A look at Vaccine Talk, a tightly moderated Facebook group for vaccine skeptics with ~70K members that aims to change their minds with evidence-based info
As social media giants struggle to crack down on false claims about covid, ordinary users are finding ways to reach vaccine skeptics — and win them over. Tweets: @cwarzel , @ethanz , @aetiology , @laurengoode , @osunick , @igpalert , @noupside , @lightforriley , @eugene_scott , @edercampuzano , @washingtonpost , @willoremus , @willoremus , and @lucas_shaw Tweets: Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel : This is such a good example of how online communities can work, even if they're centered around divisive topics like vaccines. What it takes is a TON of work from REAL PEOPLE setting rules and enforcing them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Ethan Zuckerman / @ethanz : Polite, productive discourse on fraught topics like vaccination is possible, but it requires lots and lots of human moderation work. It's not easily automatable, and that work is often invisible even to those part of these communities: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Dr. Tara C. Smith / @aetiology : I'm in the group covered in this @washingtonpost article. If you like to discuss vaccines, or have questions about them, it may be a good place for you. But note that evidence is required and some people are a bit blunt—may not be everyone's cup of tea. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Lauren Goode / @laurengoode : “Strict rules prohibit users from misrepresenting themselves, offering medical advice and harassing or bullying people. Another key rule: Be ready to provide citations within 24 hours for any claim you make.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Nick Nguyen / @osunick : Kate Bilowitz (@chmpgnsprnva4) helped to start a group on Facebook that is succeeding in helping people take that journey out of anti-vaxx disinformation. Much like @VietFactCheck, they empower people with facts. /cc @uwcip https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... IGP Alert / @igpalert : “Facebook is attempting to shut down misinformation by shutting down all conversation entirely,” she said. “I strongly believe that civil, evidence-based discussion works, and Facebook's policies make it extremely difficult for that to happen.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Renee DiResta / @noupside : The group Vaccine Talk is a gem. It would be nice to see more groups like this, that are trying to do the work of really engaging with the hesitant (not anti-vax), be more heavily boosted in platform recommendations/curation. Also a shoutout to r/changemyview https://twitter.com/... Light For Riley / @lightforriley : Love being a member of this group, witnessing respectful & passionate parents engage in conversations with parents who are vax-hesitant. Congrats to the admin team - great to see their story on front page of Washington Post! https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Eugene Scott / @eugene_scott : “These are the kinds of sites that will cherry pick anecdotes and are giving rise to vaccine hesitancy and other kinds of conspiracy theories,” said Karen Kornbluh, director of the German Marshall Fund's Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative, a public policy think tank. https://twitter.com/... @edercampuzano : Dang, moderating a Facebook forum that actually provides reliable information and nuanced deliberation sounds like eight full-time jobs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @washingtonpost : As social media giants struggle to crack down on false claims about covid, ordinary users are finding ways to reach vaccine skeptics — and win them over. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Will Oremus / @willoremus : To me, our reporting illustrates how those undecideds can be reached, and why scrubbing misinfo alone ain't it. What seems to matter are the norms set and enforced by active, thoughtful human mods who belong to and care about the forums they're overseeing. Will Oremus / @willoremus : So maybe this is more like a glimpse of an alternate reality, in which social media is made up of manageable, self-governing communities with defined values that they vigilantly uphold—and which people are free to opt into or out of as they like. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : It's now been 4 days since @instagram deleted my account because I shared my own article about @OnlyFans. A very small window into what SWs (and many other creators) have to deal with on a daily basis.