[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i11p1420-d1507210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Media and Digital Inequity: Reducing Health Inequities by Closing the Digital Divide

Author

Listed:
  • Zain Jafar

    (Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA)

  • Jonathan D. Quick

    (Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA)

  • Eszter Rimányi

    (College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Godfrey Musuka

    (International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Harare 0002, Zimbabwe)

Abstract
As its usage has grown, social media has positively and negatively impacted public health. Although social media presents known harms to mental health and spreads misinformation, it also offers rapid dissemination of public health information, expanded access to health resources, and a robust source of health information. However, these benefits are not equitably shared due in part to the “digital divide” of unequal access and use of information and communication technologies. Measurable inequalities in digital access exist among regions, with an eight-fold difference between Central Africa (9.8% social media penetration) and Northern Europe (80.2% social media penetration). Digital inequalities also differ by gender, age, and socioeconomic classes within countries. Increased digital access has been positively associated with improved health information and outcomes related to chronic diseases, infectious disease outbreaks, and reproductive health. Given the expanding role of social media in public health and the emerging evidence on the health benefits of digital access, we argue for reducing digital inequities by (1) creating an enabling government policy and regulatory environment that views digital health access as a social determinant of health; (2) targeting public and private investments to expand digital access for underserved regions and populations; (3) making digital access and use affordable to low-resource populations; and (4) improving digital competency among these groups through digital literacy programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Zain Jafar & Jonathan D. Quick & Eszter Rimányi & Godfrey Musuka, 2024. "Social Media and Digital Inequity: Reducing Health Inequities by Closing the Digital Divide," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(11), pages 1-8, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:11:p:1420-:d:1507210
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/11/1420/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/11/1420/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van Parys, Jessica & Brown, Zach Y., 2024. "Broadband Internet access and health outcomes: Patient and provider responses in Medicare," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Michael Stellefson & Samantha R. Paige & Beth H. Chaney & J. Don Chaney, 2020. "Evolving Role of Social Media in Health Promotion: Updated Responsibilities for Health Education Specialists," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-7, February.
    3. Jeffrey H. Cohen & Arati Maleku & Sudarshan Pyakurel & Taku Suzuki & Shambika Raut & Francisco Alejandro Montiel Ishino, 2022. "Exploring the Digital Divide among the Bhutanese Refugee Community during COVID-19: Engaged Research in Action," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jingjing Gao & Gabriela A. Gallegos & Joe F. West, 2023. "Public Health Policy, Political Ideology, and Public Emotion Related to COVID-19 in the U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(21), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Mohammad Mulayh Alshammari & Yaser Hasan Al-Mamary & Aliyu Alhaji Abubakar, 2024. "Revolutionizing education: unleashing the power of social media in Saudi Arabian public universities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Beniamino Schiavone & Andrea Vitale & Mena Gallo & Gianlucasalvatore Russo & Domenico Ponticelli & Mario Borrelli, 2021. "Overview of Facebook Use by Hospitals in Italy: A Nationwide Survey during the COVID-19 Emergency," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Xiwu Xu & Yaodong Zhou & Dai Su & Yuan Dang & Xianwen Zhang, 2023. "Does Education Influence Life-Course Depression in Middle-Aged and Elderly in China? Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Joanna Albrecht & Anna Lea Stark & Eleana Dongas & Kamil J. Wrona & Christoph Dockweiler, 2022. "Hosting an Online World Café to Develop an Understanding of Digital Health Promoting Settings from a Citizen’s Perspective—Methodological Potentials and Challenges," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Krzysztof Płaciszewski & Waldemar Wierzba & Janusz Ostrowski & Jarosław Pinkas & Mateusz Jankowski, 2022. "Use of the Internet for Health Purposes—A National Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey among Adults in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Gary L. Kreps, 2021. "Health Advocacy and Health Communication for Elderly Health Care Consumers: Rationale, Demand, and Policy Implications," Journal of Elder Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(2), pages 113-138, March.
    8. Nikita V. Polukhin & Tamara R. Nikolic Turnic & Natalia V. Ekkert & Vladimir A. Reshetnikov & Valery V. Royuk & Vera R. Shastina & Mikhail V. Vodolagin, 2023. "The Analysis of the Context of Digital Access to Healthcare in Russia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, January.
    9. Kevin K. C. Hung & Makiko K. MacDermot & Emily Y. Y. Chan & Sida Liu & Zhe Huang & Chi S. Wong & Joseph H. Walline & Colin A. Graham, 2021. "CCOUC Ethnic Minority Health Project: A Case Study for Health EDRM Initiatives to Improve Disaster Preparedness in a Rural Chinese Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Chi-Horng Liao, 2020. "Evaluating the Social Marketing Success Criteria in Health Promotion: A F-DEMATEL Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-19, August.
    11. Michael Stellefson & Samantha R. Paige & Beth H. Chaney & J. Don Chaney, 2020. "Social Media and Health Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-5, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:11:p:1420-:d:1507210. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.