Here’s what it does, why it spreads, and what people can do about it

POV: Health Misinformation Is Rampant on Social Media::Monica Wang argues that health misinformation on social media is fueling the global anti-vaccination campaign and offers suggestions for how to combat it.

  • BongsForJesus@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    54·
    10 months ago

    I hate how everybody’s misusing POV lately. It’s just being thrown around without any relevant meaning or context, and if this trend continues it’s going to fuck up my porn search results.

  • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
    10·
    10 months ago

    You could always waste your time and report them. As if that will do anything.

    • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      16·
      10 months ago

      My favorite is when you report them and then get a message from support saying that it doesn’t violate their rules

      Happens all the time on Facebook

      • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
        11·
        10 months ago

        Yep, my experience:

        • Reddit: decent with reports, they often act (on certain report types) and give you an update when something is done
        • Facebook/Instagram: most of the time there’s no reply, and when there is a reply it’s “doesn’t violate anything”. Only once or twice did I get something removed, and it was a stuff like direct threats to another user in the comment section
        • Google/YouTube: Never hear back about anything. The reports go straight into a trashcan for all I know
        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          10 months ago

          Google/YouTube: Never hear back about anything. The reports go straight into a trashcan for all I know

          I kept getting epoch times ads telling me how trans people were a threat to civilization. Kept reporting it and kept getting it. Finally in the report box I wrote that I am starting to call up Epoch times and yell at them about the YouTube ads now. The ads stopped, I am not sure if it worked or not, could be unrelated. If it happens again I will try.

        • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Easier said than done unfortunately

          I only really scurry over there for a few family members these days that it was hard AF to teach them how to use it back in the day

          I’m planning to try to teach them other services but I need to find one first

          • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            I mean, they are always reachable using phone number and RCS, aren’t they? Or at least SMS should work. Just leave FB and talk to them using “green bubbles” and if they no like, then they need to install signal/telegram

            You can use your secure and private matrix together with a bridge and enjoy blue bubbles

            You can even bridge to iMessage, using pypush or an old apple product (iPhone/iPad/mac)

    • Oliver Lowe@hachyderm.io
      16·
      10 months ago

      I get where you’re coming from. But not everyone who falls for this stuff is “stupid”. Some are just vulnerable - maybe just temporarily - and once you’re in, it’s an awful slippery slope.

      I don’t know how many are just vulnerable and how many are good Darwin award nominees.

      @technology @Tristaniopsis

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      What do you mean? Worth to whom?

      Also, these people aren’t just harming themselves; they’re harming everyone around them. A vaccine isn’t like a seat belt. It doesn’t just protect you. It also protects the people around you. Additionally, by having a weaker immune system, these people are making their bodies breeding grounds for viruses which can mutate into new forms.

      • Tristaniopsis@aussie.zoneEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        Well exactly.

        I’m not sure why my comment has gone from being agreed with, to being controversial.

        Anti-vaxers can fuck off and die, but preferably somewhere else, so as not to compromise anyone else’s safety.

        I feel sorry for their kids and others that they hold hostage to their stupid views.

    • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      You know who is worth saving? People who are unable to get vaccinated. They are extremely vulnerable to things like mumps, measles, and rubella, for instance because many of them are immunocompromised.

      • Tristaniopsis@aussie.zoneEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Yes that fine. I’m not talking about the immunocompromised, and it’s pretty clear that I’m not.

        It’s the conspiracy-eating idiots that my broad brush is painting.

        • Jojo@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          The trouble is that those same conspiracy eaters aren’t the only ones at risk from the conspiracy. Immunocompromised people are out at risk when the percentage of people going unvaccinated increases. They are worth saving, and the mechanism of saving them is saving the conspiracy eaters.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      10 months ago

      I fully admit I didn’t trust the vaccine when it was announced and was on the fence. Mostly because I didn’t trust the Whitehouse administration. Someone on reddit pointed out studies conducted in Germany, I read them, and changed my mind. When it became available for my age group I went and got it.

      Now I concede that I might be infact a dipshit, but I have a family that depends on me. My kids are innocent and don’t deserve to grow up without a dad because of a very avoidable problem.

      So yeah I get the anger and it is tempting to look at people and write them off, but chances are if they are removed from the world other people suffer.

  • DevilOfDoomEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    It should say “Over my dead child’s body”

    You only have to vaccinate the children you want to keep.