Promoting the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health through Social Media: Lessons Learned

Background: In response to ever shifting needs and limited resources, the role of social media has grown to become a key driver in building organizational capacity and dynamic community partnerships.

Purpose: To discuss the lessons learned from the NYU School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH)'s use of social media in promoting its mission to address health disparities in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities.

Methods: Social media utilization between 2010 and 2012 was assessed and evaluated using activity generated from CSAAH's website using Google Analytics; CSAAH's various listservs of approximately 2,500 members, also a successful venue to promote and evaluate capacity-building webinars; and its Facebook, Twitter, and EventBrite pages.

Results: An overview and lessons learned on how CSAAH has used social media as a dissemination tool to share resources, research and training opportunities, and describe how activities are supported across NYU's research centers including the B Free CEED: National Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Hepatitis B Disparities and the NYU Health Promotion and Prevention Research Center. We will especially share our experiences in planning and promoting CSAAH's 6th Annual AA and NHPI Health Conference, outline the development of a social media team to implement a Twitter campaign, and measure its impact yield showing increased engagement among our social networks.

Conclusion: Social media is indeed resource and planning intensive however, it is an effective tool for local organizations to disseminate information, tools, and trainings on a national level.