Date of Award
Fall 12-2022
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
School
Communication
Committee Chair
Dr. Jae-Hwa Shin
Committee Chair School
Communication
Committee Member 2
Dr. Fei Xue
Committee Member 2 School
Communication
Committee Member 3
Dr. Kathryn Anthony
Committee Member 3 School
Communication
Abstract
Government health agencies utilize social media for public health interventions. This study examines how CDC, the national public health agency of the United States, use Facebook to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine messages and to get public engagement towards them over the past two years (2020-2022). Investigating the process of dialogic potentials of Facebook from the dialogic theory of public relations perspective, the current study analyzes 681 posts and 3,405 comments from CDC’s official Facebook page. Thematic analysis of posts yields three dominant themes such as “Vaccine supportive”, “availability of vaccine”, and “up to date information”. Comment analysis shows positive sentiment to vaccine promotion but negative sentiment for pregnant women’s vaccine uptake. Parents of children lack of confidence to get them vaccinated. Drawing on dialogic theory, the study argues, CDC needs to escalate “usefulness of information” (e.g., audio-visual production) principle while crafting messages for vaccination. The study concludes by calling for building an active “dialogic loop” by responding to users’ comments as much as possible. Practical implications and importance of findings are discussed.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-6547-6830
Copyright
Hasan Mahmud Faisal
Recommended Citation
Faisal, Hasan Mahmud, "CDC’S COVID-19 VACCINATION MESSAGES AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: A STUDY ON FACEBOOK POSTS" (2022). Master's Theses. 944.
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/944