Twitter tweets and twaddle: twittering at AHPA's National Health Promotion Conference. (9th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Anderson, George; Gleeson, Suzanne; Rissel, Chris; Wen, Li Ming; Bedford, Karen
• Is Part Of: Health promotion journal of Australia. Volume 25:Number 2(2014)
• Page Start: 143
• Page End: 146
• Publication Date: 2014-09-09
• Subjects: Health promotion -- Periodicals; Health promotion -- Australia -- Periodicals; 613.0994
• DOI: 10.1071/HE13112
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1036-1073

Abstract

Abstract : Issue addressed: This paper explored the first‐time use of Twitter by the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) at its 2013 National Health Promotion Conference. Methods: The @AHPA_AU Twitter account and #AHPA2013 hashtag were established and included in the conference program. Attendees were encouraged throughout the conference to use it. A total of 748 tweets were captured under the hashtag #AHPA2013 in chronological order from 16–19 June 2013. Tweets with photos and more than one hashtag were recorded. A thematic analysis of tweets was conducted. Results: Thirteen broad themes were identified, with each of the 748 tweets allocated to one of the themes. Tweets about keynote sessions made up 38% of all tweets, followed by 14% for concurrent sessions. A photo was included in 11% of tweets, and 25% were sent to more than one hashtag. There were 96 tweeters; 75% of them posted five or less tweets and ~9%, including a professional blogger, posted greater than 20 tweets. At the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pre‐conference workshop there was a relatively high level of Twitter engagement. Conclusion: Twitter could potentially be useful for promoting conference content and activities, but what it adds in value to a health promotion conference cannot be determined by this study. So what?: This paper highlights the engagement of tweeters with conference content and activities and suggests that tweeting benefited from the engagement of a professional health blogger.