social media and health education

1. Social Media for
Health Communications
Channels, Challenges and Celebrations
Federal Training Center Collaboration
Annual Meeting 2012

2. Diane Brodalski
Social Media Team Lead

3. Social Media Definition
• Internet-based tools for
sharing and discussing
information.
• Refers to activities that
integrate technology
and social interaction.

4. Social Media Quick Facts
More than 350 million active Facebook users access
through their mobile device.
Source: Facebook, 12/2011
Social media accounts for one out of every six minutes
spent online in US.
Source: comScore,7/2011
20% of Twitter’s users produce at least 80% of the site’s
content.
Source: Problogger, 7/2011
15% of cell phone users in the US utilize the device to look
for health information.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 5/2011

5. • Complements and strengthens traditional CDC health
communication
• Increases direct user engagement to maintain and
increase trust and credibility between CDC and its
audiences and stakeholders
• Gives CDC the ability to share health information in new
spaces
• Provides opportunity for CDC to reach new audiences
• Allows CDC to listen to its audiences
• Allows for rapid and emergency communication
• Translates research and policy into actionable plain
language
Importance of Social Media at CDC

6. • Influence of the internet to change people’s relationships
• Significant source of health information
– Online sources
– Advice from peers
• Driving online health conversations
– Availability of social media tools
– Increased desire for those living with chronic conditions to
connect
Social Life of Health Information
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, The Social Life of Health Information, 2011, Accessed
May 31, 2011 http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Social-Life-of-Health-INfo.aspx.

7. Social Media Tools Overview

8. Social Media Continuum
Source: CDC. The Health Communicator's Social Media Toolkit. August 2010

9. Social Media Toolkit
(released July 2011)
• Introduction
– Overview
– CDC’s Top Lessons Learned
• Social media tools
– Overview of a variety of tools
Buttons, widgets, online video, podcasts, social
networks
• Social Media Campaign Example
Vital Signs
• Resources and Worksheets
Found at cdc.gov

10. Buttons
• Buttons - Graphics embedded in
websites, blogs and social networking
sites
– Include a call-to-action message and a link
for more information
– Ability to share health information about
campaigns and causes, increase awareness
about health topics and show support for a
cause
– HTML code copied

11. Widgets
• An application that displays the
featured content directly on your web
page.
• Content can be embedded on
personalized home pages, blogs,
and other sites.
• No technical maintenance is
required. CDC.gov updates the
content automatically.

12. CDC Widgets
CDC’s complete
gallery of widgets
can be founds at
cdc.gov/widgets

13. Online video
• Used by partners to share tailored health
communication messages
• Most popular online video sites are YouTube, MSN
and Yahoo

14. Blogs
• A blog is a regularly updated online journal
• Readership varies – some target a small audience, others
may have national readership comparable to national
newspapers.
• Allows readers to leave comments and engage in
conversation.

15. Reasons to Blog
• To share content in a way that allows readers to
leave comments and engage in discussion.
• To discuss a topic that may be too complex for a
tweet or Facebook post.
• To give your topic or program a more personal and
engaging presence than a website allows.

16. Twitter
• A real-time information network
• Twitter users send updates, or “tweets,” that are 140
characters or less in length, and can follow other users’
posts.

17. Why Use Twitter?
• Immediate communication
• Reaches engaged user networks
• Fosters collaboration and
partnership building
• Expand research on the health
impact of social media
• Twitter Guidelines and Best
Practices:
• http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/
guidelines/pdf/twitterguidelines.pdf

18. Twitter Trends
Expanded use – beyond simple message posting
• Twitter Chat
– Often includes Q & A sessions
• Twitterview
– Interview with short-form responses
• Twitter Town Hall
– Followers submit questions on a specific topic
• Live Tweeting
– Tweeting live from an event, often utilized for conferences

19. Recommendations
• Establish a posting schedule
• Post frequently
• Link back to resources for
additional information
• Promote your profile on both
traditional and social media
• Post (retweet) relevant content
• Evaluate
• Track click-throughs
• Analyze influence

20. Social Networking Sites
• Online communities where people can interact with
friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances and others
with similar interests.
• Most sites provide multiple ways for their users to
interact such as chat, email, video, voice chat, file-
sharing, blogging, and discussion groups.

21. Source: http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22Accessed4/2/2012
Source: http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-statistics-2012-02
Facebook
• 845 million monthly active users
• Largest website in the US
• User audience: 57% female, 43%
male
• One in every five page views online
occurs on Facebook
• Average visit to Facebook is 20
minutes
• Visit share by age group has evened
out

22. Social Network Trends
• Facebook and Linkedin most popular
• Growth trends – increase in social networking among
users over 35
• 92% of social network participants use Facebook
• US Facebook users total 151.8 million
• 35% of Facebook users have a college or advanced
degree
• Significant increase of sites via mobile devices
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, Social Networking Sites and our Lives, 2011, Accessed May 31, 2011
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspx

23. CDC Facebook Page
194,000+ Fans since launch
May 1, 2009

24. Recommendations
• Allocate resources
• Develop an posting calendar
• Link back to resources for additional information
• Promote your page on both traditional and social media
• Create content worth sharing
• Develop a comment policy
• Resources
• Facebook Guidelines and Best Practices
http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/guidelines/pdf/FacebookGuidelines.pdf

25. What is mHealth?
• mHealth or mobile health is the use of mobile
technologies – mobile phones, text messaging
services, or applications – to support public
health and medicine.
• Personal and portable

26. Significance of Mobile
• Unique Characteristics
– Simplicity – suitable for regularly scheduled events with a
minimum number of steps/clicks
– Immediacy – instantly delivers content to users
– Context – Delivering services relevant to a user’s location
• Mobile usage is on the rise
—93% of the American population have mobile devices
—35% of American own a smart phone
• Significant increase of sites being accessed via a mobile
device
Source: CTIA Wireless Association. Wireless Quick Facts. CTIA. [Online] October 2010. [Cited: January 2011.]
http://www.ctia.org/media/industry_info/index.cfm/AID/1032311
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Smartphone Adoption and Usage. [Online] July 11, 2011: [Cited: October 2011]
http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/07/more-americans-own-smart-phones-than-passports.html

27. Challenges
• Establishing goals and strategy
– Social media is part of a larger integrated
communications plan
• Identifying a Social Media Champion in your
organization
– Leadership buy in
– Approval
• Justification
– Provide examples of similar organizations utilizing
social media
• Security Issues

28. Challenges
• Content creation
– Writing for social media is different than traditional audience
– Consider clearance procedures
• Embracing and understanding social media’s open
platform
– The nature of an open platform
– Allow for healthy debate
– Monitoring is essential
– Comment policy

29. Celebrations:
Integrated Social Media: Flu
• Extensive message promotion
– Twitter (@CDCflu, 165,578
followers), Facebook, YouTube,
m.cdc.gov, text messaging updates
through CDCgov and CDCFlu
• Interactive tools
—Pledge, IQ Quiz
• CDC flu app challenge
• Spanish channels created
• Flu social media evaluation

30. Celebrations:
Expanding Reach: Vital Signs
• Vital Signs:
—Total social media reach Jan – Dec
2011: 12.3 million
• Full range of social media
products
—Facebook posts
—Tweets
—Buttons, badges, widgets, eCards,
YouTube videos, podcasts
—Digital press release
—Social and traditional media
monitoring and web analytics

31. Celebrations:
Leveraging Timely Events: Contagion
• Over 30 Facebook and Twitter posts
• Leveraged video blogs on YouTube,
Facebook and Twitter
• Promoted blogs and website
• Hosted 3 Twitter chats:
– 350 participants
– Over 87 questions answered
– Gained 615 new followers
– Partner participation by APHA, State
Health Departments, Dr. Besser and
ShareCare.
On September 16, Dr. Jenni McQuiston, Cathy
Young, and the OADC social media team held a live
Twitter chat on how CDC investigates deadly
diseases and protects against their spread.

32. Developing a Social Media
Communications Strategy

33. Social Media
Communications Strategy
• Step-by-step template for strategy development

34. Before you get started: Listen
Listen to your audience and do the following key activities:
• Monitor social media channels
• Identify opinion leaders
• Determine knowledge gaps, “hot topics,” and any
misconceptions that could be addressed in your
communication
• Become familiar with how messages are constructed for the
medium

35. Social Media
Communications Strategy
Key Points
• Define the target audience(s)
• Define the target audience(s) you want to reach. Be specific as
possible.
• Determine objectives that are:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable/Achievable
• Relevant/Realistic
• Time-bound

36. Social Media
Communications Strategy
Message development
– Consider objectives, audience and audience communication
needs
– Pretest if possible
• Resource needs
– Staffing, budget and time requirements

37. Social Media
Communications Strategy
Identify social media tools and channels
– Determine what tools will effectively reach your target audience.
– Match the needs of the target audience with the tools that best
support your objectives and resources.

38. Social Media
Communications Strategy
Define audience communication needs:
– People access information in various ways, at different
times of the day, for different reasons. How does your
audience use social media?
– Resources:
• Pew Internet and American Life Project
• HubSpot
• comScore
Goal Integration
– How do your objectives support your organization’s mission and
/or overall communications plan?

39. Social Media
Communications Strategy
Identify key partners
– Identify key partners to promote and support your social media
efforts
– Identify new potential partners
Define measures of success and develop evaluation plan
– Develop plan before you implement
– Identify measures of success

40. CDC Resources:
Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit
• Available on CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/To
olsTemplates/SocialMediaToolkit_BM.pdf
• Provides guidance and lessons
learned.
• Contents include information
on developing communication
objectives, overview of social
media tools, resource section,
and campaign examples.

41. CDC Resources
• Gateway to Health Communication and Social Marketing
• http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/
• Contains information from CDC and other public and
private resources to help you build social marketing or
health communication campaign or programs.

42. CDC Social Media Guidelines
http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/guidelines/

43. Diane Brodalski
D.Brodalski@ngc.com
@djdowski