INTRODUCTION:

Conflicting to popular beliefs, living longer is not a simple matter of having a genetic factor of family members. In fact, heredity counts for the difference in how well the people live. Common health problems such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and heart diseases are strongly linked with what people eat, how much they do physical activity, their stress levels and exposure of pollutants and harsh chemicals. In short, the lifestyles that have been followed in our present day to day life will reflect on one’s whole body and mind.

Health communication is no longer limited to informative transactions in medical settings or the media messages delivered to the passive browsers with the fast evolution of the internet and online social networking sites like Facebook, twitter and Instagram. Identifying the health communication features which promote the user engaged and the message transmission is an encouraging approach for leveraging social media as a health management tool.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

According to Korda and Itani (2011), Social media includes a broad spectrum of online communication tools and work through several mechanisms. Social media can provide a channel for social support and facilitate a sense of connectedness among individuals. They have also mentioned that these online tools allow users to share information which is consumer-centric and controlled, enabling anonymity or personal connection. Richter and Koch (2008) are of the opinion that social networking sites are used to manage identities, finding experts, context, manage contacts and exchange of information. Social networking sites such as Facebook has become one of the most important social trends since 2006. According to House and et al. (2014), “patients can utilize social media where they can connect with others in the effect of sharing and knowledge related to diseases”. According to Thomas (2006), health communication refers to the use of science communication strategies to inform and influence the knowledge, attitudes and practices of individuals and communities in matters of health and health care. Thomas also noted that this area is represented by the field of health communication and any elements that could be identified to improve individual and public health knowledge will ultimately help in disease prevention and health promotion. Health communication when delivered effectively in the context of mediation, media has the potential to be considered important to promote health to individuals, communities and populations (Ahmed and Bates, 2013).

In modern life styles such as lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet, alcohol consumption has exposed people to the threat of diseases. Along with the advancement of information and communication technology access to information on health is increasingly becoming super easy and fast. Sophisticated devices such as smart phones and tablets with internet access invented to facilitate access of the information through Facebook. The tendency for people to find information through the use of Facebook is due to the trend of its own popularity that makes it easier and interactive. In terms of information sharing related to health information, Facebook appears to be more effective in terms of time, cost and effectiveness of health communication itself (www.creativecommons.org) Woolley and Peterson (2012) noted in their study that Facebook is useful in maintaining and promoting healthy lifestyle in two ways. First, the content of the information posted, the message to be told, motivate and remind the user to give emphasis on health behavior. Second, the post of users who look for health related information.

The motive of using Facebook in the success of health communication by organizations, medical practitioners, patients and the public has been noticed (Gupta, Tyagi and Sharma, 2013). Gupta says that the platform is seen to be used in a variety of health conditions like promoting vaccination for children, the consequences of smoking and consumption of alcohol at a young age, unhealthy sexual practices and healthy diet among teenagers. In health communication Facebook is not only used by only one person, it is also used by organizations, individuals to keep in touch with the world.

OBJECTIVES:

· To find out the popular Health pages available on the Facebook.

· To study the visual presentation appeals of the health pages in Facebook.

· To analyse the various health contents provided in these health pages.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY:

“Health Pages” in Facebook as created by companies, organizations or institutions providing health information and support were part of this research. More than 20 health pages were found in the lead. The five most popular pages were identified based on the number of followers. “Liking” Facebook page ensures that the posts created by the page host appear in the Newsfeed on one’s personal Facebook wall. Through this feature, fans can receive communications directly and also can like, comment or share to their friends or relatives who are in need of it.

About the Facebook Health Pages:

Here is the description about the numerous health pages which are taken for analysing the content for health information.

Health:

Health web page is maintained by “Health and Wellness” org. It was initiated in the year 2008. The main motive of this page is described as “A happy and healthy life begins here with health”. It gives creative recipe ideas, fat burning workouts and an insider’s scoop on the latest health, fitness and nutrition trends.

Beauty Health Page (Bhp):

Beauty health page is also maintained by “Health And Wellness” org. The main motive of this page is to provide the place for better health by providing tips for home remedies, healthy weight loss, fitness, healthy food and much more health related information.

Health Digest:

Health digest page is maintained by “Health and Wellness” too. It was initiated in the year 2012. The main motive of this page is “HEALTH IS WEALTH”. They believe in this concept and provide health information and wellness tips for the people.

Health +:

The health+ page is maintained by some anonymous and comes under “Medical and Health” category identified by Facebook. The main motive of this page is “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”. They will try to safeguard One’s wealth with yoga, nutritious diet and exercise.

Health Hacks:

The health hacks page is maintained by the Media or News Company. The main motto of this page is to guide the people by giving healthy tips in order to strengthen the living conditions for the people.

Data Analysis of Facebook Health Pages:

With the parameters that are considered in analysing the five Facebook pages for health, the content of all five pages is analysed and presented here.

Reach of the Health Pages:

When considering top five Facebook Health pages, the page with most number of likes and followers is Health Digest that has 11Million likes and 10 Million followers and the second in number is Health. It has 6.6 Million Likes and 6.4 Million Followers and the next page in the list is Health Hacks which is in third position, with 2.5 Million likes and 2.6 Million followers. The next two pages stand close together with small differences and the pages are Beauty Health Page and Health+, both the pages have 632k and 570K number in likes and followers of this pages is 635K and 584 k of their pages. If 11 million people are part of the Facebook page, this clearly states that people are showing interest in getting health information; though it’s a very small ratio when compared to the universal population.

Analysis of the Homepage of the Health Pages on Facebook:

The home page of the five Facebook health pages was probed. The page with the highest number of reach among the users is Health Digest. The cover page is designed by the title and the words are designed with vegetables and grains. The hyperlink of the page is provided on the cover page and it has a downward arrow mark which signifies to like, share or comment the page. The second on the lead is Health page. Its home page is designed with the cover image of a model’s face and the hyperlink is provided on the right side of the home page and it has the option of like, share and message in the cover image itself. Health Hacks homepage is designed with a cover image of landscape photo and it too has hyper link on the right side of the home page and it has an option with like, share, follow and message in the cover page. Beauty health page is designed with cover page image with exercising equipment’s and fruits and its background of the image is white in colour and the hyperlink is provided on the left side of the home page. The Health+ home page has a homepage with cover image in a colourful presentation with a collage image of traditional spice, fruits, exercising instruments, notebook and pencil and heart image. The home pages are provided by hyperlink and contact number and the other page used the term share and this home page has used recommendation to share the page.

Analysis of Videos Posted In Facebook Health Pages:

The videos that are posted in the five different Health Pages on Facebook were analysed. Three videos from each health page on the basis of scrolling and first come appearing were part of the study. Health page has videos that are screened with a subtitle in English with background music and the images related to the topics. The time limit used for the video is more than 2 minutes. It has a video content of creative breakfast recipes, preparation of smoothies, juices, drinks and dinner recipes. The language used in the subtitle of the video content is easily understandable by the viewers. In Beauty health page video contents are designed with background music and the images with a subtitle of ingredients and the steps are shown without voice over. The time periods used for the video content in this page are more than 35 seconds. Most of the video contents are about how to lose weight. The Health digests page videos are framed with hyperlink in the introduction of the content. It is played with background music with the subtitle and the steps to be followed are shown very clearly. The time limit used is 30 seconds and the contents of the videos are about the diet to keep the body healthy. Health+ page plays videos with background music with the related animated images and the language used in this is easily understandable. The timings of the videos are around 45 seconds and it is targeted for all the ages. Health Hacks page is designed with video contents of background music, images with the subtitle. The language used in these videos is English and no voice-over has been used to tell the steps. The video content is focused mainly on teenagers. The video contents produced are around more than a minute.

More such video is need of the hour. Being short in content, the videos are able to pass the health information but it lacks audio. If voiceover can be added it will be an advantage to many more.

Profile Picture of Health Pages in Facebook:

The profile picture of top five health pages was delved. The profile picture of healthpage has the title Health in white colour, regular font and black colour in the background. Beauty health page profile picture is designed with the logo of the page. The logo consists of an apple outline structure and the starting letter of each word BHP is embossed in the outline of the apple image. Profile picture of the Health Digest page has an apple placed on a wooden table. In the centre of the apple, heart shape is carved and it’s kept aside on the table. Health+ page profile picture is placed in a colourful tray. It has a collage picture of spices and fruits and the name of the proprietor is written in the profile picture. The Health Hacks profile picture is designed with yellow background and the title of the page is written in the white colour which is clearly readable and visible.

Profile picture of these pages should have collage picture of their objective and it should be in colourful and creative presentation. The wordings should be clearly visible to the people.

Analysis of Images Posted In Facebook Health Pages:

The timeline posts that are done in the health pages of Facebook are updated along with the image which differs from one to another page. Each page shows different approach in delivering the message with the necessary images to the browsers. When considering Health page, they post images to create awareness about good health. The next page is Health Hacks, which effectively uses image posts to reach the people with the colour full presentations. While considering the page Health Digest, they use the photos which are already available in search engines and do some editing works. The other one is Beauty Health Page which doesn’t show much interest in posting the images to reach the people and the final page is Health+ which doesn’t post any images to target the people.

The image posts should be done in a creative way in order to seek more attention and it should be presented in a meaningful manner. The image posts should not indirect the message.

Frequency of the Posts in Health Pages of Facebook:

While analysing about the page with the maximum number of posts per day, Health and Health digest frequently keep posting at least 10 -12 posts per day. The Beauty Health Page post per day 6-7 times only when compared to other pages. The Facebook pages that have least updates are Health+ and Health hacks which post their post 2 times a day. The health pages should not be posted frequently in a day.

The followers may get confused and they will be over loaded with the information. They will not have enough time to read so many messages and the motto behind the post might get lost.

Fig. 1: Frequency of the posts in the Health Pages of Facebook

Major Findings:

Thestudy shows that the reach of health services and its popularity among the people has increased over the years. It also implies that these health page services that are active on Facebook tend to attract more consumers. The content analysis methodology proves the fact that the consumers tend to constantly comment and check the availability of the health services and rate and review about the page. Some of the major findings are:

· It was noticed that “Health and Wellness organization” has been leading in maintaining three Health pages in Facebook and all these pages are popular among the users. The other two top health pages are maintained by anonymous organizations like media or News Company and medical and health.

· Beauty Health Page has the term beauty in it, but the contents given inside the page are about general health related information and nothing about women beauty concepts.

· Out of the five health pages in the Facebook only two of the Facebook health pages have given their year of opening the page i.e. Health and Health Digest, whereas the other three (Beauty Health Page, Health+ and Health Hacks) have not given any information.

· The Health Digest page has given the hyperlink on the cover page itself while other health pages of the Facebook have given their hyperlinks on the right side of their home pages.

· All the top five Facebook health Pages has a video content with background music, graphic images and titles but none of the health pages has used voice over to explain the terms.

· Health+ page has videos that explain the cause and effect of the health benefits which provides us with clear understanding.

· The language used in the subtitle is English and the terms used to explain in the content are easily understandable.

· After analysing the profile pictures of the top five Health pages, only the Health digest page has a picture collage with the proprietor's name on the profile picture.

· Health Hacks page have used a single static photo of a model in the cover page while the other page uses the collage image of vegetables, fruits and exercising instruments.

· Beauty Health Page posts video and images in equal manner whereas Health Digest page uses less video posts.

CONCLUSION:

This research study proves that the health concept and health related trends have always been a marketing point among the people. The trend of introducing new developments and ideas is received by the people. Consumers are ready to try new trends which are easily available to them without spending much on cost and time and this motivates the confidence of medical professionals and organizations to try new trends in the activity. Among this trend the Facebook health page services have laid roots in the last few years. Constantly, there is positive feedback for providing Health services through Facebook. Thus, health pages are ready to rule in the upcoming years as they have got much positive feedback among the Facebook followers and equally liked among the health professionals.

REFERENCES:

1 Korda, H., and Itani, Z. (May, 2011). Harnessing Social Media for Health Promotion and Behavior Change. Health Promotion Practice, 14(15),14-23

2 Gupta, A., Tyagi, M., and Sharma, D. (2013). Use of Social Media Marketing in Healthcare. Journal of Health Management, 15 (2), 293-302.

3 Househ, M., Borycki, E., andKushniruk, A. (2014). Empowering patients through social media: The benefits and challenges. Health Informatics, Journal, 20 (1), 50-58.

4 Crystal Adams and Brittany M. Harder (2017): Diet, exercise… and drugs: social

5 Constructions of healthy lifestyles in weight-related prescription drug advertisements, Critical Public Health, DOI: 10.1080/09581596.2017.1318204

6 Woolley, P., and Peterson, M. (2012). Efficacy of a Health-Related Facebook Social Network Site on Health-Seeking Behaviors. Social Marketing Quarterly, 18, 29.

7 Vance WH, Dellavalle RP. Social Internet Sites as a Source of Public Health Information.DermatolClin; 2009; 27: 133-6.

8 Holly M. RusandLinda D. Cameron, (2018)1Health Communication in Social Media: Message Features Predicting User Engagement on Diabetes-Related Facebook Pages

9 Ahmed, R., and Bates, B. R. (2013). Health Communication and Mass Media: An Integrated Approach to Policy and Practice. Aldershot: Gower Publishing Limited.

10 Thomas, R. K. (2006). Health Communication. New York: Springer Science+ Business Media, Inc

11 Facebook. (2007). Facebook Factsheet Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?factsheet. https://www.facebook.com/Health/

Received on 24.10.2017 Modified on 28.11.2017

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(1): 139-143.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00025.6