title: On pins and needles: how vaccines are portrayed on Pinterest.
abstract: Vaccination is an effective public health tool for reducing morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases. However, increasing numbers of parents question the safety of vaccines or refuse to vaccinate their children outright. The Internet is playing a significant role in the growing voice of the anti-vaccination movement as a growing number of people use the Internet to obtain health information, including information about vaccines. Given the role the Internet plays in providing vaccination-related communication, coupled with limited research in this area, this study focused on the social media platform Pinterest, analyzing 800 vaccine-related pins through a quantitative content analysis. The majority of the pins were anti-vaccine, and most were original posts as opposed to repins. Concerns about vaccine safety and side effects were oft-repeated themes, as was the concept of conspiracy theory. Pro-vaccine pins elicited consistently more engagement than anti-vaccine pins. Health educators and public health organizations should be aware of these dynamics, since a successful health communication campaign should start with an understanding of what and how publics communicate about the topic at hand.
authors: Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States. Electronic address: guidryjd@vcu.edu.
authors: Jeanine P D
authors: JP
authors: Guidry
authors: Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States.
authors: Kellie
authors: K
authors: Carlyle
authors: Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States.
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Messner
authors: Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, United States.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Jin
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011639:Public Opinion; D061108:Social Media; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines
keywords: Anti-vaccine; Content analysis; Internet; Social media; Vaccinations