218567 Social Media at NIOSH: Evaluation of the Science Blog

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Virginia Sublet, PhD , Office of Health Communication/ Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Celebration, FL
Christina Spring, MA , Office of Health Communication/Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, DC
Introduction/Background: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is using different social media tools to expand its reach to new stakeholders and the public as a conversation platform. In 2007, NIOSH created the Science Blog as its first social media channel. The Blog has had a steady increase in readers, with more than 15,000 subscribers. However, there has been no assessment of its impact as a resource or two-way form of communication by readers and no review to determine its effectiveness for future marketing of NIOSH materials, products, and services. The purpose of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Science Blog at reaching new audiences. Methods: The investigators used a pre-approved web survey focused on demographic data and web surfing habits as the basis for the questionnaire. The survey was posted in June 2009 online and closed September 2009. Seventy-five blog readers participated. The researchers, also, conducted discussions with stakeholders and partners at several national meetings to better understand the one-on-one perspective of readers. Results: Data collected from participants were: demographics, job, industry, why, frequency of visits, satisfaction, ideas about how to improve the Blog, quality and impact of the Blog in terms of its present and future use for readers. In general, responses from survey participants indicated that the NIOSH Science Blog is a valued social media resource. As regards its impact, 60% of participants planned to continue using the Blog and 28% said they probably will use the Blog in the future.

Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics
Occupational health and safety
Other professions or practice related to public health
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how the NIOSH Science Blog evaluation was developed. 2. Identify the lessons learned from this research. 3. Adapt the findings and lessons learned from this study to other blog evaluations.

Keywords: Communication Evaluation, Communication Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Senior Health Scientist in the Office of Health Commuication, Office the Director at NIOSH doing communication research and evaluation. I was the primary investigator for this abstract. I am the chair of Social Media Users Group at NIOSH.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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