Socialworks: Your Strategy for Social Media

Background: The use of social media as a method to deliver messages and promote healthy behavior is increasingly prevalent in today’s health communication plans. However, social media tools rise and fall in popularity, attract different types of users, and often require unique strategies to ensure they are used effectively. This makes it challenging for professionals to deduce what social media tools have worked for others, the context for which those tools were employed, and how their use was evaluated.

Program background: To address this challenge, this session introduces SocialWorks: a social media decision-support tool designed to help cancer communicators think strategically about integrating social media into an overall communication plan.

Evaluation Methods and Results: SocialWorks aims to provide health communicators with a decision-support tool that helps them incorporate social media technologies and strategies into their overall communication plan. A web-based tool developed through CDC DCPC and ORISE, SocialWorks allows users to identify appropriate social media channels, and share with other communication professionals their experience and expertise using social media strategies. SocialWorks accomplishes this goal by using an algorithm developed and tested by industry experts. Selecting input choices based on resources, target audience, and goals and objectives, the tool provides suggested platforms to offer the greatest chance of success. The tool provides further assistance by offering suggestions and tips on how to use those platforms effectively. This presentation introduces the audience to the algorithm  prototype of SocialWorks, and demonstrates how the use of SocialWorks complements the other message development and evaluation tools within the HealthCommWorks suite.

Conclusions: SocialWorks reduces the challenges of social media facing today’s health communicators by providing an expert-developed resource for planning a better social media strategy. Built on a tested algorithm, SocialWorks increases professional access to guidance on social media strategy, and reduces barriers to feedback between health communication professionals.

Implications for research and/or practice: SocialWorks introduces a practical and professionally informed method of ensuring social media is effectively used within health communication plans. SocialWorks, and the network of users who participate in it, can enhance the way health communication professionals construct and communicate their strategies for increased social relevance.