The use and evaluation of social media in public health campaigns

Abstract

Social media have become an unavoidable part of modern life. It is therefore no surprise that public health campaigns are making increasing use of social media as part of their communication strategies. However, little is known about how best to use social media to drive change in health behaviours and outcomes, with the available evidence suggesting campaigns are failing to make the most of social media’s potential. Further complicating matters is the difficulty of evaluating social media components of campaigns, especially going beyond process indicators such as ‘likes’ and shares.