This week’s review of research addressing communication and COVID-19 focuses on social media, with many studies focusing specifically on Twitter. Here is what we know: Public’s Views of Social Media Social media is widely used by nearly all segments ofRead More
COVID-19 Vaccine Communication This week, The Atlantic reported how public health messaging about the COVID-19 vaccine has backfired. Instead of presenting a balanced optimism since the vaccines have been launched in the United States, the focus has been on negativityRead More
Using Communication in Multiple Ways During the Pandemic In this commentary, the authors reviewed recent literature about the health effects of quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many of the effects may be negative, communication channels can help to re-establishRead More
Characteristics of COVID-19 Spokespersons In this study, scholars studied the COVID-19 communication from 20 heads of government from around the world. Understanding the language used is important because it has been shown to affect compliance for public health recommendations. ParticularlyRead More
Strategies to Continue Encouraging COVID-19 Mitigation Behaviors Even with the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, a group of international scholars are urging health experts and government officials to not relent on persuading people to continue recommended safety precautions such as mask-wearingRead More
Vaccine-related Communication With the push to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19, this study assessed theoretically sound psychosocial predictors of people’s willingness to get the vaccine. Results revealed that when individuals had positive attitudes towards the vaccine and perceived thereRead More
This week, we explore how communication surrounding COVID-19 has affected specific minority populations in the United States. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected people of color, and their lack of knowledge about the virus may be increasing that effect. In this researchRead More
Combatting COVID-19 Misinformation The majority of communication-related articles this week focus on the effects of COVID-19 misinformation and offer recommendations for addressing it. Research has demonstrated that excessive information, especially misinformation, has a negative psychological effect on people. In aRead More
Messaging Strategies This week, WISE Indiana’s own Dr. Ross Silverman and an interdisciplinary team of researchers at IUPUI explored the use and effectiveness of metaphors when describing the COVID-19 vaccine. From war to travel to even gaming, the researchers notedRead More
Tailoring Messages to Specific Population Needs Targeting specific populations during the pandemic offers health communicators a more tailored approach for informing and persuading individuals about recommended COVID-19 behaviors. For example, scientists already know that COVID-19 disproportionately affects African American communitiesRead More