Use of Facebook by Academic Medical Centers in Taiwan During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Observational Study.

Wei-Min Chu,Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu,Shi-Liang Wu,Gow-Jen Shieh

doi:10.2196/21501

Wei-Min Chu, Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2196/21501

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Abstract

BackgroundThe battle against COVID-19 remains ongoing, and social media has played an important role during the crisis for both communication and health promotion, particularly for health care organizations. Taiwan’s success during the COVID-19 outbreak is well known and the use of social media is one of the key contributing factors to that success.ObjectiveThis nationwide observational study in Taiwan aimed to explore the use of Facebook by academic medical centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe conducted a nationwide observational study of all Facebook fan page posts culled from the official accounts of all medical centers in Taiwan from December 2019 to April 2020. All Facebook posts were categorized into either COVID-19–related posts or non–COVID-19–related posts. COVID-19–related posts were split into 4 categories: policy of Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control (TCDC), gratitude notes, news and regulations from hospitals, and education. Data from each post was also recorded as follows: date of post, headline, number of “likes,” number of messages left, number of shares, video or non-video post, and date of search.ResultsThe Facebook fan pages of 13 academic medical centers, with a total of 1816 posts, were analyzed. From January 2020, the percentage of COVID-19 posts increased rapidly, from 21% (January 2020) to 56.3% (April 2020). The trends of cumulative COVID-19 posts and reported confirmed cases were significantly related (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.93, P<.001). Pages from private hospitals had more COVID-19 posts (362 versus 289), as well as more video posts (72 posts, 19.9% versus 36 posts, 12.5%, P=.011), when compared to public hospitals. However, Facebook pages from public hospitals had significantly more “likes,” comments, and shares per post (314, 5, 14, respectively, P<.001). Additionally, medical centers from different regions displayed different strategies for using video posts on Facebook.ConclusionsSocial media has been a useful tool for communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nationwide observational study has helped demonstrate the value of Facebook for academic medical centers in Taiwan, along with its engagement efficacy. We believe that the experience of Taiwan and the knowledge it can share will be helpful to health care organizations worldwide during our global battle against COVID-19.

Highlights

BackgroundCOVID-19 originated from Wuhan, China, and has become a worldwide pandemic with more than 4 million cases and more than 200,000 deaths globally as of May 2020 [1,2,3]
Social media has been a useful tool for communication during the COVID-19 pandemic
This nationwide observational study has helped demonstrate the value of Facebook for academic medical centers in Taiwan, along with its engagement efficacy

Summary

Introduction

BackgroundCOVID-19 originated from Wuhan, China, and has become a worldwide pandemic with more than 4 million cases and more than 200,000 deaths globally as of May 2020 [1,2,3]. Without a much-needed vaccine, the pandemic remains ongoing. Many scientists have compared COVID-19 with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 [5]. The world we live in is so extremely different from the world we remember during the 2003 SARS epidemic, as social media plays such a big role in our lives, more so than any other time in history. The battle against COVID-19 remains ongoing, and social media has played an important role during the crisis for both communication and health promotion, for health care organizations. Taiwan’s success during the COVID-19 outbreak is well known and the use of social media is one of the key contributing factors to that success

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