
7. Li, Y.; Guan, M.; Hammond, P.; & Berrey, L.E. Communicating COVID-19 information on TikTok: A content analysis of TikTok videos from official accounts featured in the COVID-19 information hub. Health Educ. Res. 2021, 36, 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab010
8. Malik, A.; Laeeq Khan, M.; & Quan-Haase, A. Public health agencies outreach through Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic: Crisis and emergency risk communication perspective. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2021, 61, 102346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102346.
9. Garcia-Iglesias, J.; May, T.; Pickersgill, M.; Williams, J.; Nagington, M.; Buijsen, S.; McHugh, C.; & Horwood, J. Social media as a public health tool during the UK mpox outbreak: A qualitative study of stakeholders’ experiences. BMJ Public Health, 2023, 1, e000407. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2023-000407
10. Walter, N.; Brooks, J.J.; Saucier, C.J.; & Suresh, S. Evaluating the Impact of Attempts to Correct Health Misinformation on Social Media: A Meta-Analysis. Health Commun. 2020, 36, 1776–1784. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1794553
11. Nguyen, D. Mediatisation and datafication in the global COVID-19 pandemic: on the urgency of data literacy. Media Int. Aust. 2021, 178, 210–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X20947563
12. Schulz, P.J.; & Nakamoto, K. The perils of misinformation: when health literacy goes awry. Nat. Rev. Nephrol. 2022, 18, 135–136. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-021-00534-z
13. Levin-Zamir, D.; & Bertschi, I. Media health literacy, Ehealth literacy, and the role of the social environment in context. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2018, 15, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081643

Prof. Dr. Jorge Vázquez-Herrero
Dr. Rita Araújo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• health communication
• journalism
• health literacy
• social media
• disinformation
• fact-checking
• news