“INFLUENCER”: DO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS INFLUENCE HEALTH BEHAVIOR?

Abstract

Social media has completely reshaped how individuals communicate about almost every topic, including health. Image-video-sharing and platforms, micro-blogging, and social networking such as Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube, and Twitter can increase or decrease the effectiveness of health promotion interventions by providing access to at-risk audiences. Social media influencers are defined as people online who are followed by others and from whom they receive advice regarding purchasing products/ services, ultimately influencing attitudes and behavior through their credentials. In this study, attention was drawn to social media influencers in creating health behavior change based on the literature, and the effect of influencers on followers and businesses was tried to be comprehensively evaluated. Social networking sites offer an important means for increasing the accessibility and enabling new forms of health communication between the public and medical social influencers. In the literature, it has been found that social media influencers have an effect on many issues such as smoking cessation, increasing knowledge against flu vaccine, diet, and exercise, food choices, etc. Mothers also use social media actively and impressive impact on child nutrition, smoking, and alcohol encouraging the use of the content on the restriction of the skin, cosmetic products that affect the health of the inspection, and scientific studies on topics such as increasing physical activity to be done in the coming years will shape the debate in both Bioethics and public health policies. The insufficient number of studies in the literature has limited our study. It is recommended to increase the research on the effect of social media influencers on creating health behavior change.

Keywords

• Social Media Influencer
• Social Media
• Health Behaviour Change
• Health Policies
• Influencer

“INFLUENCER” : SOSYAL MEDYA ETKİLEYİCİLERİ SAĞLIK DAVRANIŞINI ETKİLER Mİ?

Abstract

Sosyal medya, bireylerin sağlıkta dahil olmak üzere hemen hemen her konu hakkında nasıl iletişim kurduklarını ve pazarlamacıların hem sağlıklı hem de sağlıksız ürünleri ve davranışları tanıtmak için hedef kitlelerine ulaşma yolunu tamamen değiştirmiştir. Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube ve Twitter gibi sosyal ağ oluşturma, mikro blog oluşturma ve resim ve video paylaşım platformları, risk altındaki kitlelere erişim sağlayarak sağlığın teşviki ve geliştirilmesi müdahalelerinin etkinliğini artırabilmekte ya da azaltabilmektedir. Sosyal medya etkileyicisi, başkaları tarafından takip edilen ve ürün/hizmet satın alma konusunda tavsiye aldıkları, nihayetinde kimlik bilgileri aracılığıyla tutum ve davranışları etkileyen çevrimiçi kişiler olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu etkileyiciler, geniş bir takipçi tabanına sahiptir. Bu çalışmada literatüre dayanılarak sağlık davranışı değişikliği oluşturmada sosyal medya etkileyicilerine dikkat çekilmiş olup etkileyicilerin takipçiler ve işletmeler üzerindeki etkisi kapsamlı olarak değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bazı sosyal ağ siteleri, erişilebilirliği artırmak ve halk ile tıbbi sosyal etkileyiciler arasında yeni sağlık iletişim biçimlerine olanak sağlamak için önemli bir araç sunmaktadır. Literatür ışığında sigarayı bıraktırma, korona aşısına karşı bilginin arttırılması, diyet ve egzersiz, çocuklarda yemek seçimleri, adölesan sağlığı vb. birçok konuda sosyal medya etkileyicilerinin etkisi tespit edilmiştir. Özellikle annelerin sosyal medyayı aktif olarak kullanması ve etkileyicilerin çocuk beslenmesi üzerindeki etkisi, sigara ve alkol kullanımını özendiren içeriklerin kısıtlanması, cilt sağlığını etkileyen kozmetik ürünlerin denetlenmesi, fiziksel aktivitenin arttırılması gibi konular üzerine bilimsel çalışmalar yapılması hem halk sağlığı politikalarını hem de önümüzdeki yıllarda biyoetik tartışmalarını şekillendirecektir. Literatürde henüz yeterli sayıda çalışma olmayışı, çalışmamızı sınırlandırmıştır. Sosyal medya etkileyicilerinin sağlık davranış değişikliği oluşturmadaki etkisine dair araştırmaların arttırılması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• Sosyal Medya Etkileyicisi
• Sosyal Medya
• Sağlık Davranışı değişikliği
• Sağlık Politikaları
• Etkileyici

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