Abstract
AIM: To examine the use of the social and technology features of Facebook to recruit research participants from a closed-group. BACKGROUND: Limited research in healthcare focuses on the use of Facebook despite the many opportunities that exist. METHODS: The experience of gaining access to and recruiting participants from a closed-Facebook group using two different types of posts to advertise the study. DISCUSSION: The paper focuses on the lead author’s experience of recruiting participants from a closed-group on Facebook and her experience of using two different types of posts to advertise the study. A personal post with a picture of the lead author receiving a grant to conduct the research resulted in 32% of the completed survey responses in 24 hours. CONCLUSION: Using a closed-group on Facebook was an inexpensive and successful method to survey many respondents with a shared identity from all over the United States in a short period of time. Future researchers choosing to utilize social media as a research platform should share their methods to better understand how social media can be leveraged in nursing research.
Highlights
Research foci in social media can range from complex multifactorial influencer analyses to ethnographic assessment of specific communities of interest [1]
We tried a different approach to advertising our survey by posting a picture of the principal investigator receiving a grant to conduct our research
When contemplating Facebook as a platform to advertise or conduct research, first make sure to research the users of the Facebook page
Summary
Cite This Article: Bethel, C., “An Approach to Using Social Media as a Research Platform.” American Journal of Nursing Research, vol 5, no. Social media is already the focus of industry and academic research such as advertising, communication, marketing and public relations. Research foci in social media can range from complex multifactorial influencer analyses to ethnographic assessment of specific communities of interest [1]. The healthcare industry is just beginning to discover the myriad opportunities that exist to leverage research using social media [2].
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