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Cited by 237Social Media in Health EducationImpact of Technology on AdolescentsPublic Health Policies and Education

The use of social networking sites for public health practice and research: A systematic review

Open access
Capurro, Daniel, Cole, Kate, Echavarría, Maria I, Joe, Jonathan, Neogi, Tina, Turner, Anne M·2014·Journal of Medical Internet Research
DOI 10.2196/jmir.2679PMC PMC3971364
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social networking sites (SNSs) have the potential to increase the reach and efficiency of essential public health services, such as surveillance, research, and communication. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review to identify the use of SNSs for public health research and practice and to identify existing knowledge gaps. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature review of articles related to public health and SNSs using PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL to search for peer-reviewed publications describing the use of SNSs for public health research and practice. We also conducted manual searches of relevant publications. Each publication was independently reviewed by 2 researchers for inclusion and extracted relevant study data. RESULTS: A total of 73 articles met our inclusion criteria. Most articles (n=50) were published in the final 2 years covered by our search. In all, 58 articles were in the domain of public health research and 15 were in public health practice. Only 1 study was conducted in a low-income country. Most articles (63/73, 86%) described observational studies involving users or usages of SNSs; only 5 studies involved randomized controlled trials. A large proportion (43/73, 59%) of the identified studies included populations considered hard to reach, such as young individuals, adolescents, and individuals at risk of sexually transmitted diseases or alcohol and substance abuse. Few articles (2/73, 3%) described using the multidirectional communication potential of SNSs to engage study populations. CONCLUSIONS: The number of publications about public health uses for SNSs has been steadily increasing in the past 5 years. With few exceptions, the literature largely consists of observational studies describing users and usages of SNSs regarding topics of public health interest. More studies that fully exploit the communication tools embedded in SNSs and study their potential to produce significant effects in the overall population's health are needed.

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  • The increasing importance of social media use among all populations means public health interventions are likely to be re-imagined and re-interpreted with a social media lens.

    “Finally, the increasing importance of social media use among all populations means that public health interventions are likely to re-imagined and re-interpreted with a social media lens [65].”

    From Social Network Analysis for Program Implementation (2015) · cites this paper as [65]

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [79]Moreno MA Christakis DA Egan KG Brockman LN Becker T Associations between displayed alcohol references on Facebook and problem drinking among college students Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2012 2 166 2 157 63 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.180 21969360 21969360 PMC3266463 · DOI
  2. [89]Norman CD Yip AL eHealth promotion and social innovation with youth: using social and visual media to engage diverse communities Stud Health Technol Inform 2012 172 54 70 22910502 22910502
  3. [93]Vance K Howe W Dellavalle RP Social internet sites as a source of public health information Dermatol Clin 2009 4 27 2 133 6, vi 10.1016/j.det.2008.11.010 19254656 19254656 · DOI

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Authors
Capurro, D., Cole, K., Echavarría, M. I., Joe, J., Neogi, T., & Turner, A. M.
Affiliations
University of Washington (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2014-03-14
Volume
16
Issue
3
Pages
e79
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/jmir.2679
PMC
PMC3971364
OpenAlex
W2049461911
Cited by
237
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 3
FWCI
2.99
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)
Funders
U.S. National Library of Medicine (T15LM007442)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Public Health Policies and Education
Keywords
social networking sites, public health research, public health practice, hard-to-reach populations, adolescents, sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse, health communication, observational studies, research gaps
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Humans, United States, Public Health Practice, Substance-Related Disorders, Biomedical Research, Young Adult, Social Networking, Social Media

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