With the recent approval of COVID-19 vaccines for nearly all age groups and many organizations now requiring vaccinations for employees, people have been vocal about their opinions on these issues. Interestingly, celebrities and public figures have used their platform to
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On July 15, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued his first public health advisory warning that misinformation about COVID-19 is an “urgent threat” to public health. He called for individuals, particularly social media users, and tech companies to fight against
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Not only are people dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but because of social media, they are also dealing with the COVID-19 infodemic. Two studies this week explore Twitter to assess topics, sentiments, and misinformation on the social media platform. In
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Because large percentages of people avoid vaccination because of hesitancy, studies are trying to better understand vaccine intention so that communities can reach herd immunity. This is not just a local concern but a global problem. In this analysis of
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This week’s review focuses on the strategies, channels, and messengers to use for effective COVID-19 prevention messages. This study found that the channel from which people get their information about COVID-19 and vaccinations likely influences their level of vaccine hesitancy.
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With the growing amount of misinformation on social media related to COVID-19 (see, for example, this study of COVID-19 vaccine information on Parler), many platforms have begun censoring content. However, this approach may actually backfire, according to a recent commentary.
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Combatting Misinformation COVID-19 has triggered two parallel pandemics – a biological one with the spread of the virus and a social one with the spread of misinformation and disinformation. In a national survey of 840 respondents, users of conservative media,
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This week’s articles explore different ways to interact with people about COVID-19 in productive ways. Designing Effective Messages to Encourage COVID-19 Protective Behaviors In this study of the psychological factors influencing people’s willingness to adopt protective behaviors to help control
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Social media has shown to be an essential form of communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. This editorial focuses on both the positives and negatives of using social media, for both the public and for health care providers (and the authors
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Because COVID-19 affects people differently, public health efforts should focus on increasing COVID-19 safety messaging, testing, vaccination, and other prevention efforts for people who are young, non-White, Hispanic, and working in COVID-19 clinical units, a study published in Public Health
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