No cap, fam: opportunity for health agencies to be funnier on socials

By Anna Macdonald

Health authorities need to tailor their communication towards young people more, according to a study looking at health communications during one of the first waves of COVID-19.

The content analysis looked at social media posts by state and territory health authorities relating to COVID-19 that targeted young people during September 2021.

The research found posts that performed well on social media, judging by engagement, were ones that used humour or memes.

One of the top performing posts, shown below, was from the Tasmanian Department of Health using a Labrador showing how to wear a mask.

The paper’s lead author, Melody Taba, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, told The Mandarin humour can be a double-edged sword for health authorities if posts go viral for the wrong reasons.