Effective Use of Social Media in Public Health

Chapter 11: Social media and policy campaigns

Gayle Walter      Department of Health and Human Physiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States

Abstract

The use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram increased substantially over the past decade. These social media platforms can reach a large audience across the nation, so it makes sense to use these platforms for advocacy efforts and policy change. Social media provides the ideal setting to disseminate information on recent research and evidence-based practices to inform the public using accurate and reliable information. Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have increased their use of social media, especially on Twitter. The public has been inundated with mixed ...