title: Identifying New Strategies to Assess and Promote Online Health Communication and Social Media Outreach: An Application in Bullying Prevention.
abstract: Every day in classrooms, playgrounds and school hallways, through text messages and mobile technology apps, children are bullied by other children. Conversations about this bullying-what it is, who is involved, and how to stop it-are taking place online. To fill a need for relevant, research-based materials on bullying, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration worked with Widmeyer Communications to investigate the scope of media conversations about bullying and discover new strategies for promoting appropriate public health messages about bullying to intended audiences. Key components of the methodology included: analyzing common search terms and aligning social media content with terms used in searches rather than technical language; identifying influencers in social media spheres, cultivating relationships with them, and sharing their positive, relevant content; examining which digital formats are most popular for sharing and creating content across platforms; tracking and reporting on a wide variety of metrics (such as click-through and engagement rates and reach, resonance, relevance, and Klout scores) to understand conversations around bullying; and looking at online conversations and engaging participants using applicable resources and calls to action. A key finding included a significant gap between search terms and online content and has led to recommendations and comprehensive ideas for improving the reach and resonance of StopBullying.gov content and communications.
authors.affiliation: Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Edgerton
authors.affiliation: Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reiney
authors.affiliation: Widmeyer Communications, Washington, DC, USA siobhan.mueller@finnpartners.com.
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Widmeyer Communications, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reicherter
authors.affiliation: Widmeyer Communications, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.affiliation: Widmeyer Communications, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waties
authors.affiliation: Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Limber
mesh_terms: D058445:Bullying / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D040241:Social Marketing; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: bullying prevention; conversation mapping; health communication; keyword research; metrics and evaluation; online influencer identification; social marketing; social media