@WePublicHealth: Citizen journalism meets public health
@WePublicHealth is a rotated curated Twitter account that is used to provide a social journalism service with a public health focus.
Every week, a different person – including community members and public health professionals – uses the account to tweet-report and investigate public health matters. Organisations may also apply to guest tweet.
The focus might be local – for example, documenting the cost of fresh foods in remote communities via tweet-photos – national or global (for example, reporting from international conferences and events).
Guest tweeters may use the account to share a photographic or film-based investigation, or to share links to related resources and research, for example. Or they might convene Twitter chats or interviews around particular topics, events or hashtags.
One of the goals is to encourage creative use of Twitter for public interest discussions and investigations.
Information for @WePublicHealth applicants and tweeters
1. The @WePublicHealth project aims to encourage public health investigations and reporting of events and issues that are likely to be of interest or use to Croakey readers. We ask that you consider how you can use the week to provide a service to the account’s followers.
2. If you are interested in a stint on @WePublicHealth, please get in touch with a note about what you’d like to cover. Send a short bio and the topic or event that you would like to cover. The account is not available to those working for Coca-Cola et al.
3. The @WePublicHealth tweets are displayed on the Croakey home page. Please be aware of this, and maintain a respectful, civil tone in your tweets and discussions. Do not tweet anything you would not want to see on Croakey’s home page.
4. This account is not to be used for personal attacks. As the guests have control over the account, they are legally responsible for their tweets. Croakey does not accept responsibility if guest tweeters publish defamatory comments.
5. Summaries of each week’s tweets are posted at Croakey.org – see this link for examples of @WePublicHealth summaries in 2023, and this link for examples of 2022 summaries.
@WePublicHealth is inspired by the work of Luke Pearson with @IndigenousX (as previously profiled at Croakey, here and here), and by other rotated, curated accounts.
