Design and evaluation of a co-produced social media campaign to promote aquatic safety in Queensland national parks

Abstract

Social media increasingly shapes how visitors engage with aquatic locations in national parks, where risky behaviours contribute to drowning and injury risk. Selfies and photography with mobile phones have been implicated in fatal and non-fatal injury, due to distraction leading to a loss of awareness of a person’s surroundings. We partnered with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) to co-produce and evaluate a targeted Instagram water safety campaign at an injury hotspot, with specific focus on campaign design, audience engagement, message recall, and user perceptions. Campaign development was informed by social media user and influencer interviews, surveys with social media users, frontline ranger observations, and patterns of visitor behaviour on social media. Between January and February 2024, Instagram posts highlighting site-specific risks were disseminated. The campaign generated strong engagement: over 4000 link clicks, more than 100 shares, and 254 post saves. Content analysis showed polarized user responses: 20% found the messaging informative and useful, while another 20% found it patronizing. In-person surveys at the site (n = 50) found that 32% of visitors reported social media influenced their decision to visit. Separately, a third (32%) of participants recalled at least one of the campaign’s safety messages, with Post B being the most recalled. The findings suggest that social media can be a low-cost and impactful tool for aquatic risk communication at high-visitation sites. Future work should focus on refining tone, testing co-design approaches with target audiences, and exploring the potential role of influencer partnerships to enhance reach and resonance.