Open AccessThe Rise of Social Media and Digital Content in Auditory Rehabilitation: Quantifying the Reach and Effectiveness of New Distribution Channels
Author(s) -
Nicholas Kroll,
Rebecca Claridge,
Natalie Teakle
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
perspectives of the asha special interest groups
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2381-473X
DOI - 10.1044/2021_persp-21-00079
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , social media , quality (philosophy) , focus (optics) , user satisfaction , computer science , distribution (mathematics) , multimedia , psychology , applied psychology , internet privacy , world wide web , medicine , physical therapy , human–computer interaction , mathematical analysis , philosophy , physics , mathematics , epistemology , optics
Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of actively distributing auditory rehabilitation materials through digital channels, with a focus on quantifying overall reach and qualifying user experience. The secondary aim was to assess users' experience and satisfaction with each platform. Method: A retrospective analysis of website traffic to two digital properties: (a) a blog where readers may comment on articles (with active distribution through social media) and (b) a static website with no comment function (with passive organic distribution) from March 2017 to October 2018 was performed. Two key metrics were analyzed across these pages: users and pageviews. Results: The blog received 48.4% more users and 97.0% more pageviews than the static website over the entire 20-month study period. Users were significantly more satisfied with the ease of finding the information and its quality via the blog. Conclusions: We conclude that social media–focused active distribution was indeed effective because it resulted in more total traffic, a greater number of users, more frequent access, and an overall high level of satisfaction with the quality of information and resources. This may have useful implications for improving the distribution of educational health care resources through digital channels.