Social media usage in campus health communication

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand how college health organizations use social media to communicate alcohol-related issues with its audiences, specifically universities that are recognized as “party schools” and “sober schools”. Existing literature, social networking trends, and a content analysis are applied to two communication models – the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Uses and Gratification Model – to identify how organizations can leverage social media to influence students’ behavior. The qualitative data collection will be used to provide social media communication recommendations for the University of Texas’ health service organization – Healthy Horns. These recommendations will be applied to the general healthcare field as well as the advertising industry.