@Article{info:doi/10.2196/43825,
author="Kalinowski, Jolaade
and Idiong, Christie
and Blackman-Carr, Loneke
and Cooksey Stowers, Kristen
and Davis, Shard{\'e}
and Pan, Cindy
and Chhabra, Alisha
and Eaton, Lisa
and Gans, Kim M
and Alexander, Jay Ell
and Pagoto, Sherry",
title="Leveraging the Black Girls Run Web-Based Community as a Supportive Community for Physical Activity Engagement: Mixed Methods Study",
journal="JMIR Form Res",
year="2023",
month="Sep",
day="7",
volume="7",
pages="e43825",
keywords="physical activity; social media; women's health; African American women; mHealth; mobile health; Facebook; African American; exercise; web-based community; web-based communities; content analysis",
abstract="Background: About 59{\%}-73{\%} of Black women do not meet the recommended targets for physical activity (PA). PA is a key modifiable lifestyle factor that can help mitigate risk for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that disproportionately affect Black women. Web-based communities focused on PA have been emerging in recent years as web-based gathering spaces to provide support for PA in specific populations. One example is Black Girls Run (BGR), which is devoted to promoting PA in Black women. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the content shared on the BGR public Facebook page to provide insight into how web-based communities engage Black women in PA and inform the development of web-based PA interventions for Black women. Methods: Using Facebook Crowdtangle, we collected posts (n=397) and associated engagement data from the BGR public Facebook page for the 6-month period between June 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. We pooled data in Dedoose to analyze the qualitative data and conducted a content analysis of qualitative data. We quantified types of posts, post engagement, and compared post types on engagement: ``like,'' ``love,'' ``haha,'' ``wow,'' ``care,'' ``sad,'' ``angry,'' ``comments,'' and ``shares.'' Results: The content analysis revealed 8 categories of posts: shout-outs to members for achievements (n=122, 31{\%}), goals or motivational (n=65, 16{\%}), announcements (n=63, 16{\%}), sponsored or ads (n=54, 14{\%}), health related (n=47, 11{\%}), the lived Black experience (n=23, 6{\%}), self-care (n=15, 4{\%}), and holidays or greetings (n=8, 2{\%}). The 397 posts attracted a total of 55,354 engagements (reactions, comments, and shares). Associations between the number of engagement and post categories were analyzed using generalized linear models. Shout-out posts (n=22,268) elicited the highest average of total user engagement of 181.7 (SD 116.7), followed by goals or motivational posts (n=11,490) with an average total engagement of 160.1 (SD 125.2) and announcements (n=7962) having an average total engagement of 129.9 (SD 170.7). Significant statistical differences were found among the total engagement of posts ($\chi$72=80.99, P<.001), ``like'' ($\chi$72=119.37, P<.001), ``love'' ($\chi$72=63.995, P<.001), ``wow'' ($\chi$72=23.73, P<.001), ``care'' ($\chi$72=35.06, P<.001), ``comments'' ($\chi$72=80.55, P<.001), and ``shares'' ($\chi$72=71.28, P<.001). Conclusions: The majority of content on the BGR Facebook page (n=250, 63{\%}) was focused on celebrating member achievements, motivating members to get active, and announcing and promoting active events. These types of posts attracted 75{\%} of total post engagement. BGR appears to be a rich web-based community that offers social support for PA as well as culturally relevant health and social justice content. Web-based communities may be uniquely positioned to engage minoritized populations in health behavior. Further research should explore how and if web-based communities such as BGR can be interwoven into health interventions and health promotion. ",
issn="2561-326X",
doi="10.2196/43825",
url="https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e43825",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/43825",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37676722"
}