Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92161, USA.
Department of Education Studies, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92161, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 8;18(12):6181. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126181.
Using social media is one important strategy to communicate research and public health guidelines to the scientific community and general public. Empirical evidence about which communication strategies are effective around breastfeeding messaging is scarce. To fill this gap, we aimed to identify influencers in the largest available Twitter database using social network analysis ( = 10,694 users), inductively analyze tweets, and explore communication strategies, motivations, and challenges via semi-structured interviews. Influencers had diverse backgrounds within and beyond the scientific health community (SHC; 42.7%): 54.7% were from the general public and 3% were companies. SHC contributed to most of the tweets ( = 798 tweets), disseminating guidelines and research findings more frequently than others ( < 0.001). Influencers from the general community mostly tweeted opinions regarding the current state of breastfeeding research and advocacy. Interviewees provided practical strategies (e.g., preferred visuals, tone, and writing style) to achieve personal and societal goals including career opportunities, community support, and improved breastfeeding practices. Complex challenges that need to be addressed were identified. Ideological differences regarding infant feeding may be hampering constructive communication, including differences in influencers' interpretation of the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and in perspectives regarding which social media interactions encompass conflict of interest.
利用社交媒体向科学界和公众传播研究和公共卫生指南是一项重要策略。关于母乳喂养信息传播的哪些沟通策略有效，实证证据很少。为了填补这一空白，我们旨在使用社会网络分析（= 10694 名用户）在最大的可用 Twitter 数据库中确定有影响力的人，对推文进行归纳分析，并通过半结构化访谈探索沟通策略、动机和挑战。有影响力的人在科学卫生界（SHC）内外有着不同的背景（= 10694 名用户）：54.7%来自普通公众，3%来自公司。SHC 对大多数推文做出了贡献（= 798 条推文），比其他群体更频繁地传播准则和研究结果（<0.001）。来自普通社区的 SHC 主要发布关于母乳喂养研究和倡导现状的意见。受访者提供了实现个人和社会目标的实用策略（例如，首选的视觉效果、语气和写作风格），包括职业机会、社区支持和改善母乳喂养实践。还确定了需要解决的复杂挑战。关于婴儿喂养的意识形态差异可能会阻碍建设性的沟通，包括影响者对世界卫生组织《国际母乳代用品销售守则》的解释差异，以及对哪些社交媒体互动包含利益冲突的看法差异。
