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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Commun.
Sec. Organizational Communication
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1421165

Organizational Use of Social Media during a Global Health Crisis

Provisionally accepted
Wanzhu Shi Wanzhu Shi 1*Tina Yeung Tina Yeung 2Jared Dmello Jared Dmello 3
  • 1 University of North Florida, Jacksonville, United States
  • 2 Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States
  • 3 Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Alabama, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    account the digital divide among racial/ethnic minorities' access to health information and the higher prevalence of low health and digital literacy among these groups (Goulbourne & Yanovitzky, 2021). According to Ballew, et al.'s study (2020), 39% of African Americans and 30% of Hispanic adults needed more knowledge about the COVID-19 virus compared to Caucasians (22%), so that they can take more protective actions for themselves and their families. Additionally, these population groups also indicated that they relied heavily on social media as a major source of obtaining this information (Ballew, et al., 2020). Although all demographic groups had higher-than-normal increases in deaths during the pandemic, the increase in Hispanic deaths between 2019 and 2020 had a notable surge, compared to other demographic groups (Sabo & Johnson, 2023). As one of the largest minority groups in the U.S.with the second lowest literacy (the first being the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population group), Hispanics may be more susceptible to health misinformation on social media in an English speaking dominated country. Therefore, this study aims to explore how governmental agencies and other health-related organizations use social media within a Hispanic community.In the current digital era, many governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and hospitals utilize social media, like Twitter (now known as X), to disseminate important public health information. A study showed that most local health departments nationwide have adopted at least one form of social media platform (Harris et al., 2013). Increased connectivity also serves as a mechanism of empowerment, enabling individuals and organizations to interact in new ways for positive change. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governmental agencies, non-profits organizations, and other organizations utilized social media platforms, like Twitter, to disseminate important public health information to their local communities.

    Keywords: Social Media, COVID19, Hispanic community, Public health communication, Public Administnation

    Received: 21 Apr 2024; Accepted: 23 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shi, Yeung and Dmello. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wanzhu Shi, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.