Abstract

The communication of health knowledge in social media plays an important role in public health literacy and health behavior promotion. But with the accumulation of user-generated health information in social media, more and more misleading health information, health gossip and health rumors are inhibiting the communication of health knowledge and breaking the balance of information ecology in social media. This study focuses on the information ecology in social media and contributes to the communication of health knowledge in social media ecology, highlighting the characteristics of health knowledge and the special Chinese culture. A communication explanatory framework was constructed and 329 samples were tested leveraging PLS. The results indicate that fear communication and trust communication both act as effective communication forms contributing to the communication of health knowledge; face communication acts as a barrier constraining the trust communication while no effect on fear communication.

Highlights

  • Social media is increasingly being used as powerful tools in conducting health education and improving health literacy, and bring a new dimension to health care, with a series of health knowledge communicated among hospitals, health organizations, governments, companies and users [1,2]

  • The purpose of our research has been to enhance understanding of the communication of health knowledge in social media and examine fear communication, trust communication and face communication in the communication of health knowledge based on the social media context

  • We find that perceived severity and perceived vulnerability both has a positive effect on fear, and that fear has a positive effect on health knowledge communication

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Summary

Introduction

Social media is increasingly being used as powerful tools in conducting health education and improving health literacy, and bring a new dimension to health care, with a series of health knowledge communicated among hospitals, health organizations, governments, companies and users [1,2]. Unlike traditional health knowledge communication controlled by authoritative organizations, this user-generated health knowledge is more prone to result in misleading information, some of which is no more than rumors or gossip, inhibiting the communication of real health knowledge and breaking the balance of information ecology in social media. Misleading information and rumors, such as “Milk causes cancer”, “Calcium supplements can cause kidney stones”, “GM foods kill your grandchildren”, “Red wine can prevent heart disease”, have permeated social media and confused users who seek health truths [5,6], sometimes ignited digital wildfires and changed users’ cognition and trust in the knowledge [7].

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