Dataset Information

Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts.

ABSTRACT: Health promoters have been unable to reach and engage people on social media (SM) to the extent that food industry brands and lifestyle personalities have. The objective of this study was to identify the SM post strategies associated with higher engagement in nutrition and food-related posts using a retrospective content analysis. The six most engaging posts from both Facebook and Instagram's 10 most successful nutrition and food-related accounts were analysed across four fields. Subjective and objective post strategies were coded on 736 posts, and associations with engagement were explored using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). Lifestyle personalities recorded the highest absolute engagement, while health promoters recorded the highest engagement relative to follower count. Strategies associated with higher Facebook engagement included using hashtags and prompting engagement through announcements, while on Instagram, higher engagement was associated with higher caption counts, providing health information links, prompting engagement through strategies that require an action, and using humorous strategies. Strategies associated with lower Instagram engagement included reposted content, general encouragement to eat strategies, encouragement to exercise strategies, not inducing any emotion/hedonic sensations, and providing a negative tone. Health promoters should adapt SM posts to the different SM platforms and utilise strategies associated with higher engagement to engage with their audience on SM.

SUBMITTER: Barklamb AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7551727 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts.

Barklamb Amy M AM Molenaar Annika A Brennan Linda L Evans Stephanie S Choong Jamie J Herron Emma E Reid Mike M McCaffrey Tracy A TA

Nutrients 20200916 9

Health promoters have been unable to reach and engage people on social media (SM) to the extent that food industry brands and lifestyle personalities have. The objective of this study was to identify the SM post strategies associated with higher engagement in nutrition and food-related posts using a retrospective content analysis. The six most engaging posts from both Facebook and Instagram's 10 most successful nutrition and food-related accounts were analysed across four fields. Subjective and ...[more]

PMID: 32948033

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Unhealthy food environments contribute to the rising rates of obesity and diet-related diseases. To improve the Canadian nutritional landscape, Health Canada launched the Healthy Eating Strategy in October 2016 which involved several initiatives including the restriction of unhealthy food marketing to children, the reduction of sodium in the food supply and the introduction of front-of-package labelling. Subsequently, various stakeholders engaged in discussions with Health Canada. This study sought to describe the interactions between Health Canada and industry and non-industry stakeholders and to identify the strategies used by industry to influence food and nutrition policy in Canada. METHODS:Documents such as correspondences and presentations exchanged in interactions between Health Canada and stakeholders regarding the Healthy Eating Strategy were obtained from Health Canada's Openness and Transparency website. The participating stakeholders of each interaction and the topics discussed were determined and described quantitatively. A directed content analysis was then conducted to identify the strategies employed by industry to influence policy. This was guided by a previously developed coding framework that was adapted during analysis. RESULTS:A total of 208 interactions concerning the Healthy Eating Strategy occurred between October 2016 and June 2018. Of the interactions for which documents were received (n?=?202), 56% involved industry stakeholders, 42% involved non-industry stakeholders and 2% involved both. Industry stakeholders were more likely to initiate interactions with Health Canada (94% of their interactions) than non-industry stakeholders (49%). Front-of-package labelling was the most frequently discussed topic by industry stakeholders (discussed in 49% interactions involving industry) while non-industry stakeholders most frequently discussed the Healthy Eating Strategy as a whole (discussed in 37% of interactions involving non-industry). A wide variety of strategies were used by industry in their attempts to influence policy. Those most frequently identified included: "framing the debate on diet- and public health-related issues", "promoting deregulation", "shaping the evidence base", "stressing the economic importance of industry", and "developing and promoting alternatives to proposed policies". CONCLUSION:Industry stakeholders are highly active in their attempts to influence Canadian nutritional policies. Policymakers and public health advocates should be aware of these strategies so that balanced and effective food and nutrition policies can be developed.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Generating participant engagement in social media applications for health promotion and disease prevention efforts is vital for their effectiveness and increases the likelihood of effecting sustainable behavior change. However, there is limited evidence regarding effective strategies for engaging Latino immigrant youth using social media. As part of the Avance Center for the Advancement of Immigrant/Refugee Health in Washington, DC, USA, we implemented Adelante, a branded primary prevention program, to address risk factors for co-occurring substance use, sexual risk, and interpersonal violence among Latino immigrant adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in a Washington, DC suburb. OBJECTIVE:The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize Adelante participant Facebook reach and engagement and (2) identify post content and features that resulted in greater user engagement. METHODS:We established the Adelante Facebook fan page in October of 2013, and the Adelante social marketing campaign used this platform for campaign activities from September 2015 to September 2016. We used Facebook Insights metrics to examine reach and post engagement of Adelante Facebook page fans (n=743). Data consisted of Facebook fan page posts between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2016 (n=871). We developed a 2-phased mixed-methods analytical plan and coding scheme, and explored the association between post content categories and features and a composite measure of post engagement using 1-way analysis of variance tests. P<.05 determined statistical significance. RESULTS:Posts on the Adelante Facebook page had a total of 34,318 clicks, 473 comments, 9080 likes or reactions, and 617 shares. Post content categories that were statistically significantly associated with post engagement were Adelante program updates (P<.001); youth achievement showcases (P=.001); news links (P<.001); social marketing campaign posts (P<.001); and prevention topics, including substance abuse (P<.001), safe sex (P=.02), sexually transmitted disease prevention (P<.001), and violence or fighting (P=.047). Post features that were significantly associated with post engagement comprised the inclusion of photos (P<.001); Spanish (P<.001) or bilingual (P=.001) posts; and portrayal of youth of both sexes (P<.001) portrayed in groups (P<.001) that were facilitated by adults (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS:Social media outreach is a promising strategy that youth programs can use to complement in-person programming for augmented engagement. The Latino immigrant youth audience in this study had a tendency toward more passive social media consumption, having implications for outreach strategies and engagement measurement in future studies. While study findings confirmed the utility of social marketing campaigns for increasing user engagement, findings also highlighted a high level of engagement among youth with posts that covered casual, day-to-day program activity participation. This finding identifies an underexplored area that should be considered for health messaging, and also supports interventions that use peer-to-peer and user-generated health promotion approaches.

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Dataset Information

Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts.

Publications

Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts.

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