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Instagram Sociology

Decent Essays

Instagram Instagram is a popular photo-sharing site that launched in 2010 that can be used to help a health care organization interact with people. As a social media tool it is one of the simplest to use and one of the easiest to garner engagement. People often don’t want to share words or take the time to write a post, but they will share an image (Gregg, 2013). As of 2015, 53% of young adults ages 18-29 used Instagram and 49% use the site daily (Duggaan, et. al., 2015) and 28% of ages 30-49%. Black, Non-Hispanic (47%) use Instagram at a higher rate than White, Non-Hispanic 21%, with males and females using Instragram almost equally (Greenwood, 2016). The use of Instagram is broadly distributed through all incomes and educational backgrounds …show more content…

Research reveals that users of Instagram have five primary social and psychological motives: “social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism, and peeking” (Lee, et al, 2015). With regards to transplant patients and their families Instagram can serve as an excellent tool to reduce isolation and improve social interaction and offer escapism. BMTInfoNet addresses on their website that transplant patients and their caregivers face emotional challenges. Transplant patients are often in the hospital for long periods of time and after a transplant, due to a weaken immune system, must stay in isolation for 100 days. Although a wide range of emotions is “normal” for transplant patients and their loved ones, Instagram could be used for self-expression of these emotions and a way for users to form social connections and a sense of community of people with a shared health …show more content…

There was a pointed effort made to inform BMTInfoNet’s leadership that hospitals are using Instagram as way to brand themselves and that BMTInfoNet may want to become an early adopter of the technology. Hospitals are using Instagram as a communication tool to showcase events, educational procedures, promoting programs and taking followers “behind the scenes, demystifying tests and procedures” (Marchak, 2015). Instagram would serve as an excellent branding tool to develop relationships with patients through social

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