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Background
: Digital platforms have become places where people not only find health information, but where they congregate, connect, and discuss their health questions and concerns with those who may be going through a similar circumstance. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center analysis by Susannah Fox: “One-in-four (26%) adult internet users say they have read or watched someone else’s health experience about health or medical issues in the past 12 months[i]. And 16% of adult internet users in the U.S. have gone online in the past 12 months to find others who share the same health concerns."[ii]Since 2012, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health has built a social media program that encourages its online communities to ask questions about complementary and integrative health, share their experiences, and connect with others who may have similar stories. This presentation will address how NCCIH continues to reach people on “old” platforms through focused messaging on one health topic for a sustained length of time coupled with targeted strategies for engagement through Facebook Live and Instagram photo projects.
Program background
: There is more than one way to remain innovative in social media. To stay fresh on “old” platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, NCCIH reaches communities by engaging with them on one specific health topic a month and leveraging the newest features on those platforms to encourage conversation. In December 2016, NCCIH launched a series of digital events around managing stress during the holidays. Facebook Live, a Twitter hashtag, and a month-long Instagram project were integrated to meet a common goal—engage existing NCCIH digital communities around a central topic through the incorporation of new features (Facebook Live) and strategies (crowdsourced photo project).Evaluation Methods and Results
: We evaluated metrics for Facebook using Facebook Insights and Twitter using Symplur. Evaluation metrics for Instagram were manual. In comparison to NCCIH’s previous Facebook Live Q&A (which focused on opioids), the Facebook Live Q&A on stress management was more engaging in terms of reactions, comments, and shares, receiving 21% more reactions, 25% more comments, and 333% more shares. In December, NCCIH’s Instagram posts—of which 15 out of 18 were project related—generated 828 engagements, which is a 102% increase from November (where 409 engagements were generated). NCCIH gained 88 new followers on its Instagram account, which was a 14% increase for the month.Conclusions
: Innovation not only means using new tools, but involves creating and implementing new ideas on old platforms. Building a topic across platforms like a bridge provides an opportunity to engage multiple communities that are already invested in your organization’s work and information.Implications for research and/or practice
: Organizations that might not have the resources to hop from one new platform to the next can work to spend their efforts on revisiting their program strategy and create new opportunities for engagement from within existing platforms. Nothing to disclose[i] Fox, “The Social Life of Health Information” Pew Research Center, 15 Jan 2014
[ii] Ibid.