Scientific Articles

• Puigvert, L., Villarejo-Carballido, B., Gairal-Casadó, R., Gómez, A., Cañaveras, P., & Martí, T. S. (2022). An Instagram Hashtag Fostering Science Education of Vulnerable Groups during the Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), 1974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19041974
• Raggatt, M., Wright, C. J., Carrotte, E., Jenkinson, R., Mulgrew, K., Prichard, I., & Lim, M. S. (2018). “I aspire to look and feel healthy like the posts convey”: engagement with fitness inspiration on social media and perceptions of its influence on health and wellbeing. BMC public health, 18(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5930-7
• Moorhead, S. A., Hazlett, D. E., Harrison, L., Carroll, J. K., Irwin, A., & Hoving, C. (2013). A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication. Journal of medical Internet research, 15(4), e1933. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1933

Explanation of the Post

With the development of the Internet, social networks play an increasingly indispensable role in people’s lives, especially for young people. Various studies show the role of social media for the public in learning scientific knowledge. For instance, the study of Puigvert et al (2022) shows that Instagram “contains quality scientific information, thus providing learning spaces for different branches of knowledge when using this social network” (p.9).  Some participants involved in the study of  Raggatt et al (2018) expressed that they enjoyed learning about health and fitness through social media. This paper conducted that social media is an increasingly popular and accessible way to gather and share health-related information. Likewise, a review conducted by Moorhead (2013) affirms that “Social media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes” (p.1)

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