COVID-19 INFLUENCERS

Public health policy often involves implementing cost-efficient, large-scale interventions which often require behaviour change. It is not only challenging to initiate behaviour change but it is even harder to sustain. Health programs have frequently relied on media/communication campaigns etc to inform communities of a health problem and the solutions available. Media mix Communication strategies often combine traditional and new media tools (TV, radio, online/social media, print, street plays, interpersonal interactions). However, social media offers some unique and clear advantages vis-à-vis other platforms. Social media is the fastest and most efficient way of communicating with the general population as well as health professionals. SM can help people take the right decisions and enable change in their behaviour patterns. A unique feature of SM is its “virality” factor and that is geography agnostic, enabling outreach well beyond political boundaries. Messages can go viral swiftly well beyond the intended target groups to their extended personal and professional networks and even beyond. SM allows considerable scope for innovation in how content can be adapted to catch attention in terms of the variety of content it can host.