The use of social media for communicating about the Covid-19 vaccine: an analysis of 99 Italian local health authorities

ABSTRACT

Social media are widespread and play a significant role in communicating numerous topics, including those related to health. We conducted a study to analyse the presence of communications on the main social media platforms by the 99 Italian local health authorities (LHAs) and compared the results against those of a previous study conducted in 2018. We also analysed the LHAs' communications on Instagram to identify contents related to information on Covid-19 and its vaccine. The results showed that, at the end of 2021, 91.8% of Italian LHAs were active on at least one of the five platforms investigated (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn), with an absolute growth of 30% compared to 2018. Facebook (79.8%) was the most used platform, followed by YouTube (55.6%), Instagram (43.4%), Twitter (35.4%), and LinkedIn (11.1%). Comparing the absolute percentages observed in 2018 and in 2021, Facebook use grew by 33%, YouTube by 18%, Twitter by 3%, while LinkedIn use remained unchanged. Instagram use grew from 9% to 34% percent, making it the platform with the highest growth rate. Of the total of 1600 Instagram posts examined, 34.1% concerned the Covid- 19 vaccine, 10.6% were related to Covid-19, but did not concern the vaccine, while 55.3% were related to topics other than Covid-19. Covid-19 seems to have led to an increase in the use of social media platforms by the Italian LHAs. Further studies are needed to investigate the role of LHAs in fostering knowledge on Covid-19 and in reducing vaccine hesitancy.