Abstract
BackgroundInformation about influenza and the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza is largely available on the Internet, and may influence individual decision making about participation in future influenza vaccination rounds. E-health information has often been found to be inaccurate, or even to contradict Health Authority recommendations, especially when it concerns controversial topics.MethodsBy means of an online media monitoring programme, Dutch news sites and social media websites were scanned for the Dutch counterparts of the terms influenza, vaccination, vaccine and epidemic during February, March and April 2012. Data were processed with QSR NVivo 8.0 and analysed using a general inductive approach.ResultsThree overarching themes were found in both media sources: (1) the (upcoming) influenza epidemic, (2) general information regarding the virus, its prevention and treatment, and (3) uncertainty and mistrust regarding influenza vaccination. Social media tended to report earlier on developments such as the occurrence of an influenza epidemic. The greatest difference was that in social media, influenza was not considered to be a serious disease, and more opposition to the flu shot was expressed in social media, as compared to news media.ConclusionsNews media and social media discussed the same topics regarding influenza, but differed in message tone. Whereas news media reports tended to be more objective and non-judgmental, social media more critically evaluated the harmfulness of influenza and the necessity of the flu shot. Media may influence decision making and behaviours of Internet users and may thereby influence the success of vaccination campaigns and recommendations made by health authorities. Social media may be more of a problem in this sense, since it is neither controlled nor censored. Future research should investigate the actual impact of Internet media on the influenza decision making process of its users.
Highlights
Information about influenza and the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza is largely available on the Internet, and may influence individual decision making about participation in future influenza vaccination rounds
The purpose of this study is to explore the content of health information regarding influenza vaccination in the month before, during, and after an influenza epidemic occurred in the Netherlands
In February, March and April 2012, three different overarching themes were consistently identified in the online content of news sites and social media websites: (1) the influenza epidemic, (2) general information regarding the virus, its prevention and treatment, and (3) the uncertainty and mistrust regarding influenza vaccination in the Netherlands
Summary
Information about influenza and the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza is largely available on the Internet, and may influence individual decision making about participation in future influenza vaccination rounds. The Internet is an important source for accessing health information. 55% of Internet users search for health information online [1,2,3]. The Internet is the largest and most accessible library in the world and enables users to find information in a time-saving way. E-health websites are websites that provide health information for educational purposes, self-care, engines like Google and Yahoo to access health websites. A study by Berland and colleagues shows that searches with a search engine require high reading abilities and often do not lead to websites with relevant content [8]. A number of different studies found website content did not adhere with official recommendations for prevention and treatment [9]. In a study about the reliability of websites that informed parents about home management of an ill child, only 4 out of 41 websites displayed information in accordance with official recommendations [11]
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