Anti Binge Drinking Campaigns on Social Media May be Effective

Home / Alcohol / Anti Binge Drinking Campaigns on Social Media May be Effective

Blog

Anti Binge Drinking Campaigns on Social Media May be Effective

A report published by the Boston University School of Public Health states new tools should be implemented to prevent college students from drinking excessively. These tools, like social media messaging, intervention and screening would be at the tips of the students’ fingertips.

It’s no secret that college students live on their smart phones. They are constantly updating their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts about their latest happenings in life. These updates often include how they are going to the bar every weekend or getting drunk at a fraternity party. College students are one of the groups that are high-risk for binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

What if there was a way to get the message of the dangers of binge drinking right in front of college students? College campus have tried many different educational campaigns on the dangers of drinking, but most have failed. The report by the Boston University school of Public Health is suggesting a new way of getting that message out, which is putting the messages right on the students’ social media feeds.

This can be done in many ways, including an advertisement in the Facebook newsfeed, a sponsored tweet or a video on Instagram. Geotargeting can be applied here as well. All social media sites track location, so any site can see when a user is in a bar or liquor store and cater their ads toward that.

Adding the messages to where college students spend the most time- online, may reduce binge drinking. The report states this theory has been tested in small studies and will one day be tested on a larger scale.