Department of Communication and Foreign Languages, Politehnica University of Timisoara, 300006 Timisoara, Romania.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 29;20(3):2372. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032372.
Following international best practice examples, the Romanian government resorted to its social media accounts to disseminate information and unfold an awareness and persuasion campaign to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The article focuses on the use of the government's YouTube and Facebook accounts to persuade the population to get vaccinated in 2021 via video messages tailored for this purpose. The research quantified the volume of public engagement with the two waves of the persuasive campaign, finding that, while click-based reactions tended to show a positive attitude toward the campaign, the comments mainly denoted frustration, anger, and anxiety on the part of the public. Moreover, the citizens' engagement with the campaign messages was by far lower than the number of subscribers and followers of the analyzed social media accounts. The goal of the COVID-19 public health persuasion campaign was to build support for the governmental policy and minimize the risks of the pandemic while vaccination was being rolled out. The public reaction to the governmental campaign showed that a finer and more adapted approach was necessary. This study offers a qualitative basis for informing health communication strategies of the challenges posed by social media platforms used in crisis times.
效仿国际最佳实践范例，罗马尼亚政府利用其社交媒体账号传播信息，开展了一场提高认识和劝说公众的活动，以抗击 COVID-19 大流行。本文重点研究了政府利用 YouTube 和 Facebook 账号发布有针对性的视频信息，劝说民众于 2021 年接种疫苗，以此来达到目的。该研究对两轮劝说活动的公众参与度进行了量化，发现虽然基于点击量的反应往往显示出民众对该活动的积极态度，但评论主要表达了公众的沮丧、愤怒和焦虑。此外，与分析的社交媒体账号的订阅者和关注者数量相比，公民对活动信息的参与度要低得多。COVID-19 公共卫生劝说活动的目标是在推出疫苗的同时，为政府政策争取支持并将大流行风险降到最低。公众对政府活动的反应表明，需要采取更细致、更适应的方法。本研究为在危机时期利用社交媒体平台制定健康传播策略提供了定性依据，指出了其所面临的挑战。
