Cited by 54Public Relations and Crisis CommunicationSocial Media in Health EducationCommunication and COVID-19 Impact

Should Health Organizations Use Web 2.0 Media in Times of an Infectious Disease Crisis? An In-depth Qualitative Study of Citizens’ Information Behavior During an EHEC Outbreak

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van Velsen, Lex, van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C, Beaujean, Desirée J.M.A, Wentzel, Jobke, van Steenbergen, Jim E·2012·Journal of Medical Internet Research

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Web 2.0 media (eg, Facebook, Wikipedia) are considered very valuable for communicating with citizens in times of crisis. However, in the case of infectious disease outbreaks, their value has not been determined empirically. In order to be able to take full advantage of Web 2.0 media in such a situation, the link between these media, citizens' information behavior, and citizens' information needs has to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: The goal of our study was to assess citizens' Web 2.0 media use during an infectious disease outbreak and to determine which Web 2.0 medium is used for which goal. With this information, we wanted to formulate recommendations for health organizations that consider using Web 2.0 media as part of their communication strategy during an infectious disease outbreak. METHODS: A total of 18 student participants kept an information diary for 4 weeks during the 2011 enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) outbreak in Germany. Of them, 9 lived at the epicenter of the outbreak and 9 of them at some distance. The diaries were supplemented by a qualitative pre-survey (demographics) and postsurvey (questioning their satisfaction with information provision during the outbreak). RESULTS: The Internet appeared to be the most popular medium for passively receiving EHEC-related information, with news websites and websites of newspapers as the most consulted sources. Twitter was used for receiving information to a small degree, while Facebook played virtually no role. Participants indicated that they thought information posted on Twitter or Facebook was not reliable or was out of place. When actively seeking information, online newspapers and wikis were important sources. Several causes for (dis)satisfaction with information provision were uncovered: source credibility, contradicting messages, and a need for closure. CONCLUSIONS: During an infectious disease outbreak, our small sample of students did not see social media (like Facebook and Twitter) as suitable or reliable sources for communicating information, but primarily viewed them as a tool for communicating with friends. Wikis, however, did fill several information needs, especially when citizens are actively searching for information. For many, source credibility is an important asset of information usefulness. Finally, we provide several general recommendations for communicating with citizens during an infectious disease outbreak.

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  • Including participants who are willing and able to constantly provide input on their experience for a longer period of time can be challenging and time consuming, which also applies when it comes to ensuring that participants do not drop out during the study.

    “Second, including participants who are willing and able to constantly provide input on their experience for a longer period of time can be challenging and time consuming, which also applies when it comes to ensuring that participants do not drop out during the study”
  • When researchers want to study experiences during a specific event such as a virus outbreak, they ideally want to start collecting data from the beginning of the outbreak, but in practice this is often impossible.

    “Third, when researchers want to study experiences during a specific event such as a virus outbreak, they ideally want to start collecting data from the beginning of the outbreak. However, in practice, this is often impossible.”
  • Experience sampling was found to be a suitable method to explore an existing situation and thus to provide valuable input for further eHealth development.

    “First, experience sampling was found to be a suitable method to explore an existing situation and thus to provide valuable input for further eHealth development”

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Authors
van Velsen, L., van Gemert-Pijnen, J. E. W. C., Beaujean, D. J. M. A., Wentzel, J., & van Steenbergen, J. E.
Affiliations
  • National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (NL)
  • University of Twente (NL)
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Published
2012-12-20
Volume
14
Issue
6
Pages
e181
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2128286223
Cited by
53
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2
FWCI
14.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Twente Research Information (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
  • Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
Keywords
social media, infectious disease outbreaks, information needs, health communication, crisis communication, source credibility, wikis, Twitter, Facebook, information satisfaction
MeSH terms
Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Internet, Qualitative Research

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