In 2017 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence allegedly became the first major public health body to adopt Snapchat, in a bid to attach with young people. NICE’s communications team shared several ‘snap facts’ across the day – using photographs and emojis – to clarify how easily infections are spread and the way quickly drug resistance develops. Others have followed, like Public Health England’s crusade which used Snapchat Filters and Promoted Stories to inspire adolescents to use condoms and Leeds NHS mental health campaign which extensively utilized Snapchat filters. We expect to see more and more examples of health campaigns using Snapchat to reach its younger audience.
According to the United Nations, billions of people are still living without safe water – their households, colleges, workplaces, farms and factories struggling to survive and thrive. In this instance, World Water Day 2019 used a whole range of social media channels to inspire people to promote the incontrovertible fact that access to safe water is a human right. It underpins public health and is critical to sustainable advancement and a stable and prosperous world. The campaign organisers offered a variety social media assets to assist people get involved and problem the status quo in global society, where so almost all people reside without safe water. This protected sharable components like videos, animations and assortment of cards and guides.
As the authors note, while there is a very good deal of enthusiasm and interest in using social media for public health communications, “few research studies have examined its achievement in promoting and adopting protective health behaviours”. Their study aimed to tackle this gap by taking a detailed look into the social media campaigns of three corporates – IKEA, Cadbury, and Smirnoff – and 6 social change corporations – Burnett Institute, World Lung Foundation, the New Zealand health Sponsorship Council, Smokefree South West UK, the Queensland Association of Health Communities, and the New York Alliance for Donation.