Podcast: Why Social Media Myths Abound in Public Health

The first installment of what is described as an 'intriguing and provocative interview series with one of the world's most respected social marketing experts' is featured at fyi:health marcomms at the Path of the Blue Eye Project. The 10 minute podcast is devoted to an in-depth discussion of my recent post, 5 Fictions About Social Media for Public Health and Healthcare. We cover the pervasiveness of the 'reach and engage' strategy rather than an 'attract and join' one that leverages the power of social media; old models of targeting and directive behavior change (or persuasion) that don't fit with the nature of the social media space; the fears that interfere with 'best use' of social media; the current state of the science for effectively using social media in public health and healthcare (and how the lack of an empirical base allows for the spread of even more myths); and what are alternative outcomes to behavior change that we should focus on in our work using social media.

Hope you can listen and let me know what you think. And for those of you who will be attending the World Conference on Social Marketing next week, maybe we can pick up on some of the themes there. And a hint for those who will be there: at the Closing Keynote the future of social marketing is much bigger than social technologies ;)