Abstract
BackgroundOn average, 570 million users, 93% in China’s first-tier cities, log on to WeChat every day. WeChat has become the most widely and frequently used social media in China, and has been profoundly integrated into the daily life of many Chinese people. A variety of health-related information may be found on WeChat. The objective of this study is to understand how the general public views the impact of the rapidly emerging social media on health information acquisition.MethodsA self-administered questionnaire was designed, distributed, collected, and analyzed utilizing the online survey tool Sojump. WeChat was adopted to randomly release the questionnaires using convenience sampling and collect the results after a certain amount of time.Results(1) A total of 1636 questionnaires (WeChat customers) were collected from 32 provinces. (2) The primary means by which respondents received health education was via the Internet (71.79%). Baidu and WeChat were the top 2 search tools utilized (90.71% and 28.30%, respectively). Only 12.41% of respondents were satisfied with their online health information search. (3) Almost all had seen (98.35%) or read (97.68%) health information; however, only 14.43% believed that WeChat health information could improve health. Nearly one-third frequently received and read health information through WeChat. WeChat was selected (63.26%) as the most expected means for obtaining health information. (4) The major concerns regarding health information through WeChat included the following: excessively homogeneous information, the lack of a guarantee of professionalism, and the presence of advertisements. (5) Finally, the general public was most interested in individualized and interactive health information by managing clinicians, they will highly benefit from using social media rather than Internet search tools.ConclusionsThe current state of health acquisition proves worrisome. The public has a high chance to access health information via WeChat. The growing popularity of interactive social platforms (e.g. WeChat) presents a variety of challenges and opportunities with respect to public health acquisition.
Highlights
Introduction570 million users, 93% in China’s first-tier cities, log on to WeChat every day
On average, 570 million users, 93% in China’s first-tier cities, log on to WeChat every day
(5) the general public was most interested in individualized and interactive health information by managing clinicians, they will highly benefit from using social media rather than Internet search tools
Summary
570 million users, 93% in China’s first-tier cities, log on to WeChat every day. WeChat has become the most widely and frequently used social media in China, and has been profoundly integrated into the daily life of many Chinese people. Similar to Facebook, WeChat, a free application released in 2011 by Tencent, Inc., has become the most widely and frequently used social networking platform in China. According to the latest data from Tencent, Inc., the number of active monthly customers reached 700 million in March 2016, from 200 countries and in nearly 20 different languages; 61% of WeChat users open WeChat more than 10 times per day, 36% open WeChat more than 30 times per day, and 32% of users used WeChat for longer than 2 h per day. 200 million users linked WeChat with credit cards, 70% of users spend more than 100 RMB (local currency in China) per month on WeChat, and 8 billion RMB were sent via WeChat Red Envelopes during the Spring Festival of 2016
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