Misinformation about an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related vaccine is “steadily increasing” on social media, experts say.
The warning comes from a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) who this week released a new educational document: (S) pin the Flu Vaccine: Recipes for Concern, which analyzes the contents of the flu vaccine on Pinterest’s photo site.
Traditional social media has stepped up their efforts to prevent the spread of vaccine lies, but a task-conscious researcher says it may not be enough.
“One of the things we’re seeing now on social media is a stable build-up in COVID-19 vaccine publications,” said Jeanine Guidry Ph.D., assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Director of Media and Health. Laboratory in VCU.
“This is a specific fear as the COVID-19 vaccine does not yet exist, more than 150 versions are in progress worldwide lately.
“One of my considerations is that as long as we expect an effective vaccine to be available, a safe percentage of other people will not be willing to get the vaccine because they are convinced it is not Array,” the lead researcher continued.
The team said it made the decision to take the first such test on Pinterest, which has since taken strong action against “anti-vax” content, because its demographics distort women and women play a “central role” in families. aptitude decisions.
He concluded that negative posts about the flu vaccine on Pinterest, adding the use of “fear-causing” photographs, such as needles, tend to generate greater engagement. At the same time, publications that had a positive influence on the vaccine resulted in lower participation.
By 2020, the effects will provide a snapshot, but the knowledge is now outdated. Analyzed 500 Pinterest-like posts similar to the flu vaccine collected on October 9, 2018. However, this means that the challenge of spreading this “anti-vax” data has diminished.
In May, another study warned that anti-vaccination content on Facebook is more effective at attracting unsafe users to the cause than their pro-scientific rivals.
“This new seekArray … shows the content of the main public fitness establishments; you may not see any recommendation or comment on the pins in those results,” he says. “We will also not serve classified ads. We use this technique because we believe that the dissemination of incorrect vaccine information across the resources of public fitness experts is not responsible.”
Guidry said that despite the changes, site-focused studies will continue, explaining, “We’re currently reading Pinterest articles about a wide variety of terms from vaccine-related studies to see what search effects look like as a component of Pinterest’s new policies. . “
The newspaper praised Pinterest as a “leader among social media platforms in response to misinformation,” but said it’s vital to look at past cases.
“The visual nature of Pinterest is of specific interest because messages that come with visuals are more likely to memorize correctly over a longer period,” he said.
“Once the incorrect information has taken over, it’s notoriously complicated to write correctly,” Guidry said. “We want more studies on Array … how, in fact, to address the fears and considerations that other people might have, as well as to continue to build confidence, especially in the COVID-19 vaccine in the long term.”
Pinterest has been contacted to comment on the new search.
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