Virtual lab coats: The effects of verified source information on social media post credibility.

Driven by the need to enhance user traffic on social media (SM) platforms for increasing their advertising revenues, SM platforms are experimenting with new content creation features. However, it is unclear if such initiatives are also beneficial for SM profile owners such as influencers, who are the prime content creators on the SM platforms who use SM posts to build their influence within their network of followers. Our study investigates the effect of introducing one such new SM feature: the “story” on the creation and consumption of SM posts. Leveraging social penetration theory, we hypothesize the influence of introducing story feature on (1) the frequency of SM post creation by profile owners and (2) the extent of follower engagement with SM posts. Employing a quasi-experimental design, we find that the introduction of the story feature reduces the frequency of SM post creation, but the enhanced self-disclosure through the story feature increases follower engagement with the SM posts. However, these effects are moderated by the situating culture of the SM communities: while low-power-distance cultures value profile owners’ self-disclosure, high-power-distance cultures exhibit a mixed influence. Advancing literature on social penetration theory and SM user engagement, our study demonstrates that new self-disclosive SM content creation features do not necessarily benefit all the concerned stakeholders and that the effectiveness of such features might vary from one community to another. Hence, the intended impact of introducing new SM features needs to be carefully evaluated by SM platforms in a holistic manner.

All you need is a (heuristic) cue?: An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Social Media Cues and Features and Underlying Mechanisms for Credibility Judgments of News and Political Communication

BackgroundNutrition science is currently facing issues regarding the public’s perception of its credibility, with social media (SM) influencers increasingly becoming a key source for nutrition-related information with high engagement rates. Source credibility and, to an extent, authenticity have been widely studied in marketing and communications but have not yet been considered in the context of nutrition or health communication. Thus, an investigation into the factors that impact perceived source and message credibility and authenticity is of interest to inform health communication on SM.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the factors that impact message and source credibility (which includes trustworthiness and expertise) or authenticity judgments on SM platforms to better inform nutrition science SM communication best practices.MethodsA total of 6 databases across a variety of disciplines were searched in March 2019. The inclusion criteria were experimental studies, studies focusing on microblogs, studies focusing on healthy adult populations, and studies focusing on either source credibility or authenticity. Exclusion criteria were studies involving participants aged under 18 years and clinical populations, gray literature, blogs, WeChat conversations, web-based reviews, non-English papers, and studies not involving participants’ perceptions.ResultsOverall, 22 eligible papers were included, giving a total of 25 research studies. Among these studies, Facebook and Twitter were the most common SM platforms investigated. The most effective communication style differed depending on the SM platform. Factors reported to impact credibility included language used online, expertise heuristics, and bandwagon heuristics. No papers were found that assessed authenticity.ConclusionsCredibility and authenticity are important concepts studied extensively in the marketing and communications disciplines; however, further research is required in a health context. Instagram is a less-researched platform in comparison with Facebook and Twitter.

Solace in Social Media: Women Unite Under COVID-19

Ethical standards for cardiothoracic surgeons' participation in social media

BackgroundApproximately 80,000 primary brain tumors are diagnosed annually. Social media provides a source of information and support for patients diagnosed with brain tumors; however, use of this forum for dissemination of information about brain tumors has not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to evaluate social media utilization and content related to brain tumors with an emphasis on patients’ trends in usage.MethodsSocial media platforms were systematically evaluated using two search methods: systematic manual inquiry and a keyword-based social media tracker. The search terms included brain tumor, glioblastoma, glioma, and glioblastoma multiforme. Social media content (which includes Facebook pages and groups, YouTube videos, and Twitter or Instagram accounts) and posts were assessed for activity (as quantified by views of posts) and analyzed using a categorization framework.ResultsThe manual and keyword searches identified 946 sources of social media content, with a total count of 7,184,846 points of engagement. Social media platforms had significant variations in content type. YouTube was the largest social media platform for sharing content related to brain tumors overall, with an emphasis on surgical videos and documented patient experiences. Facebook accounted for the majority of patient-to-patient support, and Twitter was the most common platform for scientific dissemination. Overall social media content was mostly focused on treatment overviews and patient experience. When evaluated by search term, most social media posts by the “brain tumor” community shared illness narratives, and searches specific to “glioma” and “glioblastoma” demonstrated a higher proportion of educational and treatment posts.ConclusionsThis study presents novel observations of the characteristics of social media utilization for the online brain tumor community. A robust patient community exists online, with an emphasis on sharing personal narratives, treatment information, patient-to-patient support, treatment options, and fundraising events. This study provides a window to the role of social media utilization by patients, their families, and health professionals. These findings demonstrate the different roles of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in the rapidly changing era of social media and its relationship with neurosurgery and neuro-oncology.

Alts and Automediality: Compartmentalising the Self through Multiple Social Media Profiles

This study examines how views and decisions regarding military career choices in the Punjab region are influenced by electronic word of mouth (e-WoM) on social media. Given how important social media is in influencing public opinion, especially among younger generations, this study looks at how perceptions of military careers and subsequent career choices are influenced by elements like message credibility, quality, quantity of information, source credibility, social media engagement, and social influence. Based on the Information Adoption Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the study investigates how these concepts influence people's perceptions about military jobs. Data was gathered from 500 respondents, ages 18 to 30, from different Punjabi educational institutions using a structured questionnaire. To find correlations between the variables, the data were examined using statistical methods like regression analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results show that e-WoM has a major impact on how people see military vocations, with message and source legitimacy playing a major role. The association between e-WoM and career decisions was found to be mediated by social media activity, highlighting the significance of active online participation. These findings imply that in order to positively impact career intentions, military recruitment initiatives on social media platforms should concentrate on increasing the content's engagement and legitimacy. The study's conclusions are especially pertinent to improving military recruitment tactics by using social media to interact and sway prospective recruits. This study provides insights for enhancing recruiting communication tactics to draw young talent to military occupations and establishes the framework for future research examining the influence of social media in career decision-making processes.

The high prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and the growing importance of social media have prompted health care professionals (HCPs) to use social media to deliver health information aimed at reducing lifestyle risk factors. Previous studies have acknowledged that the identification of elements that influence user engagement metrics could help HCPs in creating engaging posts toward effective health promotion on social media. Nevertheless, few studies have attempted to comprehensively identify a list of elements in social media posts that could influence user engagement metrics. This systematic review aimed to identify elements influencing user engagement metrics in social media posts by HCPs aimed to reduce lifestyle risk factors. Relevant studies in English, published between January 2006 and June 2023 were identified from MEDLINE or OVID, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases. Included studies were those that examined social media posts by HCPs aimed at reducing the 4 key lifestyle risk factors. Additionally, the studies also outlined elements in social media posts that influenced user engagement metrics. The titles, abstracts, and full papers were screened and reviewed for eligibility. Following data extraction, narrative synthesis was performed. All investigated elements in the included studies were categorized. The elements in social media posts that influenced user engagement metrics were identified. A total of 19 studies were included in this review. Investigated elements were grouped into 9 categories, with 35 elements found to influence user engagement. The 3 predominant categories of elements influencing user engagement were communication using supportive or emotive elements, communication aimed toward behavioral changes, and the appearance of posts. In contrast, the source of post content, social media platform, and timing of post had less than 3 studies with elements influencing user engagement. Findings demonstrated that supportive or emotive communication toward behavioral changes and post appearance could increase postlevel interactions, indicating a favorable response from the users toward posts made by HCPs. As social media continues to evolve, these elements should be constantly evaluated through further research.

BackgroundHazardous drinking among college students persists, despite ongoing university alcohol education and alcohol intervention programs. College students often post comments or pictures of drinking episodes on social media platforms.ObjectiveThis study aimed to understand one university’s student attitudes toward alcohol use by examining student posts about drinking on social media platforms and to identify opportunities to reduce alcohol-related harm and inform novel alcohol interventions.MethodsWe analyzed social media posts from 7 social media platforms using qualitative inductive coding based on grounded theory to identify the contexts of student drinking and the attitudes and behaviors of students and peers during drinking episodes. We reviewed publicly available social media posts that referenced alcohol, collaborating with undergraduate students to select their most used platforms and develop locally relevant search terms; all posts in our data set were generated by students associated with a specific university. From the codes, we derived themes about student culture regarding alcohol use.ResultsIn total, 1151 social media posts were included in this study. These included 809 Twitter tweets, 113 Instagram posts, 100 Greekrank posts, 64 Reddit posts, 34 College Confidential posts, 23 Facebook posts, and 8 YouTube posts. Posts included both implicit and explicit portrayals of alcohol use. Across all types of posts reviewed, positive drinking attitudes were most common, followed by negative and then neutral attitudes, but valence varied by platform. Posts that portrayed drinking positively received positive peer feedback and indicate that drinking is viewed by students as an essential and positive part of university student culture.ConclusionsSocial media provide a real-time picture of students’ behavior during their own and others’ heavy drinking. Posts portray heavy drinking as a normal part of student culture, reinforced by peers’ positive feedback on posts. Interventions for college drinking should help students manage alcohol intake in real time, provide safety information during alcohol use episodes, and raise student awareness of web-based privacy concerns and reputation management. Additional interventions for students, alumni, and parents are needed to address positive attitudes about and traditions of drinking.

Moving on from literature that focuses on how consumers use social media and the benefits of organizations utilizing platforms for health and risk communication, this study explores how specific characteristics of tweets affect the way in which they are perceived. An online survey with 251 participants with self-reported food hypersensitivity (FH) took part in an online experiment to consider the impact of tweet characteristics on perceptions of source credibility, message credibility, persuasiveness, and intention to act upon the presented information. Positioning the research hypotheses within the framework of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Uses and Gratifications Theory, the study explored motivations for using social media and tested the impact of the affordances of Twitter—(1) the inclusion of links and (2) the number of social validation indicators (likes and retweets). Having links accompanying tweets significantly increased ratings of the tweets’ message credibility, as well as persuasiveness of their content. Socially validated tweets had no effect on these same variables. Parents of FH children were found to utilize social media for social reasons more than hypersensitive adults; concern level surrounding a reaction did not appear to alter the level of use. Links were considered valuable in obtaining social media users to attend to useful or essential food health and risk information. Future research in this area can usefully consider the nature and the effects of social validation in relation to other social media platforms and with other groups.

Twitter Archives and the Challenges of "Big Social Data" for Media and Communication Research

Social media platforms are the key tools to facilitate online engagement; however, to stimulate a discussion, the content published on the platforms is significant as it must appeal to different consumers. The quality of the content and platform type is key to successful engagement. Maintaining positive relationships with consumers is a vital activity for many brands in social media. Trust, satisfaction, fairness, and mutual dependency are key factors to retaining customers. Moreover, positive brand attitudes and higher purchase intentions were found to be linked to positive evaluations of companies' social media postings. To maintain value, firms use social media platforms that facilitate consumer-to-consumer as well as consumer-to-business engagement. Drawing from social influence theory, this chapter explores how social media marketing content (SMMC) impacts customer retention.

IntroductionPhysical distancing (PD) is an important public health strategy to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and has been promoted by public health authorities through social media. Although youth have a tendency to engage in high-risk behaviors that could facilitate COVID-19 transmission, there is limited research on the characteristics of PD messaging targeting this population on social media platforms with which youth frequently engage. This study examined social media posts created by Canadian public health entities (PHEs) with PD messaging aimed at youth and young adults aged 16–29 years and reported behavioral change techniques (BCTs) used in these posts.MethodsA content analysis of all social media posts of Canadian PHEs from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube were conducted from April 1st to May 31st, 2020. Posts were classified as either implicitly or explicitly targeting youth and young adults. BCTs in social media posts were identified and classified based on Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1). Frequency counts and proportions were used to describe the data.ResultsIn total, 319 youth-targeted PD posts were identified. Over 43% of the posts originated from Ontario Regional public health units, and 36.4 and 32.6% of them were extracted from Twitter and Facebook, respectively. Only 5.3% of the total posts explicitly targeted youth. Explicit posts were most frequent from federal PHEs and posted on YouTube. Implicit posts elicited more interactions than explicit posts regardless of jurisdiction level or social media format. Three-quarters of the posts contained at least one BCT, with a greater portion of BCTs found within implicit posts (75%) than explicit posts (52.9%). The most common BCTs from explicit posts were instructions on how to perform a behavior (25.0%) and restructuring the social environment (18.8%).ConclusionsThere is a need for more PD messaging that explicitly targets youth. BCTs should be used when designing posts to deliver public health messages and social media platforms should be selected depending on the target population.

Purpose: Overwhelmed by the huge rise in the number of social media (SM) platforms, B to B firms have been increasingly using multiple social media (SM) platforms to enhance their relationships with their customers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the competitive pressure to use SM on B to B firms use of multiple SM platforms, organization and individual SM competences and on relationship sales performance. Method: An online survey is implemented to collect data from B to B firms from different industries in an emerging market, i.e. Kuwait, to produce 152 usable questionnaires. Structural equation modeling is carried out using Smart PLS 3. Findings: The main findings show that competitive pressure to use SM fully influences relationship sales performance through individual social media competence. It also influences relationship sales performance through two mediations (1) organizational SM competence, (2) on a less important level, through the use of multiple SM platforms and organizational SM competence. Additionally, both organization and individual SM competence are found to significantly influence relationship sales performance. Implications: This study uncovers the complex mechanism through which competitive pressures to use social media influence both individual and organization social media competence and their relationship with their customers. It demonstrates that the use of multiple SM platforms significantly increases relationship sales performance, but this influence is weak. Therefore, top managers must choose the right number of SM platforms and design clear SM strategies. Originality: This study sheds light on the influence of competitive pressure to use SM on B to B firms’ relationships with their customers i.e. relationship sales performance. This coercive pressure could potentially spread B to B firms’ resources over a large number of SM and lead to poor SM presence. The study also emphasizes the role of top management in choosing the optimal combination of SM platforms and developing their organization SM competence.