BACKGROUND
Social media platforms have permeated different aspects of everyday life, including healthcare. While much of the scholarship has focused on Twitter, fewer have been concerned with Instagram and its impact on healthcare related awareness. As a platform, Instagram is distinctive in the sense of its format, privileging in equal measure both visual and textual narratives. Due to its popularity and reach among young people, it is important to study how health-related issues and especially breast cancer screening is being discussed on this platform.
OBJECTIVE
This paper seeks to analyse narratives of breast cancer screening practices on Instagram and what users seek from or how they look to contribute to these narratives. The paper also analyses these narratives within the framework of kinship and community of that public health practitioners, healthcare professionals, and healthcare organisations that emerges from these interactions.
METHODS
Using machine learning technology (Sphere Ai), we identify thematic areas and a range of emotions associated with public participation around breast cancer screening on Instagram. We analysed over a 1000 posts and its interaction using Sphere to deduce how users on social media disseminate, receive and interact with information on breast cancer screening.
RESULTS
The analysis unpacks six prominent themes within Instagram posts associated with breast cancer screening practices, including Awareness and Education, Tips for Well-being and Campaigns and Events. In addition, the analysis also reveals four main emotions underpinning the textual components of the Instagram posts associated with breast cancer screening: optimism, joy, sadness and anger.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that understanding narratives of cancer screening on Instagram helps foster a more inclusive conversation among healthcare professionals, organisations and patients.