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 As the U.S. July 4 Independence Day holiday nears, public health
officials hope sun protection, sunburn and sun safety stays at the
top of people's minds while they celebrate the nation's favorite
summer holidays.
"Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., yet it
is highly preventable," said lead study author Jenn Nguyen of the
National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Don't Fry Day is a national campaign sponsored by the National
Council on Skin Cancer Prevention that promotes sun safety awareness
on social media. Promoted every year on the weekend before the
Memorial Day holiday in late May, the hashtag #DontFryDay encourages
safe sun habits at the start of summer.
"We found that many of the accounts that tweeted the hashtag were
health-oriented," Nguyen told Reuters Health by email. "The majority
of the tweets were from individuals who may be already aware of skin
cancer and sun protection."
Nguyen and colleagues tracked the conversation about #DontFryDay on
Twitter during the five days around May 26, 2017, including tweets,
retweets and potential impressions, which show how many users could
have seen the tweet.
They found that 555 users without verified accounts made 39 retweets
and garnered 747,000 impressions. However, the 18 individuals,
mainly celebrities, with verified accounts made the biggest
difference with 39 retweets and 8.7 million impressions, the study
team reports in JAMA Dermatology.
In particular, basketball player Dwayne Wade, a guard for the Miami
Heat, accounted for most of the celebrity impact. His tweet
addressed heat stroke prevention - not sun safety - but included the
DontFryDay hashtag.
"So many myths need to be busted when it comes to sun protection and
sun exposure," said Sherry Pagoto of the University of Connecticut
in Storrs, who wasn't involved with the study. "Some people think
tanning is safe, that it's a healthy look and that sunscreen causes
cancer," she said in a phone interview. "Public health officials
have their work cut out for them."
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In their Twitter analysis, Nguyen and colleagues found that 34 news
organizations sent messages that made 2.5 million impressions,
health and nongovernmental organizations made 1.5 million
impressions, cancer and health centers reached 1.3 million and
government entities reached about 1 million.
"This speaks to the power of celebrities and influencers in helping
us get the message out there," Pagoto said. "At the same time, it
also speaks to the importance of scientists building their own
social media audience as well."
As they continue to analyze this year's Don't Fry Day campaign,
Nguyen and others will investigate the messages that were associated
with the hashtag and which ones seemed to be the most effective at
engaging Twitter users.
Similarly, Pagoto and her colleagues are studying social media to
learn how people talk about and learn about healthy and unhealthy
behaviors. They're particularly focused on tanning beds, tanning
safety and sun safety.
"It's important to know who people are listening to and how they get
their information," she said. "It's a great way to understand where
they're coming from and what they believe."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2KfbmQB JAMA Dermatology, online June 20,
2018.
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