Viruses Going Viral: Impact of Fear-Arousing Sensationalist Social Media Messages on User Engagement

Social media presents a promising yet competitive communication landscape for health practitioners and organizations during the rapid spread of an emerging infectious disease. The current study examined the association between the level of fear-arousing sensationalism and user engagement in 800 Facebook posts regarding the 2016 Zika virus outbreak. Results revealed that the majority of nonnews posts completely lacked sensationalist elements, and that user engagement increased significantly as the level of fear-arousing sensationalism increased from low levels. We discuss the potential value of message design that can engender an appropriate level of public concern and increase user engagement on social media.

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