The Center for Disease Control on Instagram
The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) is an American organization whose purpose is to prevent America from threats in the form of diseases that may arise from within the country or abroad. They identify new and emerging dangers and react to them concerning their mission. It uses its resources to sensitize Americans and show them ways to prevent inevitable outbreaks and any disease that may seem like a threat. Some of these resources include social media sites, being the most used means of communication in the 21st century. Social media, in this case, is identified as a collection of digital networks used for public health communication (Abroms, 2019). One of these tools used by the CDC to relay information and advice for upcoming health threats in the world is Instagram which has over two million followers.
Instagram uses photos and videos for communication among its users primarily. These photos and videos are captioned with details to explain their visual representation. For the past three weeks, CDC on Instagram has proved to be functional by employing most of the site’s features to engage its followers. Most of the organization’s posts are meant to sensitize the world population on how to stay safe from the deadly disease, COVID-19, in terms of prevention measures, vaccination, and statistics on its spread (Gatewood et al., 2020). Occasionally, other infectious diseases such as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and the Pink Eye, talked about on 16th March this year, are featured in these posts as a part of the sensitization process. Furthermore, the platform has been used to remind people of constant health checks such as immunization schedules for children to maintain health throughout the country. All in all, the CDC tries to address most of the world’s problems in terms of infectious and contagious diseases through its social media presence.
Audience Engagement
The organization creates at least four posts a day in both videos and photos to engage its followers. These images are accompanied by relevant captions explaining the essence of the question posed or information given in the picture. However, this does not seem to be enough for effective awareness as comments and questions are rarely given a response. The account manager’s responsibility is to respond to the inquiries under their posts to explain further the health issues they intend to address. This public health organization has inadequately used this feature.
Another frequently used feature is the ‘stories’ feature on Instagram, where information posted disappears after twenty-four hours. This feature has been utilized mainly for the global pandemic, COVID-19. There is a link leading to a web page where more information on that specific piece of information is given in detail on each post. In terms of engagement, the stories feature has been underutilized. The stories are designed to hardly allow the audience to reply or ask questions through private messages. A choice to send a direct message to the user who utilizes this feature is standard for most people; it is a requirement for effective interaction with the individuals who follow that Instagram account.
Suggestions to Improve Community Engagement
The organization has also utilized the IGTV (Instagram Television) feature, which allows videos as long as one hour to be uploaded. In these videos, they have taken the opportunity to answer frequently asked questions in detail. They give step-by-step instructions on self-care, prevention measures, and treatment for a specific disease. However, this feature has not been utilized for over three months. The frequent use of this feature for sensitization could serve an excellent purpose for prevention and hope for its audience; if they use it to update the world on their efforts to stop the spread of a particular disease.
For better audience engagement, the organization could use the stories feature to ask its followers questions. It can be used to get data on its viewers’ situations, facilitating better research strategies on emerging health concerns (Giustini et al., 2018). It can come in handy, specifically during the ongoing pandemic, as the disease has been proven to mutate and infect with new symptoms. They could also use the direct message feature under ‘stories’ to answer individual distress calls, making a difference in that person’s life. The stories feature could also be used for polls to gather data on how many people are affected by a particular disease (Aiello et al., 2020), how they are influenced, and how they treat themselves or prevent the disease’s occurrence.
One last feature the CDC could utilize is the Instagram Live (IG LIVE) feature to hold live sessions with its audience. Live sessions provide one-on-one communication with viewers and create an opportunity to ask questions about the topic. Relevant people can also be interviewed during these sessions, where they are asked questions concerning an issue of worry. This feature provides a platform for the organization to know what role they play, how they can improve and make a difference as per its mission and vision and educate its followers.
Benefits, Challenges, and Risks of Using Social Media
Social media has brought forth immense benefits in the public health sector. It has provided a platform where multiple people with diverse lifestyles and cultures can be reached simultaneously, which is their core objective. It has also increased the surface area for impact as social media is used country-wide since roughly a third of the population in the United States uses Instagram. Correspondingly, it enhanced the feedback mechanism as replies and opinions can be given in real-time, reducing the amount of time taken to take a response action.
Challenges are bound to be faced in these social networks. For instance, if the CDC decides to assess a disease’s impact through social media, they could get data that the lack of tangible evidence may invalidate. As much as this information could be accurate, it is not a guarantee that all users were honest in responding to the question. There are also fears of misinformation or misinterpretation of information among the audience and other users, leading to an uproar of people worldwide, which may defame the organization (Stellefson et al., 2020). It can also lead to a personal misdiagnosis of an individual who actively uses the social network.
Public health organizations can successfully use social media to their advantage. However, these networks have disadvantages that may affect these organizations adversely. As much as these effects can be controlled, it is hard to tell what impact they would create on the company’s image. Regardless of all the above-mentioned, their presence on social media is advocated for the sole purpose of worldwide health awareness. For instance, viewer education could be implemented to ensure that information is relayed and accepted diligently, ensuring the Public Health sector’s sole purpose is achieved. For all the above reasons, social media, if effectively used, can be a worthwhile resource for communication in the public healthcare division.
References
Abroms, L. (2019). Public health in the era of social media. American Journal of Public Health, 109(S2), S130-S131. Web.
Aiello, A., Renson, A., & Zivich, P. (2020). Social media- internet-based surveillance for public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 41, 101-118. Web.
Gatewood, J., Monks, S., Singletary, C., Vidrascu, E., & Moore, J. (2020). Social media in public health: Strategies to distill, package, and disseminate public health research. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 26(5), 489-492. Web.
Giustini, D., Ali, S., Fraser, M., & Kamel Buolos, M. (2018). Effective use of social media in public health and medicine: A systematic review of systematic reviews. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 10(2). Web.
Stellefson, M., Paige, S., Chaney, B., & Chaney, J. (2020). The evolving role of social media in health promotion: Updated responsibilities for health education specialists. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1153. Web.