Communicating health advice on social media : A multimodal case study
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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Date
2023Metadata
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Engebretsen, M. (2023). Communicating health advice on social media : A multimodal case study. MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research, 39(74), 164-184. https://doi.org/10.7146/mk.v39i74.134085Abstract
Social media represent new arenas for health communication. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok provide unique opportunities for health workers to build understanding, engagement, and trust among a broad and young audience. At the same time, such platforms demand of health workers a careful balance between social closeness and professional distance. The article is based on a case study in which the award-winning Norwegian psychologist Maria Abrahamsen’s practice of health communication on Instagram is studied through the lens of multimodal discourse analysis. Following a bottom-up method, the study starts with a close reading of a single Instagram post, where video and written verbal text interact closely. The entire account is then studied as a complex case of mediated health communication. Conclusively, after a discussion of genre implications, the article suggests possible solutions to key challenges concerning the followers’ engagement and trust.