Opportunity

Exchanging and consuming health-related misinformation on social media can harm individual and public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, social media was used to spread false information about COVID-19 vaccines and promote unverified and sometimes dangerous “treatments.”

Monitoring social media to understand public attitudes to circulating misinformation could enable public health authorities and medical providers to recognize issues quickly and respond effectively, especially when that understanding and response can be tailored to a demographic or community. However, variations in information-seeking practices and health decision-making are not yet well studied, especially among communities experiencing health disparities.

Intervention

The INFORM study is designed to learn about how people – with a focus on Black and rural communities – interact with health information online and what they find the most interesting and useful.

Study participants agree to share their Facebook timeline and complete surveys about their social media usage and experience. They are also invited to share their X/Twitter posts, Google searches, and YouTube searches.

Impact

We are currently recruiting participants for the INFORM study; updates will be posted here as information becomes available.
The findings from this study will inform broader public health action and strategy, including public health messaging that addresses racial and geographic disparities in infectious and chronic diseases, HIV, cancer, maternal mortality, and mental health.