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Does social media improve communication? Evaluating the NIOSH science blog
Author(s) -
Sublet Virginia,
Spring Christina,
Howard John
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20921
Subject(s) - social media , conversation , medicine , resource (disambiguation) , information resource , medical education , channel (broadcasting) , public relations , world wide web , psychology , engineering , knowledge management , telecommunications , computer science , computer network , communication , political science
Background In 2007, NIOSH created the Science Blog as its first social media channel. The blog has more than 22,000 subscribers. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify the blog community of readers, its use as a two‐way conversation channel and its effectiveness as an information resource. Methods Seventy‐five readers randomly participated in an online survey from July 2009 to September 2009 to evaluate the Science Blog. Results Responses indicated that the NIOSH Science Blog was a valued social media resource. Sixty percent of participants planned to continue using the blog in the next 6 months. A significant proportion of readers reported that they would make changes in the workplace based on information obtained from the Science Blog. Conclusions The NIOSH Science Blog provides is a useful communication channel to provide workplace safety and health information and expand the Institute's reach to new consumers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:384–394, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.