Vaccine myths on social media can be effectively reduced with credible fact checking

Misinformation on social media can negatively affect people’s attitudes towards the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, but credible organizations – such as research universities and health care institutions – can play a crucial role in unraveling myths with simple labels related to factual information. , researchers, suggest in a new study.

Researchers have found that fact-checking labels located directly below or near a post can cause more positive attitudes toward vaccines than misinformation alone, and the alleged source knowledge makes a difference. “In fact, labels of fact checks from health care institutions and research universities are considered ‘more expert’ than others, which has indirectly resulted in a more positive attitude towards vaccines,” said Jingwen Zhang, assistant professor of communications and lead author of the study.

The findings were published online in the journal on Wednesday, January 6. Preventative medicine.

The data was collected in 2018 – before the COVID-19 pandemic – but the results of the study could affect public communication about COVID-19 vaccines, researchers said.

“The most important thing I learned from this article is that fact checking is effective … giving people a simple label can change their attitude,” Zhang said. “Secondly, I call on more researchers and scientists to get involved in public health and scientific communication. We need to be more proactive. We are not using our power at the moment.”

Although there is a strong consensus in the medical community that vaccines are safe, cost-effective, and successful in preventing disease, the widespread vaccination of vaccines has revived in many countries, the study said. The United States has experienced problems with less than the preference for vaccine for flu and even measles, which medical experts blamed for a measles outbreak in 2019. “Because both individuals and groups may post incorrect information, such as false claims about vaccines, social media has played a role in spreading misinformation, “Zhang said.

Study authors tested the effects of simple fact-checking labels on 1198 people nationwide who showed different levels of vaccination against homes. In the experiment, researchers used multiple misinformation messages covering five types of vaccines and five categories from 13 different fact-checking sources. They avoided any explanations that repeated the false information.

Using a sham twitter account, for example, one message consists of a misinformation claim on a particular vaccine and a photo of a vaccine bottle. It reads: “According to a U.S. system for vaccination by adverse events (VAERS), there were 93,000 adverse reactions to last year’s flu shot, including 1,080 deaths and 8,888 hospitalizations.”

Researchers then use alternate fact-checking labels from various media sources, health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, and algorithms. One reads, for example: “This post has been falsified. Fact checked by the Centers For Disease Control. Read why it was falsified.”

The results showed that those exposed to fact-checking labels were more likely to develop more positive attitudes toward vaccines than misinformation alone. Furthermore, the effect of the labels was not moderated by skepticism against vaccines, the type of misinformation against vaccine or political ideology.

“What approaches are most effective in targeting vaccine misinformation on social media among users who are unlikely to visit fact-checking sites or go through thorough corrections?” asked researchers in the paper. “This project shows that seeing a fact-checking label immediately below an incorrect information post can make viewers more favorable against vaccines.”

She explained that a label can be as simple as responding to an incorrect information tweet stating that the information is untrue, and links to credible information on a university or institutional website.

Ideally, she says, the labeling should be done by social media companies like Facebook and Twitter. According to her, social media companies work with entities, such as the WHO, to correct misinformation. “We are in the right direction, but more needs to happen,” she said.

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Co-authors included Magdalena Wojcieszak, associate professor of communication, and doctoral students Jieyu Ding Featherstone (Department of Communication) and Christopher Calabrese (Department of Public Health Sciences), all UC Davis.

Link to study: https: //www.scientific designation.com /science /article /abs /pii /S0091743520304394? Dgcid =writer