Analyzing Twitter for Community-Level Public Health Messaging.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Media Analysis
• Health Communication

Background:

• Vaccine hesitancy remains a significant public health challenge, impacting health equity.
• Social media platforms, particularly Twitter, are vital for disseminating community information and public health messaging.
• The Communities RISE Together (RISE) initiative, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to enhance vaccine communication strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine Twitter communication patterns within 10 regional communities.
• To identify factors influencing engagement (likes and retweets) with public health messages on Twitter.
• To guide strategies for increasing the reach and effectiveness of vaccine hesitancy messaging.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of Twitter accounts from organizations in 10 regional communities.
• Focus on tweet content, likes, and retweets as measures of engagement.
• Identification of keywords and sentiment associated with engagement metrics.

Main Results:

• Specific keywords such as "food," "older adults," "equity," and "covid" were associated with increased likes and retweets.
• The number of followers was identified as the strongest predictor of tweet engagement.
• While sentiment was a significant factor, its predictive power for engagement was not meaningful.

Conclusions:

• Tailoring content to include relevant keywords can enhance message engagement on Twitter.
• Strategies to increase follower count are crucial for amplifying the reach of public health messages.
• Understanding social media dynamics is essential for effective health equity initiatives.