Bioethical framework for classifying the intent of communications throughout a public well being emergency; tailored from work by Oxman et al. Credit score: Journal of Medical Web Analysis (2025). DOI: 10.2196/68200
Public well being officers had an unprecedented software for near-instant, widespread communication through the COVID-19 pandemic and mpox epidemic: social media.
Now, one of many first research of its form, led by a well being coverage knowledgeable with the Texas A&M College College of Public Well being, has discovered that X (Twitter on the time of the occasions) introduced benefits—in addition to disadvantages—in getting the phrase out.
“For the year that the COVID-19 pandemic and mpox outbreak overlapped, we wanted to understand how health authorities in Chicago used X: the nature of the posts, what information was shared, how it was presented to the public and how all of that impacted public engagement,” mentioned Matthew Boyce. “We also looked at the relationship between the number of reported mpox cases and the messages shared on social media.”
For his or her content material evaluation, printed within the Journal of Medical Web Analysis, Boyce and colleagues from Georgetown College and CUNY Graduate College of Public Well being & Well being Coverage analyzed 1,105 unique, health-related X posts by the Chicago Division of Public Well being (CDPH) from Might 2022 to April 2023.
After giving every publish an identifier, the group appeared on the publish’s date, time, subject, media (picture or video) and language (English, Spanish or bilingual), and famous whether or not the message was proactive or reactive. Well being subjects included communicable illness, environmental well being and maternal and baby well being, amongst others.
On Dec. 15, 2022, X carried out a brand new coverage permitting customers to see the variety of instances communications posted after that date had been seen, and the researchers added this info to trace public engagement. They then used a coding system to categorize well being subjects and the intent of the posts associated to mpox, adopted by two measurements of intercoder reliability to make sure consistency and accuracy.
To evaluate the connection between mpox-related communications and reported mpox circumstances, the group acquired knowledge on the weekly reported mpox circumstances from the CDPH web site and used a timeframe of 4 weeks earlier than the primary mpox case was reported and 4 weeks of no reported circumstances.
“In terms of COVID-19, four broad findings stand out,” Boyce mentioned.
First, the evaluation discovered that the CDPH—like most native and state well being departments—used X to interact solely in one-way communication through the examine interval. Two-way dialogues are the essence of social media, nonetheless, and this strategy couldn’t solely improve public belief ranges in these well being officers, Boyce famous, but additionally assist counter the unfold of misinformation and disinformation.
Subsequent, the findings steered that communications with extra photos or movies acquired considerably larger ranges of engagement in comparison with communications with out media. Boyce mentioned well being officers may wish to embody these extra media—though judiciously—for max public engagement.
Third, though this examine was carried out throughout two public well being emergencies, it discovered that communications associated to COVID-19 or mpox weren’t the first subjects of X customers. As an alternative, maternal and baby well being, psychological well being and substance use acquired considerably larger ranges of public engagement, underscoring the necessity for methods to fight “pandemic fatigue” throughout extended public well being emergencies.
Lastly, the CDPH X posts had been solely in English and Spanish, whereas main U.S. cities are residence to audio system of many different languages. Boyce famous, for instance, that the Houston Well being Division’s X posted the identical messaging in Arabic, Chinese language, English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Moreover, the CPDH Spanish-language posts acquired considerably decrease ranges of public engagement, highlighting the necessity for outreach efforts in languages apart from English.
The mpox evaluation discovered average, constructive correlations between mpox-related communications and reported mpox circumstances. It additionally discovered {that a} majority of the CDPH communications associated to mpox sought to tell the general public, versus manipulating or coercing folks to alter behaviors.
“The most notable result was that—while all correlations were positive, of moderate strength and statistically significant—the strongest correlation existed when communications and cases occurred at the same time,” Boyce mentioned. “One would expect communications to increase following increases in cases, and the CDPH should be commended for providing accurate information during a critical period of time in the outbreak response.”
Boyce famous 4 limitations within the analysis. First, it appeared solely at textual content in image-based—not video-based—media. Second, ever-changing algorithms make social media tough to check. Third, the group didn’t assess the affect of those communications on public habits. And eventually, the findings may not apply to different public well being departments, social media platforms or time durations.
“Still, the bottom line is that social media platforms are valuable tools—but should not be the only tool,” Boyce mentioned. “Other communications tools and approaches might be more appropriate for communicating nuanced information, convincing people to change their behavior and reaching certain demographic groups during public health emergencies.”
Extra info:
Matthew R Boyce et al, Chicago Public Well being Division Social Media Communications on Twitter In the course of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Mpox Epidemic: Cross-Sectional Content material Evaluation, Journal of Medical Web Analysis (2025). DOI: 10.2196/68200
Offered by
Texas A&M College
Quotation:
Emergency well being messaging exhibits restricted effectiveness on X (2025, August 13)
retrieved 14 August 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-08-emergency-health-messaging-limited-effectiveness.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for info functions solely.
