A SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ANXIETY-RELATED INFORMATION ON PINTEREST
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Date
2022-08
Authors
Deveau, Stéphanie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mount Saint Vincent University
Abstract
The Internet, including social media sites, is increasingly being used as a health resource for various health conditions. One of the social media sites being used as a source of health information is Pinterest, which uses primarily images to disseminate information. Anxiety disorders are the most common category of mental disorders in the general population and are also discussed on Pinterest. The present study examined the type of anxiety-related information on Pinterest, as well as its accuracy. Results of this study demonstrated that a large proportion of anxiety-related pins presented information on interventions for anxiety disorders, with over half of these referencing alternative or complementary treatments. Intervention-related pins were overwhelmingly positive in tone, regardless of whether the intervention cited was evidencebased. It was found that the sources of information for anxiety-related pins were most often blogs as opposed to more trusted sources of information. Infographics were the most used embedded visual communication tool in anxiety-related pins. The findings of the current study as well as implications for consumers and practitioners are discussed.