Health Risk Information Engagement and Amplification on Social Media

Abstract

Emerging pandemics call for unique health communication and education strategies in which public health agencies need to satisfy the public's information needs about possible risks while preventing risk exaggeration and dramatization. As a route to providing a framework for understanding public information behaviors in response to an emerging pandemic, this study examined the characteristics of communicative behaviors of social media audiences in response to Ebola outbreak news. Grounded in the social amplification of risks framework, this study adds to an understanding of information behaviors of online audiences by showing empirical differences in audience engagement with online health information. The data were collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Facebook channel. The final data set included 809 CDC posts and 35,916 audience comments. The analysis identified the differences in audience information behaviors in response to an emerging pandemic, Ebola, and health promotion posts. While the CDC had fewer posts on Ebola than health promotion topics, the former received more attention from active page users. Furthermore, audience members who actively engaged with Ebola news had a small overlap with those who engaged with non-Ebola information during the same period. Overall, this study demonstrated that information behavior and audience engagement is topic dependent. Furthermore, audiences who commented on news about an emerging pandemic were homogenous and varied in their degree of information amplification.

Digital Technology and Mobile Applications Impact on Zika and Ebola Epidemics Data Sharing and Emergency Response

“…Full spectrum of promotion of national health systems prevention, treatment, and care services in an inclusive way that provides equal access and brings new opportunities and benefits to personalized medicine, technology and social practices to a globalised world [6,7]. However, digital innovations during and post-Zika and Ebola outbreak continue to be developed; unforeseen consequences should be tackled promptly [5,6]. Ethical, legal and medical issues associated Zika complications and use of compassionated serum treatment during Ebola or deployment of military forces in vector breeding sites ablation, care delivery and human protection have been reported and patient/survivors rights considerations that emerge from international Zika and Ebola response have also been documented in affected areas in West Africa Ebola, or Zika epidemics in Brazil, Cuba, The America and Colombia [2,3,6,8].…”

“…Moreover, in strengthening Aedes mosquito and great-apes and treatment care delivery or effective response strategy in these recent epidemics through various IT applications [6,18]. For example Zika epidemics-related Twitter incidence showed that User-generated contents sites were preferred direct information channels rather than those of the government authorities including societal impact of the outbreak; government, public and private sector, and general public responses to the outbreak; pregnancy negative health consequences related to pregnant women and babies outcomes, microcephaly and neurological syndrome; transmission routes; and new case reports [3,5,9,17]. A recent published paper on Zika epidemics have shown that the public showed more concern about the complications or consequences it had for women and babies, whereas WHO and CDC increased Zika epidemics guidelines and precautionary measures for women at child bearing information, awareness and active education.…”

“…These countries currently have very weak health systems with limited resources to effectively treat sick patients, and curb the spread as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under the International Health Regulations, 2005. The rapid spread of the virus has triggered a response from organizations, politicians, researchers, healthcare workers, and volunteers worldwide in ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for future generations [5].…”

“…Information and communication Technologies (ICTs) ICTs help support effective outbreak surveillance and control strategies, including but not limited to, contact tracing, social mobilization, mapping, communication, monitoring, and response [4,5]. It also can assist national and international efforts to control the spread of the disease, have played, and continue to play a critical role in raising awareness about Ebola, prevent the spread of the disease, and support the role of frontline healthcare workers by providing better means to communicate simple, trustful and reliable instructions and information [6].…”

“…There is much that we do not yet know about Zika and Ebola survivors long-term impacts and its relationship to disability and poor health outcomes that are being reported in affected areas [1,[3][4][5]13,14]. Robust and sustained financial resources and leadership commitment are needed to investigate reservoirs, immune response profile and evolving risk factors of these outbreaks (animal, environment, human interface), and much needed for evidence-based, programmatic and effective mitigation actions to the best extent possible.…”