- A new survey says that people who get most of their news through Facebook may be less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
- People who rely on Facebook are less trusting of the news media, according to the survey.
- Learning how to spot misinformation on social media and calling it out by providing reputable data is one way to curb it.
Facebook gives people a way to stay connected and share photos, stories, and opinions.
And according to a survey conducted in June, it’s also an avenue to influence whether people get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The survey, led by The COVID States Project, found that people who get most of their news via Facebook are less likely than the average American to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Katherine Ognyanova, PhD, a co-author of the survey results, is an associate professor of communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and part of a coalition of researchers from Rutgers-New Brunswick, Northeastern, Harvard, and Northwestern universities.
She said the findings suggest there’s a considerable group of vaccine-hesitant people who get their COVID-19 information primarily from social media.
“This could be because they encounter more bad information on those platforms. False stories can spread fast and reach large groups of people online. It could also be because Americans who do not trust traditional institutions (mainstream media, the government, health experts) rely primarily on social media for their news. Most likely, it is some combination of the two, and we need more research to better understand what’s happening,” Ognyanova told Healthline.
As part of the survey, respondents were asked questions about sources they use for news and COVID-19 information, including, Facebook, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the Biden administration, and Newsmax.
Researchers discovered that Facebook is a major source of information, comparable with CNN or Fox News.
They also found that Facebook users are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 than those who get their COVID-19 information from Fox News.
Additionally, Ognyanova said that Newsmax was the only source in the survey whose viewers noted lower vaccination levels and higher vaccine resistance than respondents who turn to Facebook for health news.
“Misinformation in any form always has the potential to harm, sometimes with deadly consequences. This is especially true when we talk about misinformation that steers people away from seeking appropriate medical care,” Dr. Joseph M. Pierre, professor in UCLA’s department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, and author of the column Psych Unseen, told Healthline.
As of June 2021, 99 percent of COVID-19 deaths were occurring among unvaccinated people, he added.
“Statistics like that speak for themselves,” Pierre said.
Source: healthline