title: Using Twitter for prenatal health promotion: encouraging a multivitamin habit among college-aged females.
abstract: Half of the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned and the highest rate of these unplanned pregnancies occurs in young women aged 18-24y. Serious birth defects, such as those that affect the neural tube, occur early in pregnancy, most of the time before a woman knows she is pregnant. These neural tube defects can be reduced by 50-72% with an adequate daily intake of folic acid. In continuing the research on how to effectively communicate the important benefits of folic acid to young women, this study sought to investigate the use of social media as a tool for health promotion. Young women are considered the 'power users' of social media and the current study uses Twitter as a vehicle for multivitamin promotion messages due to the ability to quickly share content and the potential to attract viral attention through re-tweets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advertising and Public Relations, The University of Texas, Austin,TX, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mackert
authors.forename: Eunice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guadagmo
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Donovan-Kicken
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000517:prevention & control; D016742:Preconception Care / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D014495:Universities; D014815:Vitamins
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins