Widgets, blogs, Twitter, eCards, mobile updates, YouTube videos, Facebook and MySpace pages--all hip social media tools and all being used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's smart marketing to use 21st century technology to build informed buzz about health-related issues.
Informed buzz is the key. The CDC wants to correct misinformation, provide facts, and encourage healthful attitudes and habits. WOM is a good way to support official notices in mainstream media and spread the word informally, person to person.
I'm not sure how I'd react to receiving a "Wash 'em" hand-washing eCard, but as H1N1 flu spreads around the world, I'm interested in finding out the latest. Apparently some 8,700 people feel the same--that's how many are following the CDC's flu Twitter updates.
Our tax dollars at work! Building informed buzz makes sense, especially when our health is at stake.
Update: Nextgov reports that a number of US agencies have agreements with Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, etc. "We're looking at taking information wherever citizens go to get information," a GSA official tells Nextgov. Smart, indeed.
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