MILWAUKEE — If your social media feeds are swamped with talk about the COVID-19 vaccines — you’re not alone.
What You Need To Know
- Around one-fifth of Americans are getting "a lot" of information about COVID-19 vaccines on social media, per recent surveys
- Being aware of bad brain habits, like confirmation bias, can help us spot misinformation online, experts say
- Misinformation tends to play on strong emotional responses like anger and fear
- Science is a constantly evolving process, so getting the most up-to-date information is key
According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, almost half of Americans are getting vaccine news through social media. Around 30% said they’re getting “some” vaccine information this way, while 18% said they’re getting “a lot” of it.
There’s still a lot of bad vaccine information floating around online, though, said Dominique Brossard, professor and chair of UW-Madison’s Life Sciences Communication department. Sometimes it might be intentionally misleading. Other times, it’s shared with good intentions.
In any case, being more conscious while you’re scrolling can help make sure you’re getting the best science-based information, she said. Here, we offer some tips to navigate the tricky world of social media in the age of COVID-19.
Know your brain
When it comes to sorting out the good information from the bad, we can’t always trust our gut feelings, Brossard said.
“We tend to actually believe things that sometimes we shouldn’t,”...
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