Work

From “Infodemics” to Health Promotion: A Novel Framework for the Role of Social Media in Public Health

Year: 2020

Type: editorial

Abstract: Despite the ubiquity of health-related communications via social media, no consensus has emerged on whether this medium, on balance, jeopardizes or promotes public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has been described as the source of a toxic "infodemic" or a valuable tool for public health. No conceptual model exists for examining the roles that social media can play with respect to population health.We present a novel framework to guide the investigation and assessment of the effects of social media on public health: the SPHERE (Social media and Public Health Epidemic and REsponse) continuum. This model illustrates the functions of social media across the epidemic-response continuum, ranging across contagion, vector, surveillance, inoculant, disease control, and treatment.We also describe attributes of the communications, diseases and pathogens, and hosts that influence whether certain functions dominate over others. Finally, we describe a comprehensive set of outcomes relevant to the evaluation of the effects of social media on the public's health.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2020.305746

Authors: Dean Schillinger, Deepti Chittamuru, A. Susana Ramírez

Institutions: San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, Merced, University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Social Media in Health Education

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, U.S. National Library of Medicine