When using social media to nudge people toward safe and healthy behaviour, it’s critical to make sure the words match the pictures, according to a new study.
After looking at social media posts, parents of young children were better able to recall safety messages such as how to put a baby safely to sleep when the images in the posts aligned with the messages in the text, the researchers found.
The study appears in the Journal of Health Communication.
“Many times, scientists and safety experts aren’t involved in decisions about social media for health agencies and other organizations, and we end up seeing images that have nothing to do with the safety message or, worse, images that contradict the guidance,” said lead author Liz Klein, an associate professor of public health at The Ohio State University.
Take the safe sleep example, for instance. The researchers found posts that advocated a bumper-free crib for baby but used an image of an infant in a crib with…