The Role of Social Media Influencers in Public Health Communication: Case COVID-19 Pandemic

Figures & data

Figure 1. Timeline of Corona Facts posts and comments and the publication of the newsletters (dotted lines).

Table 1. Categories of qualitative content analysis

Influencer posts (feed, Stories)		N	%	Example message
Instructions, general facts	General instructions about how to behave during the pandemic, and general facts about the virus and related issues	73	36%	”Hey, we have a message to you Let’s stay home. Let’s wash our hands. Let’s respect the professionals who are fighting for us. Let’s save lives. We will get through this together. #flattenthecurve #stayhome #covıd19 #corona #coronafacts”
Direct sharing of campaign messages	Direct sharing of campaign messages	45	22%	”Finnish Food Authority informs: There is no research evidence that dietary supplements would protect against the corona virus or cure the disease it has caused. --- #coronafacts #foodsupplement #health #medicine #bloggers #influencer #influencermarketing #healthblog”
Showing an example	Demonstrating or describing how to behave during the pandemic and how to cope with it. Peer support.	32	16%	”Tomorrow we’ll go outdoors only with our own family, like we did today. Luckily we’re many, we live close to nature, and the spring is pretty. We’ve decided that we don’t meet any friends, even outdoors. I wrote a blog post about this decision and I included some tips for how to communicate this to kids’ friends!”
Campaign	Information about the Corona Facts campaign, informing about the reponsibilities of social media influencers	28	14%	”Hey you, we’re now needed @finnishgovernment has put its faith on social media influencers and asks us all to take part in relable communication about the corona virus. --- Regardless if you have 200 or 20k followers – all voices are now important to speak for urgent matters.”
Emotions	Sharing of emotions, such as concern, humour, hope, respect	26	13%	”If something about these dreaded times is to stay, I wish they were the sense of community and respect for healthcare professionals. #flattenthecurve”
		204	100%
Comments (either by a follower or the influencer)
Positive reaction	Supportive messages, positive or supportive emojis, giving thanks, relationship work	687	63%	”More of these, please ”, ”Have a nice May Day and remember to eat lots of donuts ”
Information sharing	Sharing the same opinion, sharing information, answering questions	124	11%	”Mortality rates vary widely between countries and are largely affected by how badly the health care system is saturated. Washing your hands should be a basic thing, but yes, even I have paid more attention to it now.”
Advice	Giving advice, tips, sharing new ideas	71	6%	”You should look closely at what model to buy. A mere rectangular strip of fabric with rubber bands fits poorly. At least a couple of pleats should be at the edges to allow for stretching.”
Concern	Concern about the disease or its effects on oneself or other people, or about the restrictions affect the society or the economy sad reactions	42	4%	”I’m worried because my mediaction lowers my immunity”, ”That is truly irresponsible and selfish”
Question	Question about the virus, how to behave in certain situations, or about something that the influencer has posted (sincerely)	28	3%	”What is your opinion as a doctor, should meetings for less than 10 people be cancelled? What about two-person meetings?”
Debate	Contesting, pondering about the truth, irritation towards others	26	2%	”We cannot afford to keep everyone alive forever. According to the oath of the doctors, every person who dies is a failure. Should we start looking at the situation differently?”
Unrelated	Comments that do not fit to the context, links to other users, only hashtags	119	11%
		1097	100%

Figure 2. An example post by a social media influencer (direct sharing of campaign messages). Caption shortened. Reprinted with the permission of the influencer.