Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37652679›Full record

ArticleOsong public health and research perspectives2023

Public health agencies' use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature.

Babatunde Abiodun Balogun, Anne Hogden, Nenagh Kemp, Lin Yang, Maria Agaliotis

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Osong public health and research perspectives, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Planning and Implementing Social Media Communication in a Public Health Crisis: An Analytical Perspective.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2026
    Article
  4. Observational
  5. Paid Social Media Advertising on Vaping in Australia: A Descriptive Study Using Meta Ad Library.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Co-Designing a Framework for Social Media Health Communication to Young People: A Participatory Research Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Babatunde Abiodun BalogunAustralian Institute of Health Service Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Australia.
Anne HogdenAustralian Institute of Health Service Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Australia.
Nenagh KempSchool of Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Australia.
Lin YangDepartment of Marketing, College of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Australia.
Maria AgaliotisAustralian Institute of Health Service Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Public health agencies (PHAs) have increasingly incorporated social media into their communication mix during successive pandemics in the 21st century. However, the quality, timing, and accuracy of their health messages have varied significantly, resulting in mixed outcomes for communication, audience engagement, and pandemic management. This study aimed to identify factors influencing the effectiveness of pandemic-related health messages shared by PHAs on social media and to report their impact on public engagement as documented in the literature. A scoping literature review was conducted following a predefined protocol. An electronic search of 7 relevant databases and 5 grey literature repositories yielded 9,714 papers published between January 2003 and November 2022. Seventy-three papers were deemed eligible and selected for review. The results underscored the insufficiency of social media guidance policies for PHAs. Six themes were identified: message source, message topic, message style, message timing, content credibility and reliability, and message recipient profile. These themes encompassed 20 variables that could inform PHAs' social media public health communication during pandemics. Additionally, the findings revealed potential interconnectedness among the variables, and this study concluded by proposing a conceptual model that expands upon existing theoretical foundations for developing and evaluating pandemic-related health messaging.

Indexed as

Communicable disease controlHealth communicationPandemicsPublic health administrationSocial media

Identifiers

PMID37652679
PMCPMC10493704

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.