title: Interactive communication with the public: qualitative exploration of the use of social media by food and health organizations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the use and impact of social media on 2-way communication between consumers and public organizations in the food safety and nutrition area.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth qualitative study conducted between October, 2012 and January, 2013, using semi-structured interviews in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sixteen professionals worked on the public interface within 5 national organizations with a role in communicating on food safety and nutrition issues in this thematic analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five main themes were identified: gradual shift toward social media-based queries and complaints; challenges and limitations of social media to deal with queries and complaints; benefits of using social media in query and complaint services; content redesign driven by social media use; and using social media to learn more about consumers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Social media penetrated and brought new opportunities to food organizations' interactions with the public. Given the increasing use of social media by the public, food organizations need to explore such new opportunities for communication and research.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Liran Christine
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom; School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panagiotopoulos
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Áine
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Regan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland; Department of Food Business and Development, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Aoife
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Brún
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address: aine.mcconnon@ucd.ie.
authors.forename: Áine
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: McConnon
mesh_terms: D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000639:trends; D003255:Consumer Organizations / Q000639:trends; D059022:Food Safety; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D061108:Social Media / Q000639:trends; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: 2-way communication; food; online monitoring; public engagement; social media