Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts
Health promoters have been unable to reach and engage people on social media (SM) to the extent that food industry brands and lifestyle personalities have. The objective of this study was to identify the SM post strategies associated with higher engagement in nutrition and food-related posts using a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2839 |
| _version_ | 1797553516359712768 |
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| author | Amy M. Barklamb Annika Molenaar Linda Brennan Stephanie Evans Jamie Choong Emma Herron Mike Reid Tracy A. McCaffrey |
| author_facet | Amy M. Barklamb Annika Molenaar Linda Brennan Stephanie Evans Jamie Choong Emma Herron Mike Reid Tracy A. McCaffrey |
| author_sort | Amy M. Barklamb |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Health promoters have been unable to reach and engage people on social media (SM) to the extent that food industry brands and lifestyle personalities have. The objective of this study was to identify the SM post strategies associated with higher engagement in nutrition and food-related posts using a retrospective content analysis. The six most engaging posts from both Facebook and Instagram’s 10 most successful nutrition and food-related accounts were analysed across four fields. Subjective and objective post strategies were coded on 736 posts, and associations with engagement were explored using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). Lifestyle personalities recorded the highest absolute engagement, while health promoters recorded the highest engagement relative to follower count. Strategies associated with higher Facebook engagement included using hashtags and prompting engagement through announcements, while on Instagram, higher engagement was associated with higher caption counts, providing health information links, prompting engagement through strategies that require an action, and using humorous strategies. Strategies associated with lower Instagram engagement included reposted content, general encouragement to eat strategies, encouragement to exercise strategies, not inducing any emotion/hedonic sensations, and providing a negative tone. Health promoters should adapt SM posts to the different SM platforms and utilise strategies associated with higher engagement to engage with their audience on SM. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:16:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63f4669d92b1464ab1bd42eb71437502 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:16:54Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-63f4669d92b1464ab1bd42eb714375022023-11-20T13:58:37ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432020-09-01129283910.3390/nu12092839Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media AccountsAmy M. Barklamb0Annika Molenaar1Linda Brennan2Stephanie Evans3Jamie Choong4Emma Herron5Mike Reid6Tracy A. McCaffrey7Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaSchool of Media and Communications, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaSchool of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Melbourne 3168, AustraliaHealth promoters have been unable to reach and engage people on social media (SM) to the extent that food industry brands and lifestyle personalities have. The objective of this study was to identify the SM post strategies associated with higher engagement in nutrition and food-related posts using a retrospective content analysis. The six most engaging posts from both Facebook and Instagram’s 10 most successful nutrition and food-related accounts were analysed across four fields. Subjective and objective post strategies were coded on 736 posts, and associations with engagement were explored using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). Lifestyle personalities recorded the highest absolute engagement, while health promoters recorded the highest engagement relative to follower count. Strategies associated with higher Facebook engagement included using hashtags and prompting engagement through announcements, while on Instagram, higher engagement was associated with higher caption counts, providing health information links, prompting engagement through strategies that require an action, and using humorous strategies. Strategies associated with lower Instagram engagement included reposted content, general encouragement to eat strategies, encouragement to exercise strategies, not inducing any emotion/hedonic sensations, and providing a negative tone. Health promoters should adapt SM posts to the different SM platforms and utilise strategies associated with higher engagement to engage with their audience on SM.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2839social mediaFacebookInstagramnutritionhealth promotionyoung adults |
| spellingShingle | Amy M. Barklamb Annika Molenaar Linda Brennan Stephanie Evans Jamie Choong Emma Herron Mike Reid Tracy A. McCaffrey Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts Nutrients social media nutrition health promotion young adults |
| title | Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts |
| title_full | Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts |
| title_fullStr | Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts |
| title_short | Learning the Language of Social Media: A Comparison of Engagement Metrics and Social Media Strategies Used by Food and Nutrition-Related Social Media Accounts |
| title_sort | learning the language of social media a comparison of engagement metrics and social media strategies used by food and nutrition related social media accounts |
| topic | social media nutrition health promotion young adults |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2839 |
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