Gambling advertising on Twitter before, during and after the initial Australian COVID-19 lockdown.

Background and aims: COVID-19 resulted in the shutdown of almost all sporting competitions and most venue-based gambling opportunities. This study examines how wagering operators in Australia responded, by examining their advertising. Methods: The study compared Twitter activity during lockdown (March-May 2020) to the previous year for four major wagering operators. Results: Wagering operators continued to advertise in earnest, changing their marketing mix to include more race betting content, as races continued to operate. Most also promoted the only sports available, such as table tennis or esports. When sports resumed, sports betting advertising quickly returned to normal, or exceeded previous levels. Despite more content being available in the case of two operators, engagement from the public during lockdown was similar to or lower than previously. Discussion and conclusion: These results indicate that gambling operators can adjust quickly to major changes. These shifts appear to have been successful, with the increase in race betting during this period almost completely offsetting the decreases in sports betting. This is likely due in part to changes in advertising, which have been associated with increased betting activity, particularly amongst vulnerable people. Responsible gambling messages were virtually non-existent on Twitter, which contrasts with mandatory requirements in other media. The study highlights that regulatory changes to advertising, e.g., banning some content, are likely to be met with substitution of content, rather than reduction, unless advertising volume is also capped. The study also highlights the adaptive capacity of the gambling industry in the face of major disruption to supply.

A practical guide to implementing a successful social media recruitment strategy: lessons from the Eczema Monitoring Online trial.

BACKGROUND: Participant recruitment into clinical trials remains challenging. The global increase in the number of social media users has accelerated the use of social media as a modality of recruitment, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional recruitment methods were reduced. However, there is limited evidence on the performance of social media recruitment strategies into eczema clinical trials. METHODS: From September 2021 to January 2022, we recruited participants with eczema into an online randomised controlled trial using free advertising on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit (unpaid methods), followed by paid Facebook advertisements (paid method). Unpaid methods were used periodically for 63 days, whilst the paid method for 16 days. Interested individuals who clicked on the advertisement link were directed to the study website, where they could sign up to participate. Consenting, randomisation and data collection occurred exclusively online, using a database management web platform. Evaluation of the social media recruitment methods was performed, including the number of expression of interests, enrolment yield, cost, baseline characteristics and retention. RESULTS: Our multi-platform based social media recruitment strategy resulted in 400 expressions of interests, leading to 296 participants. Unpaid methods accounted for 136 (45.9%) of participants, incurring no financial cost. Paid Facebook adverts reached 154,370 individuals, resulting in 123 (41.6%) trial participants for a total cost of £259.93 (£2.11 per participant) and other recruitment methods resulted in 37 (12.5%) enrolments. Paid advertisements predominantly attracted younger participants below the age of 20, whereas unpaid methods mainly drew in participants between 20-29 years of age. The social media platforms recruited an ethnically diverse participant population. Completion rate of follow-up was slightly higher for the paid method (n = 103, 83.7%) compared with the unpaid methods (n = 111, 81.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Unpaid social media posts recruited the most participants; however, it was time consuming for the researcher. Paid Facebook adverts rapidly recruited a large number of participants for a low cost and provided flexibility to target specific audiences. Our findings indicate that social media is an efficient tool that can potentially support recruitment to clinical trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN45167024. Registered on 29 June 2021.

Strategies for Recruiting Migrants to Participate in a Sexual Health Survey: Methods, Results, and Lessons.

In this article, we describe the approaches taken to recruit adult migrants living in Australia for a sexual health and blood-borne virus survey (paper and online) and present data detailing the outcomes of these approaches. The purpose was to offer guidance to redress the under-representation of migrants in public health research. Methods of recruitment included directly contacting people in individual/organizational networks, social media posts/advertising, promotion on websites, and face-to-face recruitment at public events/venues. Search query strings were used to provide information about an online referral source, and project officers kept records of activities and outcomes. Descriptive statistical analyses were used to determine respondent demographic characteristics, proportions recruited to complete the paper and online surveys, and sources of referral. Logistic regression analyses were run to predict online participation according to demographic characteristics. The total sample comprised 1454 African and Asian migrants, with 59% identifying as female. Most respondents (72%) were recruited to complete the paper version of the survey. Face-to-face invitations resulted in the highest number of completions. Facebook advertising did not recruit large numbers of respondents. Same-sex attraction and age (40-49 years) were statistically significant predictors of online completion. We encourage more researchers to build the evidence base on ways to produce research that reflects the needs and perspectives of minority populations who often bear the greatest burden of disease.

Utilizing Social Media Advertisements and Participant Social Networks to Recruit African American Breast Cancer Survivors: Design and Rationale.

Purpose: Our objective is to pilot an advertisement-driven sampling procedure among African American (AA) breast cancer survivors living in Maryland. These pilot study methods will inform a future population-based study of AA breast cancer survivors at high risk of poor outcomes due to biological differences and social inequities. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilizes an innovative, social media-based advertisement campaign with an associated social media study page to recruit 100 AA breast cancer survivors. Participants are biologically female, aged 18 and older, identify as AA/Black, have a diagnosis of breast cancer, and reside in Maryland. A preset "Audience" was created via Meta (formerly Facebook) to automatically target potential interest in the online study via geolocation and public social media interests (estimated range = 101,000 women). Eligible participants complete an online survey including demographic and clinical characteristics, cancer screening, healthcare access, and utilization, COVID-19 impact, quality of doctor-patient communication, and preferences for future study participation. Results: Recruitment began on 5 January 2022 and remains ongoing. As of 7 June 2002: 124 completed the screener, 110/124 (88.7%) consented passively, 24/110 (21.8%) started but did not complete survey, 86/110 (78.1%) completed the survey. Conclusions: Results from this study will inform a statewide multilevel prospective population-based study to improve health behaviors, disease management, and self-efficacy of chronic disease management among AA breast cancer survivors.

Capturing COVID-19-Like Symptoms at Scale Using Banner Ads on an Online News Platform: Pilot Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Identifying new COVID-19 cases is challenging. Not every suspected case undergoes testing, because testing kits and other equipment are limited in many parts of the world. Yet populations increasingly use the internet to manage both home and work life during the pandemic, giving researchers mediated connections to millions of people sheltering in place. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of using an online news platform to recruit volunteers willing to report COVID-19-like symptoms and behaviors. METHODS: An online epidemiologic survey captured COVID-19-related symptoms and behaviors from individuals recruited through banner ads offered through Microsoft News. Respondents indicated whether they were experiencing symptoms, whether they received COVID-19 testing, and whether they traveled outside of their local area. RESULTS: A total of 87,322 respondents completed the survey across a 3-week span at the end of April 2020, with 54.3% of the responses from the United States and 32.0% from Japan. Of the total respondents, 19,631 (22.3%) reported at least one symptom associated with COVID-19. Nearly two-fifths of these respondents (39.1%) reported more than one COVID-19-like symptom. Individuals who reported being tested for COVID-19 were significantly more likely to report symptoms (47.7% vs 21.5%; P<.001). Symptom reporting rates positively correlated with per capita COVID-19 testing rates (R2=0.26; P<.001). Respondents were geographically diverse, with all states and most ZIP Codes represented. More than half of the respondents from both countries were older than 50 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: News platforms can be used to quickly recruit study participants, enabling collection of infectious disease symptoms at scale and with populations that are older than those found through social media platforms. Such platforms could enable epidemiologists and researchers to quickly assess trends in emerging infections potentially before at-risk populations present to clinics and hospitals for testing and/or treatment.

Are bottle shops using Twitter to increase advertising or encourage drinking during COVID-19?

OBJECTIVE: Preliminary reports suggested that liquor retailers used COVID-19 to promote alcohol through sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram. To further understand the advertising practices during this period, we aimed to determine whether packaged liquor retailers increased their posts during COVID-19 or used COVID-19 to promote alcohol on Twitter. METHODS: 'Tweets' (Twitter posts) from all packaged liquor retailers in NSW written since 2018 were collected. Tweets written during the first COVID-19 lockdown period were coded for: references of COVID-19, types of marketing message, use of links to online stores and use of an alcohol-related 'meme'. RESULTS: There was no evidence of increased tweet frequency, however, some COVID-specific alcohol advertising was detected that leveraged the pandemic (4.0%) or referencing the pandemic without explicitly promoting alcohol (12.0%). The most popular market messages used in the tweets were encouraging alcohol use (15.4%) and easy access to alcohol at home (9.5%). CONCLUSIONS: At least on Twitter, there was no marked increase in posts from packaged liquor retailers in NSW and only some tweets used COVID-19 to promote alcohol. Implications for public health: The use of COVID-specific alcohol marketing on social media raises important considerations for legislative and regulatory requirements, particularly during major health events such as a pandemic.

Global COVID-19 Advertisements: Use of Informational, Transformational and Narrative Advertising Strategies.

This study employs the informational and transformational approaches from Taylor's Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel and narrative transportation theory to understand the use of different advertising message strategies in COVID-19 advertisements on a global scale. Understanding how advertisers constructed their public messages during a global pandemic is a necessary first step before follow-up research can be done to assess which message strategies were most effective. Content analysis was performed on the entire COVID-19 video ad library (N = 354) from Ads of the World website that were published from March to September 2020 from 49 countries. Results suggested that most of the ads used a transformational strategy with a focus on the social aspect of limiting community spread instead of an informational approach. Many of the ads also employed a narrative message strategy that used storytelling to transport and persuade viewers. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that the use of narrative message strategy was related to storytelling, ad length, music, and humor, but independent from the use of informational strategies.

[Sex Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in the Ibero-American Context: analysis of advertisements on websites]. / Trabalho sexual em período de pandemia por COVID-19 no contexto íbero-americano: análise de anúncios em websites.

Sex workers become increasingly economically vulnerable due to the restrictive measures implemented to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In this respect, the scope of this study is to analyze the content of prostitution websites and advertisements regarding measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved a description of the visits and analysis of content of communications on websites that advertise commercial sex transactions. The percentage change in the number of visits for three periods from 02/2019 to 04/2020 was calculated. Subsequently, ads with the terms "corona," "pandemic" and "quarantine" on websites that offer search engines were extracted. The Bardin method was then used for content analysis. There was an increase in the number of visits to prostitution websites between 2019 and 2020, followed by a decrease with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic crisis. With regard to the protection measures during the pandemic, health recommendations and the incentive to engage in virtual sex are highlighted. Of the 1,991,014 advertisements, 0.51% mention the COVID-19 crisis regarding noncompliance with social distancing, protection measures and the offer of online sex.

Trabalhadores do sexo tornam-se cada vez mais vulneráveis economicamente como resultado das medidas restritivas implementadas para responder à pandemia de coronavírus. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo é analisar o conteúdo dos websites e anúncios de prostituição sobre medidas relacionadas à pandemia por COVID-19. Trata-se de descrição do fluxo de visitas e análise de conteúdo das comunicações em websites que anunciam transações de sexo comercial. Realizou-se cálculo de variação percentual do número de visitas para três períodos compreendidos entre 02/2019 a 04/2020. Posteriormente, extraíram-se anúncios com os termos "corona", "pandemia" e "quarentena" em websites que oferecem mecanismo de busca. Para análise de conteúdo, utilizou-se o método de Bardin. Houve aumento no número de acessos nos websites de prostituição entre o ano de 2019 e 2020, seguido de queda com a advento da crise pandêmica por coronavírus. Dentre as medidas de proteção durante a pandemia, destacam-se as recomendações de saúde e o incentivo ao sexo virtual. Dentre 1.991.014 anúncios, 0,51% mencionam a crise por COVID-19 quanto ao descumprimento do distanciamento social, medidas de proteção e oferta de sexo on-line.