Social Media and Crisis Communications: Ebola and Zika

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: In a crisis, social media has proven to be a critical tool to share credible messages to help address fears and misinformation. Until August 2, 2014, Ebola had never presented on U.S. soil. That changed when two American Ebola patients arrived in the U.S. from Liberia. Concerns about Ebola quickly lit up social media, as people reacted to the news, and CDC turned to social media to address the growing concerns.  

Methods: Cate Shockey from CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response will walk you through the agency’s use of social media during the largest international outbreak response in CDC’s history. 

Results: Cate Shockey will discuss how the use of social media in the Ebola response has influenced how social media is being used in the growing Zika response.

Conclusions: In this session, you will learn how CDC: Monitors social media to inform communications;  Develops engaging, multimedia content to address fears and misinformation; Leverages experts to engage with users during a crisis; Develops stories to personalize the crisis; and Engages with influencers to drive conversations in social media.

Implications for research and/or practice: This presentation will inform the audience how public health practitioners engage the public via social media in the agency's emergency responses in the recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika Virus Disease.