Social media posts about vaccination are more likely to engage US audiences when they are factual, feature health care professionals, and are sourced from public health organizations, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.
The cross-sectional study by University of California researchers—which used experimental survey methods to examine which characteristics of vaccination-related posts influence whether users are likely to like, share, or comment on them—included 243 adults in California who generally held favorable attitudes toward vaccines.
Most participants also rated their social media use as high, with 93.8% saying they use it every day and 53.5% saying they share content at least once a day.
Factual posts preferred over humorous ones
Participants were shown pairs of social media posts about vaccination and asked which they would be more likely to engage with. Posts varied by attributes such as tone, source, messenger, and topic.
The researchers found that factual posts were significantly more likely to be preferred than humorous ones. In contrast, posts with a humorous tone were associated with substantially lower odds of engagement.
“While humorous content has been found in some studies to be preferential in certain subgroups, such as among American Indians or Alaska Native individuals, this preference did not generalize to our sample,” write the authors. “Our findings suggest that while humor may resonate in specific contexts, survey participants favored straightforward, factual information.”
Information source plays a role in preferences
The source of information also played a key role in participants’ preferences. Posts attributed to recognized public health organizations, particularly local health institutions such as state health departments or public universities, were preferred over unsourced posts or those from national health institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Similarly, posts featuring health care workers were more likely to engage users than those featuring non-professionals. Messages delivered by older or middle-aged adults were also preferred over those delivered by mixed-age or younger groups.
These findings align with existing evidence that health care professionals are widely perceived as credible sources of health information, an insight that could help inform how organizations approach social media messaging.
Topic influences engagement, visuals less important
Messages focused on COVID or influenza were preferred over general vaccination posts, suggesting that specificity may make messages feel more relevant, especially when tied to familiar or currently circulating diseases.
Most participants said they preferred visual content, like photos or short videos, but the type of imagery used in health-related social media posts, such as cartoons versus real photographs, was not significantly associated with engagement.
Credibility appears more important than creativity
The study had some limitations. Because the researchers used a survey to ask about stated preferences rather than observe actual engagement behavior, responses may reflect what participants thought were more socially acceptable choices (eg, posts from credible sources or health care professionals) rather than humorous content. The relatively small number of participants meant that researchers couldn’t draw conclusions about subgroups or demographic-specific preferences.
Given the volume of vaccine information, including misinformation, on social media, it is critical that public health messaging is evidence based and resonates with intended audiences.
Still, say the researchers, as social media continues to serve as a major source of health information, the findings highlight the importance of aligning digital health messaging with audience preferences and suggest that credibility may be more important than creativity in the public health space on social media.
“Given the volume of vaccine information, including misinformation, on social media, it is critical that public health messaging is evidence based and resonates with intended audiences,” the authors write.