New York City: Use of Social Media to Promote Awareness During a Mumps Outbreak

A mumps outbreak centered around a popular neighborhood lead the NYC immunization program to pursue a social media campaign after traditional outreach activities were not reaching the target population.  Ad space was purchased on Facebook during the outbreak to increase community awareness about the outbreak and to educate the public regarding control measures. The advertisement was for persons aged 20-59 years who met one of the following criteria:  home address on Facebook was in one of the 7 affected zip codes; accessed internet from IP addresses in these zip codes; location on their mobile device included these zip codes.  The engagement rate for the Facebook post was 5%.