JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social media-delivered health promotion has met with limited uptake and effectiveness among young adults. Understanding of how young adults are interacting with existing social media platforms for health might provide insight for future health promotion interventions.

Objective:

This paper aims to describe how young adults interact with different social media platforms for health and health information.

Methods:

We used an online conversation methodology to collect data from 165 young adults aged 18-24. Participants joined in an extended conversation with moderators and other participants about health and social media. They were prompted to discuss how they find health information, how they use different social media platforms, and how they evaluate the trustworthiness of information. A thematic qualitative analysis was applied to the data.

Results:

Young adults spent a lot of time scrolling through Facebook newsfeeds, which often resulted in seeing health-related content, either from their friends, news sources or advertisements. Some actively sought out information about specific health areas through joining groups or following relevant pages. YouTube was considered a useful source to learn about everything and was often the go to when searching for information or advice (after Google). Young adults found the video format easy to learn from. They stated they could identify accurate YouTube health content by cross-checking multiple videos, by feeling that the presenter was ‘real’ and relatable, or just through instinctively judging a video's credibility. Instagram was a source of health and wellness inspiration from those whose lives were dedicated to healthy lifestyles and fitness. Twitter, Tumblr, and Snapchat were rarely used for health information.

Conclusions:

Most young adults obtain some health information from social media, both actively and through passive exposure. Participants indicated looking to social media influencers for health and lifestyle inspiration and judged the credibility of sources by appearances and instinct. Health experts should try to use the channels in the way that young adults already use them; use relatable role models on Instagram and YouTube, eye-catching headlines and support groups on Facebook, and easy to follow instruction videos via YouTube.