Abstract

The 2014 Disney measles outbreak brought the issue of vaccinations to the forefront of health communication across all mediums, including social media sites. While the US is considered to have one of the more successful vaccination rates globally, there remain supporters of an anti-vaccination movement and regions of the country with alarming rates of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. This content analysis study of Facebook first identified the current trend of more activity amongst those who do not support the use of vaccines than those supporting vaccines. The user generated content was also evaluated for the use of mobilizing information to better understand how the social media site is utilized during an outbreak along with utilizing the Health Belief Model to identify misconceptions about vaccinations in order to establish more effective health campaigns during future outbreaks.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Vaccination of children--Public opinion; Facebook (Electronic resource); Digital communications--Psychological aspects; Health behavior

Publication Date

Fall 2015

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Communication and Media Technologies (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Communication (CLA)

Advisor

Patrick Scanlon

Advisor/Committee Member

Tracy R. Worell

Advisor/Committee Member

Ruben Proano

Comments

Physical copy available from RIT's Wallace Library at RJ240 .C37 2015

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

COMMTCH-MS

Download

Share

COinS