THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACT OF SOCIAL-MEDIA ON PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND WILLINGNESS TO VACCINATE AGAINST COVID-19

Authors

  • Sanan Waheed Khan School of Communication, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia 
  • Deeba Shahwar Department of Mass Communication, The Women University Multan Pakistan
  • Malik Adnan Department of Media and Communication Studies, The Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v4i04.876

Abstract

SM sites have helped spread information during a pandemic in a way that has never been done before in human history. However, when using SM platforms (SMP onwards) during a pandemic, there are many pros and cons. The development of vaccinations and other important medical advances are among the most notable in the world of healthcare. Their acceptance is minimal, and vaccine refusal and hesitancy severely threaten public health. Even though immunization has come a long way in the last century, the World Health Organisation says that some people still do not want to be vaccinated. Health information from different places, like the Internet and social media (SM onwards), can make people less likely to get vaccinated. As technology has improved, so has SM's global influence. Unlike traditional media, SM allows users to create and distribute content globally quickly. Users can pick and choose content streams, increasing ideological isolation. Anti-vaccination messages on these platforms pose severe risks to public health, such as a loss of trust in future vaccine development for new infections like SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 protection. In this paper, we look at how SM can spread fear about vaccines and how it can be used to help people learn more about health and trust in vaccinations.

Keywords: COVID-19; health literacy; Social media; vaccination

Author Biographies

  • Sanan Waheed Khan, School of Communication, University Putra Malaysia, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia 

    Ph.D. Research Fellow

  • Deeba Shahwar, Department of Mass Communication, The Women University Multan Pakistan

    Assistant Professor

  • Malik Adnan, Department of Media and Communication Studies, The Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

    Associate Professor

Additional Files

Published

2022-12-31

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 04 (2022): Pakistan Journal of Social Research PJSR

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Sanan Waheed Khan, Deeba Shahwar, Malik Adnan

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

How to Cite

[1]
“THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACT OF SOCIAL-MEDIA ON PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND WILLINGNESS TO VACCINATE AGAINST COVID-19”, Pak. J, Soc. Sci., vol. 4, no. 04, pp. 629–636, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.52567/pjsr.v4i04.876.