Audience Engagement on HIV Prevention Messages through Interactive Social (Digital) Media

This poster was presented at the 6th SA Aids Conference, to share the experience of the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication (SCI) in using digital media platforms alongside its television, radio, and print productions to generate dialogue and debate on HIV prevention. The poster focuses on the multi-platform digital media intervention used during the Kwanda Talk show, a community development initiative. The platforms included:

• SCI’s facebook platform:Soul City – It’s Real
• SCI's twitter platform: all postings from the facebook page were
  automatically re-posted on twitter@SoulCityItsReal
• Ummeli.mobi an open-access mobile platform run by Praekelt
  Foundation
• A dedicated SMS line that ran while Kwanda Talk was on air. Selected
  SMSs were streamed live onto screen during broadcast.

The report outlines the following results:

• SCI's 13-episode, prime-time Soul City Series 11 TV drama reached an average of 6.8 million people an episode in 2011 on SABC 1. SCI reached an estimated 12 thousand people per episode in 2012 through OneLove Talk broadcast on Soweto TV, and 1.5 million people through Kwanda Talk on SABC 1.
• There was an increase in target audience engagement and interaction on SCIs digital media during this period. Postings have ranged from requests for clarity on a range of health issues, positive feedback of the shows and work done in communities, referrals to service points, and sharing of experiences on a wide range of HIV prevention issues.
• The three platforms were used together and each platform referred audiences to the others. Straplines on screen during the broadcast of Kwanda Talk directed audiences to the social media platforms to post questions, comments, and join conversations which were mediated and answered by subject experts identified by SCI. Answers to questions on the Ummeli platform directed people to the Soul City – It’s Real facebook page. Each SMS sent out received a reply directing the sender to the ummeli.mobi platform. All platforms were ‘advertised’ on the facebook page.

The poster shows that the number of likes of the Soul City-Its Real facebook page increased from the beginning of Kwanda Talk, and discussion on various topics rose during the show; the number of likes was at 2,959 during the broadcast of SC 11 and 3,795 during OneLove Talk. At the time of publication, the page had 4,443 likes, which increases as SCI advertises and posts general comments and questions on health and development issues. Interaction also occurs through Ummeli.Mobi Live Chat which reaches about 120,000 people. The TV audience was directed to log onto the forum between 21h30 and 22h30 to engage in a live chat. During the rest of the week ummeli users could read articles posted, and cast their votes in a poll on an issue related to the week’s Kwanda Talk episode. The Ummeli.mobi site had a total of 543,327 visitors and 550,008 views during Kwanda Talk.

Based on this experience, the following conclusions are made:

• The use of multiple digital media platforms was useful in engaging a wider audience. The number of people accessing the platforms increased throughout the broadcast of the Kwanda Talk show. The audience engaged with the content of the talk show by posting questions and receiving answers, offering comments, and casting votes throughout the talk show. The numbers engaging through digital media remained good, though they fluctuated across all episodes. The feedback received suggested that the audience was interested in the talk show and shared their opinions and experiences.
• Audience engagement varied across the platforms as each was facilitated by different personnel and frequency of engagement by SCI with audiences differed across the platforms. More focused efforts on SCI's social media interventions are necessary to sustain audience engagement with the increasing number of fans.
• Challenges included capacity to meet audience demand for information and conversation, and the limitation of each of the platforms.
• In conclusion, digital media has been a worthwhile platform to reach and engage audiences and to facilitate multi-directional dialogues. Research efforts need to ascertain the impact of using digital media.