Alcohol in social media: Where is the space for prevention?

Abstract

Background: Alcohol has an almost ubiquitous presence, both offline and online. Research aim: This paper therefore aims to describe the status quo of alcohol prevention on leading social media platforms in German-speaking countries. Material and methods: To this end, the international state of research on alcohol communication in social media is first summarized by means of a narrative review. Social media analysis is then conducted to evaluate which German-language alcohol channels reach large numbers on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Next, content analysis is used to examine N = 470 posts and N = 3015 user comments from the alcohol prevention social media channel with the largest reach. Finally, an online survey of N = 1150 youth (aged 16–20) explores their alcohol-related social media use. Results: According to the state of research, communications glorifying alcohol consumption are frequently seen on social media. On leading social media platforms, the German-language alcohol channels with the widest reach are devoted to marketing and humor; prevention is significantly less prevalent. To date, the social media channel with the highest reach for alcohol prevention is the Facebook page of the BZgA youth campaign “Alcohol? Kenn dein Limit,” which achieves the highest interaction rates through videos and user polls. Here, young social media users both express criticism of alcohol consumption (11% of comments) and continue to favor it (21%). Around half of the surveyed young people have already participated in alcohol-related online communication. Discussion: Alcohol prevention faces the task of countering the glorification of alcohol that dominates social media with sensitizing messages.