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Abstract

Image-based social media platforms, such as Pinterest, have revolutionized how individuals seek, share, and interpret health information. Previous research suggests a link between consuming social media content and intentions to engage in health behaviors; however, it is unclear if individuals who actively seek health-related information on social media engage in healthier behaviors. This mixed-methods study explored the relationships among Pinterest use, motivations, self-efficacy, and health behaviors. Women participants (n = 227) completed surveys that included sociodemographic characteristics, motivation, self-efficacy, Pinterest use, and diet and exercise behaviors. Independent samples t-tests assessed differences in exercise behaviors, and multivariate analyses of variance determined differences in dietary behaviors. Open-ended short answers were coded using thematic analysis. There were no differences in dietary (p= .18) or exercise behaviors (p = .23) between Pinterest users and non-users. Curating health-related content was related to higher diet self-efficacy (r = .25), though there were no differences in dietary (p = .06) or exercise (p = .51) behaviors between Pinterest users with health-related boards and those without health-related boards. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: (1) Motivation to change; (2) Construction of a health toolkit; (3) The best of intentions; and (4) Looking to the future. Findings suggest that health-related content is pinned to inspire health behavior change; however, just engaging with the content on Pinterest is different than applying the information to the point of behavior change.

Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0001-1196-0600

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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