Perceptions and Experiences of Undergraduate Students Regarding Social Media as a Tool for Government COVID-19-Related Messages: A Qualitative Study in Nottingham, UK

Sanvir Sandhu (), Emma Wilson and Kaushik Chattopadhyay
Additional contact information
Sanvir Sandhu: Nottingham Centre for Public Health and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
Emma Wilson: Nottingham Centre for Public Health and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
Kaushik Chattopadhyay: Nottingham Centre for Public Health and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: The rise of social media has given way to its use as a form of public health communication. Previous research has shown social media-based interventions to be effective, particularly for university students. Social media was used as a tool for public health messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there is a lack of information regarding the experiences and perceptions of such messaging and its effectiveness among UK university students. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the perceptions and experiences of public health messaging on social media during the pandemic, as well as the effects of such messaging. Fourteen semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students at the University of Nottingham, UK, were conducted. Five main themes were identified: effects of COVID-19 on university students, use of social media by university students, COVID-19 messaging on social media, effects of public health messaging on social media in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, and improving public health messaging for the future. This study provides a novel insight into the experiences and perceptions of undergraduate students at a UK university regarding public health messaging on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: public health; social media; COVID-19; health promotion; e-health; digital health; health literacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6903/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6903/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:20:p:6903-:d:1256468

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().