Using social media in substance abuse prevention

It’s more than a trend….   NIH  consor*um  announced  in  October  2014  involving  the  Na*onal  Ins*tute  on  Alcohol  Abuse  and  Alcoholism  (NIAAA),  the  Na*onal  Ins*tute  on  Drug  Abuse  (NIDA),  and  the  Na*onal  Cancer  Ins*tute  (NCI):  

  …  “more  than  $11  million  over  three  years  will  be  used  to  support  research  exploring  the  use  of  social  media  to  advance  the  scien*fic  understanding,  preven*on,  and  treatment  of  substance  use  and  addic*on.”    

Potential Uses   “Social  media  has  the  poten*al  to  fill  important  gaps  in  our  current  understanding  of  tobacco,  alcohol  and  drug  use  and  to  improve  the  efficacy  of  substance  abuse  interven*ons.  For  example,  user-­‐generated  social  media  interac*ons  can  reveal  important  insights  into  substance  use  paQerns  and  various  social  factors.    Social  media  pla/orms  also  have  the  poten5al  to  increase  the  effec5veness  of  substance  use  preven5on  and  treatment  efforts  by  providing  technologically  mediated  solu5ons.”     -­‐  Dr.  Wen-­‐ying  (Sylvia)  Chou,  program  director  in  NCI’s  Health  Communica*ons  and  Informa*cs  Research  Branch.  

What are we talking about?   so·∙cial  me·∙di·∙a     noun     noun:  social  media;  plural  noun:  social  medias     websites  and  applica*ons  that  enable  users  to  create  and  share  content  or  to  par*cipate  in  social  networking.  

  so·∙cial  net·∙work·∙ing     noun     noun:  social  networking;  plural  noun:  social  networkings     the  use  of  dedicated  websites  and  applica*ons  to  interact  with  other  users,  or  to  find  people  with  similar  interests  to  oneself.  

 

ProCon.org. (2010, September 20). Composite of the logos of more than 200 social media websites. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=003944

But I have a website….

Can  your  website  offer  opportuni*es  to:  • Comment  • Discuss  • Share  • Collaborate    

Fully  40%  of  cell  phone  owners  use  a  social  networking  site  on  their  phone,  and  28%  do  so  on  a  typical  day.  

Curators and Creators   As  of  August  2012:  • 46%  of  adult  internet  users  post  original  photos  or  videos  online  that  they  themselves  have  created.  We  call  them  creators.  

• 41%  of  adult  internet  users  take  photos  or  videos  that  they  have  found  online  and  repost  them  on  sites  designed  for  sharing  images  with  many  people.  We  call  them  curators.  

  Overall,  56%  of  internet  users  do  at  least  one  of  the  crea*ng  or  cura*ng  ac*vi*es  we  studied  and  32%  of  internet  users  do  both  crea*ng  and  cura*ng  ac*vi*es.  

  Source:  hQp://www.pewinternet.org/fact-­‐sheets/social-­‐networking-­‐fact-­‐sheet/.  Accessed  June  11,  2015  

How does prevention work?

Key #1 Be a curator. BUILD A COMMUNITY.

How do you network?

Building Your Community Community basics • Look  for  current  contacts  and  invite  them  –  think  of  partners  • Add  social  media  icons  to  ALL  outgoing  communica*ons  • Look  for  influencers  and  connect  • Offer  value  

Create Community • Share,  share,  share  • Comment,  connect,  open  conversa*ons  • Join  other  communi*es  • Build  your  community  as  places  where  people  can  congregate,  communicate  and  discuss  openly  

Manage your community

• Don’t  be  afraid  of  controversial  subjects  –  but  be  prepared  for  consequences.  • Listen  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  conversa*on  with  an  intent  to  understand.  • You  may  lose  control  of  the  message,  but  don’t  lose  control  of  your  strategy.  

Key #2 Be a creator. BE A POWER USER.

Social Media Communications Six  steps  to  social  media  success:  • Establish  your  goals  (what  do  we  want  to  achieve)  • Clarify  responsibili*es  • Brand  yourself  • Iden*fy  which  tools  to  use  • Create  your  content  • Analyze  and  evaluate.  Revise  as  necessary.  

Step 1: Establish your goals

• Who  you  want  to  reach  • What  you  want  to  say  • When  you  are  going  to  engage  them  • Where  your  audience  communicates  • How  your  audience  communicates  • Why  you  want  to  reach  them  

Step 2: Clarify Responsibilities

• Iden*fy  who  on  your  team  is  going  to  take  responsibility  for  your  accounts  • Clarify  who  is  going  to  take  charge  of  strategy  and  implementa*on  • Set  out  expecta*ons,  roles,  responsibili*es  and  consequences  

Step 3: Brand your image

• Develop  your  online  persona  –  this  may  be  different  than  your  print  marke*ng  • Develop  your  tone  (think  casual  and  conversa*onal)  • Think  visual!    Create  colorful  icons,  graphics  and  images  

Step 4: Select Your Tools

• Determine  where  your  audience  is  and  how  to  best  reach  them.  • Don’t  expect  to  use  every  social  media  tool  available  • Determine  what  is  best  based  on  your  resources,  goals  and  abili*es.  

Step 5: Create Content

• Relevant,  *mely,  interes*ng  • Shareable,  thought  provoking,  discussion  worthy  

INTERACTIVE  

Easy Content Ideas

• Videos  and  Photos  • Inspira*onal  Quotes  • Thoughts  on  current  events  • Ques*ons  

• Educa*onal  ar*cles  • Blog  posts  • NewsleQers  

Step 6: Analyze your work

• Determine  which  metrics  are  most  important  • Track  them!  • Use  Social  Media  Tools:  • Facebook  Insights  • Pinterest  Analy*cs  • Google  Analy*cs  • Hootsuite/TweetDeck  

Summary • Build  a  strong  community  • Start  and  par*cipate  in  conversa5ons  • Share  and  create  quality  content  • Ask  ques*ons,  listen  to  answers  • Respond  and  engage  your  community  • Analyze  and  revisit  your  strategy  

Questions?

www.LogOnMediaStrategies.com