Communicating health

Biomediatized directives subtly leverage a positive framing of the healthcare system in the hope this may influence how the public feels about it Healthcare organizations need to explore innovative communication strategies, particularly in a landscape increasingly marked by public distrust towards healthcare messaging.  Twitter offers a dynamic platform for the NHS (National Health Service) to experiment with new communication tones, with the medical docu-series Geordie Hospital acting as a focal point. Screenshot of Geordie Hospital's homepage on an NHS trust's site  What are Biomediatized Directives? Biomediatized directives are a category of tweets categorized to refer to messages crafted by an NHS trust to subtly encourage viewers to watch Geordie Hospital.  They are characterized by their blend of praise for healthcare workers with promotional language, framing the show as a realistic portrayal of the healthcare system. For instance, a tweet may call to "Meet some...

In today's communication landscape, multimodal speech, based on text, emojis, links, pictures and more arguably augments the nature of our messages  As part of a literature review I've been working on the use of speech acts on social media, I came across the distinction that authors of a study make between "Speech and Image Acts" in branding messages on social media.  Having for sometime settled for the idea that speech acts are multimodal in today's hybrid polymedia system, I wander whether the need to distinguish between speech and image acts is necessary.  Multimodal speaks a thousand images and words: replacing the old adage (Created with ChatGPT) The way we communicate online defies simple categorization. A single social media post can be a demand, a plea, an informative statement, and a source of visual delight – all at once.  Does it make sense, then, to stick with the traditional distinction between "speech acts" (focused on words) and "imag...