Zika-Virus-Related Photo Sharing on Pinterest and Instagram.
OBJECTIVE
Pinterest (San Francisco, CA) and Instagram (Menlo Park, CA) are 2 popular photo-sharing social media platforms among young individuals. We assessed differences between Instagram and Pinterest in relaying photographic information regarding Zika virus. Specifically, we investigated whether the percentage of Zika-virus-related photos with Spanish or Portuguese texts embedded therein was higher for Instagram than for Pinterest and whether the contents of Zika-virus-related photos shared on Pinterest were different from those shared on Instagram.


METHODS
We retrieved and manually coded 616 Pinterest (key words: "zika" AND "virus") and 616 Instagram (hashtag: #zikavirus) photos.


RESULTS
Among the manually coded samples, 47% (290/616) of Pinterest photos and 23% (144/616) of Instagram photos were relevant to Zika virus. Words were embedded in 57% (164/290) of relevant Pinterest photos and all 144 relevant Instagram photos. Among the photos with embedded words, photos in Spanish or Portuguese were more prevalent on Instagram (77/144, 53%) than on Pinterest (14/164, 9%). There were more Zika-virus-related photos on Instagram than on Pinterest pertinent to Zika virus prevention (59/144, 41%, versus 41/290, 14%; P<0.0001), the effects of Zika virus on pregnancy (27/144, 19%, versus 32/290, 11%; P=0.04), and Zika-virus-associated deaths (4/144, 2%, versus 0/290, 0%; P=0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Pinterest and Instagram are similar platforms for Zika virus prevention communication. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:656-659).
1Department of Epidemiology,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
Isaac Chun-Hai
IC
Fung
1Department of Epidemiology,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
Elizabeth B
EB
Blankenship
1Department of Epidemiology,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
M Elizabeth
ME
Goff
1Department of Epidemiology,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
Lindsay A
LA
Mullican
2Journalism and Media Studies Centre,The University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong.
Kwun Cheung
KC
Chan
3Department of Computer Science,The University of Georgia,Athens,Georgia.
Nitin
N
Saroha
1Department of Epidemiology,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
Carmen H
CH
Duke
4Department of Environmental Health Sciences,Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health,Georgia Southern University,Statesboro,Georgia.
Marina E
ME
Eremeeva
2Journalism and Media Studies Centre,The University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong.
King-Wa
KW
Fu
5College of Engineering,The University of Georgia,Athens,Georgia.
Zion Tsz Ho
ZTH
Tse
D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet; D010781:Photography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends; D061108:Social Media / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000628:therapy*
Zika virus disease; health communication; health education; social media