To be fair, as far as I can tell, most of the people who asked questions on the Facebook groups I studied were neither crazy nor stupid. This kind of approach is usually unhelpful for #scicomm
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Anti-vaxers are sane, climate deniers? They are like locust.
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Most people who asked questions on the vaccine group I studied were not anti-vaxxers. Many of them would probably consider themselves as vaccine hesitant, still making up their mind on the issue.
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Similar experience. Don't confuse grifters like Wakefield with genuinely concerned & unsure parents. Google "are vaccines safe" & spend an afternoon in the rabbit holes. If you didn't have good new media literacy & a science background it would be easy to end up worried.
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Agreed. The said part is that it all comes down to society having trust in the advice that is given. It still easy to confuse people with the simplest of misdirection. It is a tough road. I watch people like
@gorskon debunk stuff all the time. It has only gotten worse.1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @oaklandishdude @AvivSharon and
Voiced distrust in expert authority from cultural leaders (political, religious, lifestyle) has really disrupted that trust. But sadly there are also good logical reasons to sometimes distrust experts' claims of safety (ex: Tuskegee, Flint). Skepticism isn't irrational
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Replying to @liminalphase @oaklandishdude and
One has to remember that what hard core antivaxxers voice is not skepticism. It is denial and conspiracy theories.
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Replying to @gorskon @oaklandishdude and
Research suggests engaging w/ everyone like a conspiracist pushes on the fence towards the conspiracy - not away. My experience engaging parents about vaccines is that many are just scared but willing to engage in dialogue. Being empathetic & addressing fears goes a long way
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Replying to @liminalphase @oaklandishdude and
I'm not advocating engaging everyone like a conspiracist. However, you're not going to persuade the hard core antivaxxers, no matter how empathetic you are They're too far gone, and their identities have become too invested in antivax ideology, like politics or religion.
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Replying to @gorskon @oaklandishdude and
Sure, I don't waste my time when it is clear someone is a troll or uninterested in actual dialogue. And definitely trolls wear down on scientists doing public engagement, which is part of what the study is looking at. My solution has been to take breaks & celebrate the small wins
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Right. And all I was pointing out that it is important to learn to differentiate the hard core antivaxxers, all of whom are major league conspiracy theorists, from the merely vaccine hesitant, who could be reachable. Different tactics are required for each.
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Replying to @gorskon @oaklandishdude and
Oh sure, I definitely agree about differentiating and different tactics. I also think we have to be careful not to feed hardcore narratives. Ex: saying vaccines are 100% safe is easily disproven w/ 1 example. Instead we should emphasize it is much riskier NOT to vaccinate
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