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Vaccines and Social Media

Karen ErnstVoices for Vaccines

Is social media important?

• Most Americans use social media

• Most popular sites are still YouTube and Facebook

• Younger people use Snapchat, WhatsApp more

• Instagram popular with new parents

How often do people use social media?

• Every day!

• About half of Facebook users check their accounts more than once a day.

• More than half of Instagram users check there at least once a day

Social Media Problems

• Echo Chambers & Algorithmic Amplification

• Anti-Vaccine Savviness on Social Media

• Bad Suggestions

• Anti-Vaccine Ads/Monetization

Echo Chambers & Social Media

• We tend to see things from people who agree with us and talk to only those people on social media

• #BeefBan

Algorithmic Amplification

• Social media delivers content to you that is similar to content you engage with

• Test it out: go to a long-forgotten friend’s profile and like a handful of their posts

The Bait

• David Wolfe posts many life-affirming memes each day

The Anti-Vaccine Switch

• Once in a while, he posts anti-vaccine content, too.

Parents Looking for Good Information…

Get Bad Suggestions

Money and Social Media

• Social media has not only democratized information, but also fundraising and ad-buying

Social Media ChangesRestricting anti-vaccine voices?

Legislators Speak Out

Pinterest

Pinterest Vaccine Rules

YouTube Monetization

Facebook Ends Anti-Vaccine Ads

$1,400 ad running for 67 days

Do Not Rely on Changes

• We cannot rely on social media or on lawmakers to make their spaces less of a public health nightmare

• Social media is always changing, and anti-vaccine leaders find new ways to work through those changes

• We have to engage people, constantly and actively, about vaccines

Good Vaccine Content Is

• Values-based andscientifically sound

• Fun

• Personal

• Wrapped into other parenting and health content

Values-Based Messages

• Emphasize that vaccines are a shared community value

• Connect to other shared community values

• Feel local, real, authentic

Values-Based MessagingIthaca, New York

Personal Content

• Content shows that you are a real person and that vaccination is personal to you

• Encourages social norming

Shared Alongside Other Content

• Sharing vaccine content as part of a social media page’s larger message normalizes vaccines and normalizes talking about vaccines

Social Media Don’ts

• Don’t take negative comments personally

• Don’t go it alone

• Don’t be hands-off

• Don’t be an Anonymous Organization

Negative Comments Are Not About You

Social Media Dos

• Do make personal as well as professional accounts and be active on both

• Do have house rules/community standards for comments

• Do remain professional

• Do ask for help when you need it

• Do create your own content whenever possible

House Rules

• Mimic the conduct you would expect in your waiting room/living room in your Community Standards.

• Consider posting them at your website, too.

Where to Create Content

• canva.com

• piktochart.com

• spark.adobe.com

• Ripl app

• Typorama app

Connect with VFV

• voicesforvaccines.org/join-us

• vaxtalk.org

• info@voicesforvaccies.org

• Twitter and IG: Voices4Vaccines