ABSTRACT

In times of public health emergencies, health agencies need to engage and communicate with the public in real-time to share updates and accurate information. This is especially the case for the COVID-19 pandemic where public engagement can potentially save lives and flatten the curve. This paper considers how the use of interactive features and strategic network positions of health agencies on social media influenced their public engagement outcomes. Specifically, we analyzed 203 U.S. public health agencies’ Twitter activity and the public engagement they received by extracting data from a large-scale Twitter dataset collected from January 21st to May 31st, 2020. Results show that health agencies’ network position in addition to their two-way communication strategy greatly influenced the level of public engagement with their COVID-19 related content on Twitter. Findings highlight the benefits of strategic social media communication of public health agencies resides not only in how agencies use social media but also in their formation of network position to amplify their visibility. As official sources of health and risk information, public health agencies should coordinate their social media communication efforts to strategically position themselves in advantageous network positions to augment public engagement outcomes.

摘要

在突发公共卫生事件期间，卫生机构需要与公众进行实时互动和沟通，以分享最新信息和准确信息。对于 COVID-19 大流行尤其如此，公众参与可能会挽救生命并使曲线变平。本文探讨了卫生机构在社交媒体上使用互动功能和战略网络位置如何影响其公众参与结果。具体来说，我们通过从 2020 年 1 月 21 日至 5 月 31 日收集的大规模 Twitter 数据集中提取数据，分析了 203 家美国公共卫生机构的 Twitter 活动和他们收到的公众参与度。结果表明，卫生机构的网络地位以及他们的双向沟通​​策略极大地影响了公众在 Twitter 上与其 COVID-19 相关内容的参与程度。调查结果强调了公共卫生机构战略性社交媒体传播的好处不仅在于机构如何使用社交媒体，还在于它们形成网络位置以扩大其知名度。作为健康和风险信息的官方来源，公共卫生机构应协调其社交媒体传播工作，以战略性地将自己定位于有利的网络位置，以增强公众参与成果。调查结果强调了公共卫生机构战略性社交媒体传播的好处不仅在于机构如何使用社交媒体，还在于它们形成网络位置以扩大其知名度。作为健康和风险信息的官方来源，公共卫生机构应协调其社交媒体传播工作，以战略性地将自己定位于有利的网络位置，以增强公众参与成果。调查结果强调了公共卫生机构战略性社交媒体传播的好处不仅在于机构如何使用社交媒体，还在于它们形成网络位置以扩大其知名度。作为健康和风险信息的官方来源，公共卫生机构应协调其社交媒体传播工作，以战略性地将自己定位于有利的网络位置，以增强公众参与成果。