Social media spreading 'seeds of doubt' during pandemic

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The ability to freely push unproven theories on social media is causing big problems for public health officials trying to convince the country to listen to credible doctors about the pandemic and a vaccine.

Our phones and computers allow us to connect. We can become “friends”, “follow” each other, “like” photos and sometimes listen to unfiltered advice.

“It’s easy to spread fear. It’s harder to convince people of safety. That’s how it always is,” said Dr. Linda Fu, a pediatrician at Children’s National Hospital.

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The pandemic is a popular topic of conversation online and Dr. Fu said the squeaky wheel is pushing troublesome anti-mask and anti-vaccine rhetoric.

“I think because it’s a small minority that are anti-vax who have a louder voice, they’re passionate about it whereas most people don’t get passionate about what they think is normal, what you just do,” she told ABC7 reporter Victoria Sanchez during a Zoom interview.

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If you think a topic like this doesn’t come across your feed, think again says complexity and data science professor Neil Johnson.

“Although numerically, the people who are saying no to vaccines, is quite a small percentage, they have become interconnected,” he said.

That crossover is what Johnson studies at George Washington University. He says fringe groups are trickling into the mainstream.

“What do you need to not take a vaccine? You need to have a seed of doubt in you that stops you from making the phone call to your doctor, to take your kid to get the vaccine, because someone in your community that you trust because they’re pet lovers like you, or you’re in a community of yoga fans and you trust them on these other issues. Suddenly, you have that seed of doubt,” he said.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter started to warn users of false information but sometimes that fuels even more speculation surrounding the pandemic the United States is spending billions of dollars to fight.

“It involves conspiracies related to power, money, Bill Gates, big pharma, pharmaceutical companies, so all of these latent issues that have already been sitting around, kind of get drawn together,” Johnson explained.

He calls it a “perfect storm” on the horizon for public health officials trying to convince Americans of basic safety measures and to take an FDA-approved vaccine.