TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gunasekeran, Dinesh Visva
AU  - Chew, Alton
AU  - Chandrasekar, Eeshwar K
AU  - Rajendram, Priyanka
AU  - Kandarpa, Vasundhara
AU  - Rajendram, Mallika
AU  - Chia, Audrey
AU  - Smith, Helen
AU  - Leong, Choon Kit
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/4/11
TI  - The Impact and Applications of Social Media Platforms for Public Health Responses Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Literature Review
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e33680
VL  - 24
IS  - 4
KW  - digital health
KW  - social media
KW  - big data
KW  - population health
KW  - blockchain
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - review
KW  - benefit
KW  - challenge
KW  - public health
AB  - Background:  Social media platforms have numerous potential benefits and drawbacks on public health, which have been described in the literature. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed our limited knowledge regarding the potential health impact of these platforms, which have been detrimental to public health responses in many regions. Objective: This review aims to highlight a brief history of social media in health care and report its potential negative and positive public health impacts, which have been characterized in the literature. Methods:  We searched electronic bibliographic databases including PubMed, including Medline and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Xplore, from December 10, 2015, to December 10, 2020. We screened the title and abstracts and selected relevant reports for review of full text and reference lists. These were analyzed thematically and consolidated into applications of social media platforms for public health. Results:  The positive and negative impact of social media platforms on public health are catalogued on the basis of recent research in this report. These findings are discussed in the context of improving future public health responses and incorporating other emerging digital technology domains such as artificial intelligence. However, there is a need for more research with pragmatic methodology that evaluates the impact of specific digital interventions to inform future health policy. Conclusions:  Recent research has highlighted the potential negative impact of social media platforms on population health, as well as potentially useful applications for public health communication, monitoring, and predictions. More research is needed to objectively investigate measures to mitigate against its negative impact while harnessing effective applications for the benefit of public health. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2022/4/e33680
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/33680
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35129456
DO  - 10.2196/33680
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/33680
ER  -