TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 on Instagram
T2 - A content analysis of selected accounts
AU - Niknam, Fatemeh
AU - Samadbeik, Mahnaz
AU - Fatehi, Farhad
AU - Shirdel, Mohammad
AU - Rezazadeh, Mahboobeh
AU - Bastani, Peivand
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Objective: This study aimed to characterize the representation of public health information related to COVID-19 posted on Instagram in 2020. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in Iran as one of the countries with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. Data were collected from the contents published from February 19 to April 3, 2020, on Instagram. The search feature of the Instagram app was used to find the posts related to Coronavirus or COVID-19. Overall, 1612 posts from 92 accounts were retrieved and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: A total of 23 themes emerged from the analysis of the retrieved posts. These themes include epidemiology and statistics, training and caring, general prevention guidelines, hygiene, healthy diet and lifestyle, patients, diagnosis and treatment, personal protective equipment, traditional medicine, psychology, children, cultural aspects, socio-cultural impacts, religious, misinformation, and wrong behaviors, animals, satire, condition of the healthcare system, politics, quarantine, operations of the Iranian National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO), economic impacts, and world news. Conclusion: The contents analysis of Instagram posts during a public health crisis can provide new and realistic insights into the crisis and identify the topics of interest or concern of the public. Furthermore, the information collected in this way can help policymakers identify the most critical issues from the public perspective and utilize the gained knowledge to manage the ongoing and future pandemics.
AB - Objective: This study aimed to characterize the representation of public health information related to COVID-19 posted on Instagram in 2020. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in Iran as one of the countries with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. Data were collected from the contents published from February 19 to April 3, 2020, on Instagram. The search feature of the Instagram app was used to find the posts related to Coronavirus or COVID-19. Overall, 1612 posts from 92 accounts were retrieved and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: A total of 23 themes emerged from the analysis of the retrieved posts. These themes include epidemiology and statistics, training and caring, general prevention guidelines, hygiene, healthy diet and lifestyle, patients, diagnosis and treatment, personal protective equipment, traditional medicine, psychology, children, cultural aspects, socio-cultural impacts, religious, misinformation, and wrong behaviors, animals, satire, condition of the healthcare system, politics, quarantine, operations of the Iranian National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO), economic impacts, and world news. Conclusion: The contents analysis of Instagram posts during a public health crisis can provide new and realistic insights into the crisis and identify the topics of interest or concern of the public. Furthermore, the information collected in this way can help policymakers identify the most critical issues from the public perspective and utilize the gained knowledge to manage the ongoing and future pandemics.
KW - Content analysis
KW - Coronavirus
KW - COVID-19
KW - Instagram
KW - Social media
KW - Social networking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096001849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.10.016
DO - 10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.10.016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096001849
SN - 2211-8837
VL - 10
SP - 165
EP - 173
JO - Health Policy and Technology
JF - Health Policy and Technology
IS - 1
ER -
